Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #150: More -ae datives

The focus for today's lesson is more practice with the dative of the first declension, ending in -ae. Here are the dative sayings you learned yesterday:

Industriae nil impossibile.
Naturae convenienter vive.
Pecuniae imperare oportet, non servire.
Homo vitae commodatus, non donatus est.

And here is today's slideshow (with cats) of the words you have seen before:

And here are today's proverbs:

1. Urticae proxima saepe rosa est.
(The) rose is often near to-the-nettle.
ur-TI-cae PRO0xima saepe rosa est.

The word urticae is the dative form of urtica, "nettle," which gives us "urticaria" in English.

The dative is being used with the feminine adjective proxima, "neighboring on, next to." You've seen the masculine form, proximus, before.

The word rosa gives us English "rose" (the flower), and because rosa is a feminine noun, it takes a feminine adjective: proxima.

The idea is that just as you might find a rosebush next to nettle, you might also find that something lovely and desirable (the rose) can be accompanied by pain and trouble (the nettle). The saying is found in the Roman poet Ovid.

2. Bubo canit lusciniae.
(The) owl is-singing to-the-nightingale.
bubo canit lus-CI-niae.

The word bubo means "owl," and it is a third-declension masculine noun in the nominative case, the subject of the verb canit. This name of the owl is onomatopoeic, imitating the sound of the owl: in English we say the owl goes "hoo-hoo," but in Latin the owl sounded like "bu-bu," hence the name bubo.

The word lusciniae is the dative form of luscinia, a word you have seen before. This is the indirect object of the verb: canit lusciniae, "sings to the nightingale."

So, the saying is making fun of the owl, whose song is not beautiful, singing to the nightingale, whose song is among the most beautiful of the bird songs. Metaphorically, it implies to someone without talent foolishly believing in their own excellence.

3. Noctuae pullus suus pulcherrimus.
To-the-owl, her chick (is the) most-beautiful.
NOC-tuae pullus suus pul-CHER-rimus.

The word noctuae is the dative form of noctua, another name for "owl" in Latin, "night-bird" (from nox, "night"). The dative here means "to the owl's way of thinking, for the owl."

The word pulcherrimus, "most beautiful," is a masculine adjective, agreeing with pullus. You haven't seen this superlative form before ("most"), but you have seen the base adjective, pulcher.
Again, the proverb is making fun of the owl: an owl chick was notoriously ugly-looking, but to the owl, her chick is the most beautiful chick of all.

4. Monedulae semper monedula assidet.
Jackdaw always sits-next to-jackdaw.
mo-NE-dulae semper mo-NE-dula AS-sidet.

The word monedulae is the dative form of monedula, "jackdaw."

The dative is being used with the verb assidet, which means "sits next to," which is a compound verb: ad-sidet, "toward-sit." You haven't seen this verb before, but you have seen the related noun, seeds.
Compare the English saying, "Birds of a feather flock together."

5. Cicada cicadae cara, formicae formica.
Cricket (is) dear to-cricket, ant (is dear) to-ant.
ci-CA-da ci-CA-dae cara, for-MI-cae for-MI-ca.

The word cicadae is the dative form of cicada, "cicada, cricket," and the word formicae is the dative of formica, which you have seen before.
The dative is being used with the feminine adjective cara, "dear (to)." You haven't seen this form of the adjective before, but you have seen the neuter form, carum.

The adjective is feminine because it agrees with cicada and with formica.

This is a variation on the previous saying, but this time with insects instead of birds, and it is included by Erasmus in his Adagia. Notice the elegant word order, which is called chiasmus (X-style): nominative-dative || dative-nominative.

Here's a recap: