Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #111: Another week of prepositions

The focus for today's lesson is more practice with those -o ablative endings for the 2nd-declension nouns and adjectives. These ablatives are all being used with prepositions; you'll learn some other uses of the ablative later.

To get ready for today, here is a little slideshow (with cats) of the words you have seen before:

And here are today's proverbs:

1. Cum grano salis.
With (a) grain of-salt.
cum grano salis.

The word grano is the ablative form of granum, a word you've seen before, and you've also seen the preposition cum before.

The word salis is the genitive form of sal, another word you've seen before. You know all the words in this saying already!

We also use this phrase in English, taking something "with a grain of salt." It even has its own Wikipedia article.

2. Creatio ex nihilo.
Creation from nothing.
cre-A-tio ex NI-hilo.

The word nihilo is the ablative form of nihil, a word you've seen before, and you've also seen the preposition ex before.
The noun creatio also ends in -o, but this is one of those 3rd-declension nouns that ends in -o in the nominative form. So, this is a nominative noun, and it is the subject of the sentence.

This is another saying we use in English, with a Wikipedia article of its own: Creatio ex nihilo.

3. Natura abhorret a vacuo.
Nature shrinks from (a) vacuum.
na-TU-ra ab-HOR-ret a VA-cuo.

The word vacuo is the ablative form of vacuum, a word you've seen before.

You've seen the preposition a before, but in a different form: ab ovo Ledae. The preposition is spelled a before a consonant, but it is spelled ab before a vowel (compare English "a" before consonants which becomes "an" before a vowel: a banana, an orange).

You actually saw a different version of this before: Natura vacuum abhorret. That's the version that gives us the English version: "Nature abhors a vacuum." But in Latin, as you can see, it makes sense for the compound verb ah-horret to take a prepositional phrase as its complement: abhorret a vacuo

Notice also that the compound verb is a clue that the Romans actually did not pronounce their "h" like a consonant because the prefix a is spelled ab here, as it would be before a vowel: ab(h)orret.

And, yes, another famous saying that has its own Wikipedia article: Horror vacui.

4. In sterculino margaritam reperit.
(He) finds a pearl in (a) dung-pile.
in stercu-LI-no marga-RI-tam RE-perit.

The word sterculino is the ablative form of sterculinum, which means a "dung-pile" or a "manure-heap." You can see this Latin root in the English medical term "stercoraceous" (a synonym of "fecal").

The word margaritam is the accusative form of margarita, which means "pearl." This is also the origin of the English name "Margaret."
The verb reperit means "finds, discovers," and you can see this root in English "repertoire."

This saying alludes to an Aesop's fable about a rooster who finds a pearl (or some other precious gem) in a dung-heap, but he would have preferred a grain of barley instead. You can read that fable here: The Rooster and the Gem. The fable has been interpreted in different ways over the century, but the proverbial phrase here means someone who discovers something of immense value but who does not recognize its value.

5. Utrum prius gallina ex ovo an ovum ex gallina?
Does (the) chicken (come) from the egg first, or the egg from the chicken?
utrum prius gal-LI-na ex ovo an ovum ex gal-LI-na?

The word ovo is the ablative form of ovum, a word you've seen before.

You've also got an ablative from of a 1st-declension noun: gallina (gallinā) is the ablative form of gallina, another word you know already.

The phrase utrum...an introduces an alternate question, such as a yes-or-question or a this-or-that, with utrum before the first option and an before the second option.

The word prius is an adverb meaning "before, earlier than." You can see the same root in Latin prior, which we use as a word in English: "prior."

This is the proverbial chicken or the egg... but as found in Macrobius's Saturnalia. It also has its own Wikipedia article: Chicken or the egg.

Here's a recap:
Cum grano salis.
Creatio ex nihilo.
Natura abhorret a vacuo.
In sterculino margaritam reperit.
Utrum prius gallina ex ovo an ovum ex gallina?
And here is today's audio: