Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #153: 3rd-Declension Dative

**I'll be away for the coming week, but will be back on October 8 with the next lesson.**

The focus for today's lesson is the dative ending for the third declension. The ending is -i and, remember, the ending goes on the stem of the word. With the 1st and 2nd declension, you can see the stem in the nominative form, but with the 3rd declension, you have to learn the stem from the genitive form of the noun, which is always listed in the Latin dictionary. Just remove the genitive -is ending, and you get the stem.

Here is a review of the genitive forms and stems of the 3rd-declension words in today's sayings:

sus. genitive: suis stem: su-
homo. genitive: hominis stem: homin-
sapiens. genitive: sapientis stem: sapient-
leo. genitive: leonis stem: leon-
cupiditas. genitive: cupiditatis stem: cupiditat-

So, you'll see the dative forms of these words in today's sayings: sui, homini, sapienti, leoni, and cupiditati.

Here is the slideshow (with cats) of the words you have seen before... and for the very first time, you have seen ALL the words in today's sayings already. There is no new vocabulary, just old friends!

And here are today's proverbs:

1. Sus sui pulcher.
Pig (is) beautiful to-a-pig.
sus sui pulcher.

The word sui is the dative form of sus.

The dative here has the sense of to someone's way of thinking, in their opinion, etc. So you could even translate this as "One pig thinks another pig is beautiful."

This is part of a larger saying, and you've seen the first part before: Asinus asino et sus sui pulcher.

2. Homo homini lupus.
Man (is) a-wolf to-man.
homo HO-mini lupus.

The word homini is the dative form of homo.

This famous saying even has its own article at Wikpedia: Homo homini lupus.

3. Verbum sat sapienti.
(A) word to-the-wise (is) enough.
verbum sat sapi-EN-ti.

The word sapienti is the dative form of sapiens.

You haven't seen the word sat before, but it is just a shortened form of satis, which you have seen many times.

Compare the English saying, "A word to the wise." The full form of the English say is just like the Latin saying: "A word to the wise is enough." Over time, however, the English saying was so popular that it got shortened. The idea is that if you are a wise person, you will take good advice when it is offered to you. A fool, however, ignores good advice... and gets into trouble as a result.

4. Somnum ne rumpe leoni.
Don't disturb (the) lion's sleep.
somnum ne rumpe le-O-ni.

The word leoni is the dative form of leo. This is the possessive dative, which is often used instead of the genitive when something is not a material possession, not something you can hold in your hand — like sleep.

The word somnum is the accusative form of the noun somnus, and it is the object of the verb.

The word rumpe is the imperative form of the verb rumpit, being used here as a negative command: ne rumpe.

This saying appears in a 17th-century emblem book; you can see the foolish dogs about to wake the sleeping lion.

5. Cupiditati nihil satis est.
Nothing is enough for-greed.
cupidi-TA-ti nihil satis est.

The word cupiditati is the dative form of cupiditas.

You can find these words in Seneca's dialogue On Consolation, and you have seen other sayings about boundless desires which cannot be satisfied, such as Res immoderata cupido est and Habendi cupido inexplebile dolium..

Here's a recap: