Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #115: The Third Declension

The goal this week is to learn the ablative ending for the 3rd declension, and so we'll start by reviewing the 3rd declension. Specifically, today we'll review the 3rd-declension nominative endings. The 1st and 2nd declensions are easy to recognize in the nominative case, with the 1st declension ending in -a and the 2nd declension ending in -us and -um... but the 3rd declension has a wide variety of nominative endings. The 3rd-declension genitive ends in -is, which is where you can find the stem, but you can't rely on the nominative to find the stem (unlike the 1st and 2nd declensions, where you can just remove the nominative endings to find the stem).

Just to give you a reminder of the variety of 3rd-declension nominative endings, here's a slideshow of the 3rd declension nouns you have seen so far. Don't worry if you can't remember what all the words mean — just look at all those different nominative endings! To find the stem, look at the genitive form and remove the -is. (We'll do some more work on the genitive 3rd-declension ending tomorrow too.)

And to get ready for today's sayings, here is a little slideshow (with cats) of the words you have seen before:

Now here are today's proverbs:

1. Calamitas nulla sola.
Not-any trouble (is) single.
ca-LA-mitas nulla sola.

The 3rd declension noun calamitas gives us English "calamity." The stem is calamitat- (this -tas / -tatis word formation is very common; you will see it frequently).

Compare the English saying "Troubles never come singly," and also the phrase "one thing after another."

2. Magis mutus quam piscis.
More silent than (a) fish.
magis mutus quam piscis.

The masculine adjective mutus gives us English "mute."

This 3rd-declension noun, piscis, has a genitive that is the same form as the nominative: piscis.

Land animals make all kinds of sounds, as do birds... but not fish. So, fish are a very fine example of someone or something silent.

3. Homo animal bipes implume.
(A) human (is a) two-footed featherless animal.
homo A-nimal bipes im-PLU-me.

The 3rd-declension noun animal gives us English "animal," and it's related to the Latin word anima. An animal is alive because it has an anima, "spirit." The stem is visible here in the nominative: animalis is the genitive.
The 3rd-declension adjective bipes is a compound bi-pes, "two-footed." This Latin word also gives us English "biped" from the stem biped-
The 3rd-declension adjective implume is also a compound im-plume, "not-plumed, without feathers." You can see this Latin root in English "plume." For this word also you can see the stem, implum-, in the nominative.

This saying is related to a famous anecdote about the philosophers Plato and Diogenes: when Plato defined a human being as a "featherless biped", Diogenes brought Plato a plucked chicken and said, "Here is Plato's man."

4. Neque caro neque piscis est.
(It) is neither flesh nor fish.
neque caro neque piscis est.

The conjunction neque means "not, and not," and it can be used in a pair like this: neque... neque... "neither... not..."
The 3rd-declension noun caro, "flesh, meat," gives us English "carnal" from the stem of the noun, carn-.

In the Catholic tradition edible meats were divided into "flesh" and "fish" (no eating of flesh on Fridays, but fish is allowed), so the idea is that if something is neither flesh nor fish, it is something utterly strange, something paradoxical beyond existing categories. Compare English sayings like "Neither here nor there, "Neither the one nor the other, "Neither head nor tail," etc.

5. Ubi Bacchus regnat, Venus saltat.
Where Bacchus rules, Venus dances.
ubi Bacchus regnat, Venus saltat.

The name Bacchus is a masculine 2nd-declension noun, but Venus is a 3rd-declension feminine noun; her genitive form is Veneris, and you can see the stem, Vener-, in the English word "venereal" (as in venereal disease).

Here the name of the god Bacchus (Greek Dionysus) stands for wine, while the name of the goddess Venus (Greek Aphrodite) stands for love. So the idea is that when there is wine or drink, people feel frisky and dance.

And here's a recap: