Monday, June 16, 2025

Latin Lesson #112: More prepositions with the ablative

The focus for today's lesson is more practice with prepositions that take the ablative case, which has -a as the 1st-declension ending and -o as the 2nd-declension ending.

What follows is a inguistic aside: feel free to skip this: I got an email from someone asking why the ablative would be the case that gives us modern Romance language forms like Italian amico or Spanish amigo for Latin amicus. That's an excuse to say something important here about Latin pronunciation and how the kind of pronunciation taught in Latin textbooks is probably not really like how the ancient Romans spoke. Italian amico and Spanish amigo derive from the accusative case, Latin amicum, which was pronounced not with an "um" sound at the end but instead with a nasalized "o" sound. That final m is does not indicate a consonant like English m (as in English words like "gum" and "hum" and "rum"); instead, that final m indicates nasalization of the preceding vowel (m and n are the nasal consonants). How do we know this? Well, Spanish and Italian give us a clue, but there is a clue within Latin itself, specifically in the rules for Latin poetry, where the final-m is treated as if it does not exist. So, when a word like amicum is followed by a word that begins with a vowel, the final -m elides. But here's the thing: consonants don't elide; only vowels elide. So, on the one hand some textbooks teach students this elision rule, but they also tell students to pronounce the final m as a consonant, as in English. Speaking for myself, I'm not attempting any kind of reconstructed Roman pronunciation in my audio recordings, just something to help you become familiar with written Latin by using your English ears... but if I did aspire to Roman pronunciation, I'd be nasalizing those final -am and -um vowels. :-)

And now, back to our regular routine: here is a little slideshow (with cats) of the words you have seen before that appear in today's sayings:


And here are today's sayings:

1. De nihilo nihil.
Nothing from nothing
de NI-hilo nihil.

The word nihilo is the ablative form of the noun nihil, which you know already, being used with the preposition de, which you also know already. Sometimes de means "about" and sometimes it means "from," which is the meaning here.
This saying contradicts the saying you saw yesterday: Creatio ex nihilo. You can read more about the de nihilo nihil doctrine in this Wikipedia article: Creatio ex materia.



2. Lucerna sub modio.
(A) light under (a) bushel.
lu-CER-na sub MO-dio.

The noun lucerna means "light, lamp," and it is related to the word you already learned for light: lux (stem: luc-).
The word modio is the ablative form of the noun modius, which means "bushel" in the sense of a measure of grain. This is a new word, but you've seen a related word before: modus, which means a measure or limit (but not a specific unit of measure, like modius). 
The ablative here is being used with the preposition sub, which you have seen before.
To get a sense of just what that "bushel" would look like, here is a photograph of an ancient Roman modius.
This is a famous phrase alluding to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke; here is the King James version of the verse in Matthew: Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.


3. De alieno disce periculo.
Learn from another's danger.
de ali-E-no disce pe-RI-culo.

The word periculo is the ablative form of the noun periculum, which you know already. It is a neuter noun, and so alieno is the ablative form of the neuter adjective alienum. You haven't seen this neuter form before, but you have seen the masculine form: alienus.
The word disce is the imperative form of discit: "learn!"
Notice how the preposition phrase de alieno ... periculo wraps around the verb.
The idea is that it's better to observe other people's mistakes and the dangers they face so that you can successfully avoid those mistakes and escape those dangers.


4. Fertilior seges est alieno in arvo.
(The) crop is more-abundant in another's field.
fer-TI-lior seges est ali-E-no in arvo.

The adjective fertilior is a comparative form of fertilis: "more fertile, more fruitful, more abundant." It is a feminine adjective agreeing with the feminine noun seges, "harvest, crop." 
The word arvo is the ablative form of the noun arvum, "field." You can see the same Latin root in the English word "arable." 
The ablative adjective alieno agrees with arvo, and notice how the noun phrase wraps around its preposition: alieno in arvo.
Compare the English saying: "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence." In other words, we often disparage what is ours, while being jealous of what others have.


5. Sicut piscis sine aqua, sic monachus sine claustro.
Just-as (a) fish without water, so (a) monk without (a) cloister.
sicut piscis sine aqua, sic MO-nachus sine claustro.

The word aqua is the ablative form (aquā) of the feminine noun aqua, which you have seen before. 
The word claustro is the ablative form of the neuter noun claustrum, which is an "enclosure," and specifically, a "cloister" (the Latin word is what gives us the English word). This word is new, but you have seen a related word before: claudit.
You've seen the word sicut before, and it is actually a compound: sic-ut. In this saying, you now see sic on its own, meaning "thus, so, as." The Latin word sic is sometimes used in English to indicate that a word or phrase in a printed text which appears to be in error actually reflects the original text as printed ("sic").
This is a medieval Latin saying that relates to another saying you saw earlier about "fish out of water" — Ut piscis extra aquam.


Here's a recap:
  • De nihilo nihil.
  • Lucerna sub modio.
  • De alieno disce periculo.
  • Fertilior seges est alieno in arvo.
  • Sicut piscis sine aqua, sic monachus sine claustro.
And here is today's audio:



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