Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #141: Nescit with infinitives

The focus for today's lesson is a verb you have seen before: nescit, "doesn't know." It's a compound: ne-scit, not-knows, i.e. "knows not, doesn't know."

This verb can be used on its own, as in these sayings that you have already seen:

Nemo scit quantum nescit. Nobody knows how much he doesn't know.
Nescit homo finem suum. A person doesn't know his end (i.e. the end of his life, how he will die).
Timendi causa est nescire. The cause of fear is not-knowing (i.e. ignorance causes fear).

This same verb can also take a complementary infinitive: nescit pugnare, "doesn't know how to fight," nescit natare, "doesn't know how to swim," nescit canere, "doesn't know how to sing," etc. You will see an example of nescit + infinitive in each of today's sayings!

But first, here is a little slideshow (with cats) of the words you have seen before:

And here are today's proverbs:

1. Stultus tacere nescit.
(A) fool doesn't-know-how to-keep-quiet.
stultus ta-CE-re nescit.

You already know all the words in this saying!

The word tacere is the infinitive form of the verb tacet.

The word stultum is an adjective, "foolish," but here it is being used substantively as a noun: "(a) foolish (person)," i.e. "a fool."

This is yet another proverb that associates talking too much with foolishness while silence is a sign of wisdom. Here are some sayings you've seen before about wisdom and silence: Sapiens, sile and Sape et tace.

2. Nescit amor habere modum.
Love doesn't-know-how to-have (a) limit.
nescit amor ha-BE-re modum.

You know all the words in this saying too!

The word habere is the infinitive form of the verb habet.

The word modum is the accusative form of modus; it is the object of the infinitive.

Notice that the word order, as always in Latin, is completely free: the infinitive can come after nescit as in this saying, nescit habere, or it can come before, as in the previous saying, tacere nescit.

Compare the English sayings "Love knows no boundaries" or "Love knows no limits."

3. Modum nescit ponere voluptas.
Please doesn't-know-how to-put (a) limit.
modum nescit PO-nere vo-LUP-tas.

The word ponere is the infinitive form of the verb ponit, "puts." You haven't seen this verb before, but you have seen this compound form: deponit, "puts down."

The word modum is the object of the infinitive in this saying also, but notice how it comes before the infinitive this time: modum ponere, a different word order choice than in the previous saying, habere modum.

Notice that ponere is a 3rd-conjugation verb, so the stress is on the stem: PONere. This is a different stress pattern than the 4th-conjugation verbs like habere and tacere which are stressed on the ending.

Compare the English saying "Pleasure knows no bounds" or "Limitless pleasure."

4. Ingenium suum vulpecula mutare nescit.
(The) fox doesn't-know-how change her nature
inGE-nium suum vul-PE-cula mu-TA-re nescit.

The word mutare is the infinitive form of the verb mutat, which you know already.

The word ingenium is the accusative form of the neuter noun ingenium which you have seen before; it is the object of the infinitive mutare.

The root of ingenium is gen-, "birth," so literally the word means something that is in-gen, "in-born," i.e. "nature, innate quality." Over time, the word took on other meanings, like "character, personality, way of thinking," and eventually "talent, ingenuity," etc. (You can see the same root in "genius.")

The adjective suum is neuter accusative, agreeing with ingenium. (Remember: neuter nouns and adjectives always have the same form for the nominative and the accusative).

The feminine noun vulpecula means "fox, vixen." You haven't seen this word before, but it is a diminutive of the word vulpes, "fox," which you have seen before. (Latin has lots of diminutive forms; you can learn more about dimunitives at Wikipedia.)

Compare the English saying "The leopard cannot change its spots."

5. Ire catenatus nescit canis inveteratus.
(An) old dot doesn't-know-how to-go on-a-leash.
ire cate-NA-tus nescit canis invete-RA-tus.

The word ire is the infinitive form of the verb it, "goes." You haven't seen this verb before, but you have seen two compounds: anteit, "goes before, precedes" and transit, "goes across, crosses, passes."
The masculine adjective catenatus means "chained, on a leash," from the noun catena, "chain." You can see that Latin root in English "concatenate." The masculine adjective agrees with the masculine noun canis.

The masculine adjective inveteratus means "grown old, aged," which gives us English "inveterate." You can see the same root in English "veteran."

The rhyme of catenatus and inveteratus lets you know that this is a medieval Latin saying!

Compare the English saying "You can't teach an old dog new tricks."

Here's a recap: