Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #106: Wrapping up Week 25

The focus for today's lesson is practice with the first declension, based on what you have learned this week. In today's sayings you'll see the short -a ending of the nominative case, the long -a (ā) ending of the ablative case with prepositions, and the -am ending of the accusative that can also be used with prepositions. (Next week we'll move on to the ablative ending for the 2nd declension!)

In order to review some vocabulary first, here is a little slideshow (with cats) of the words you have seen before:

And here are today's proverbs:

1. Epistola non erubescit.
(A) letter doesn't blush.
e-PIS-tola non eru-BES-cit.

The Latin noun epistola, "letter, correspondence," gives us English "epistle" and "epistolary." This was originally a Greek word ἐπιστολή (epistole) adopted by the Romans; you can see it spelled in Latin in the Greek way, epistola, and also as epistula.

The case of epistola is nominative; it is the subject of the verb.

The idea is that you might be bold to say things in writing than you would say in person. This saying dates back to the time of written letters (it is found in the letters of Cicero!), but of course it still holds true, perhasp even more so, in the era of social media and texting.

2. Ex auricula asinum.
From (the) ear (you recognize the) donkey.
ex au-RI-cula A-sinum.

The word auricula (auriculā) is the ablative form of the noun auricula, "ear, little ear." This is a diminutive form of the word auris, "ear," although obviously it is ironic: the donkey's ears are anything but little!

The word asinum is the accusative form of the noun asinus, which you have seen before. Although there is no verb in this saying, the use of the accusative case here lets you know that a verb is implied, with asinum as the object of that implied verb.

The idea is that while a donkey might pretend to not be a donkey, the ears will give him away. This saying is connected to the Aesopic fable of the donkey in the lion skin: while he wore the loin skin, everyone was afraid of him and he could graze wherever he wanted, but when someone noticed the ears sticking out from under the lion skin, they realized the lion was just a donkey (illustrations here).

3. Pro perca scorpium.
In-place-of (a) fish, (a) scorpion.
pro perca SCOR-pium.

The word perca (percā) is the ablative form of the noun perca, "perch," i.e. the fish called perch. It is in the ablative case here with the preposition pro, "in place of, instead of, in exchange for, for." You might recognize this Laitn preposition from the phrase pro bono.

The word scorpium is the accusative form of the noun scorpius, which you have seen before. As in the previous saying, there is no verb, but the use of the accusative case here lets you know that there is an implied verb, and scorpium is the object of that implied verb.
The idea, of course, is that a fish is something nice, while a scorpion is not. Compare a similar saying in the Gospel of Matthew: "what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?"

4. Fugit hora sine mora.
Time flies without delay.
fugit hora sine mora.

The word mora (morā) is the ablative form of the noun mora, which you have seen before. It is in the ablative case with the preposition sine, "without." You might know that Latin preposition from the phrase sine qua non which is sometimes used in English.

This is another one of those "time flies" sayings that you have seen before, and this one rhymes: hora-mora. The use of rhyme is a clue that this is a medieval Latin proverb, not classical.

5. Ante tubam trepidat.
(Someone) trembles before (the) trumpet.
ante tubam TRE-pidat.

The word tubam is the accusative form of the noun tuba, "trumpet," and especially a trumpet used in war. From Latin tuba we get English "tuba" of course.

The preposition ante takes the accusative case, and you might know this word already from "antebellum," which is Latin ante bellum, "before the war." We also use this word in English as "ante" as when you "ante up" before each round of a poker game, putting money into the pot.

The verb trepidat, "trembles, feels fear," can be seen in English "trepidation" and also in the negated form, "intrepid."

The idea is that soldiers should be intrepid, but this saying makes fun of a soldier who is quaking with fear even before the war-trumpet has sounded.

Here's a recap: