Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #178: Nascitur

The lesson for today is the Latin deponent verb nascitur, "is born." Like the other Latin deponent verbs you have seen — loquitur and sequitur — this verb has only passive forms. If you think about it, "to be born" is a passive verb in English too, although you may not have thought about that before: "the woman bears a child" = "the child is born."

In Latin, the verb nascitur is at the root of English words like "nascent" and also words like "native" and "prenatal." It's also the root of English "naive."

You will meet another verb in today's sayings: fit. You've seen this verb before; remember Nihil fit sine causa, "Nothing happens without a cause?" Now, however, I can explain what makes this verb special: fit is used as the passive form of the verb facit, "makes." So, you will never seen the verb facitur; instead, you will see the word fit, "is made." You probably know this Latin verb already from the phrase fiat lux, "Let there be light," but now you know, the meaning is literally: "Let light be made."

So, to get ready for the nascitur and fit sayings, here is the slideshow (with cats) of the words in today's sayings that you have seen before — and you know almost all of the words for today!

And here are today's proverbs:

1. Poeta nascitur, orator fit.
(A) poet is-born, (an) orator is-made.
po-E-ta NAS-citur, o-RA-tor fit.

There are two new words here, poeta and orator, which are easy to recognize from the English words, "poet" and "orator." You haven't seen orator before, but you have seen a related noun: oratio.

The meaning of this saying depends on the contrast between being a natural-born genius and a genius that has to be made through practice and learning. A poet has a Muse to guide them, while the poor orator has to study his art without a Muse to assist them.

2. Nemo nascitur sapiens, sed fit.
Nobody is-born wise, but is-made (wise).
nemo NAS-citur SA-piens, sed fit.

You already know all the words in this saying! Compare the English saying about being "born, not made" — "leaders are born, not made," for example, or "teachers are born, not made."

3. E squilla non nascitur rosa.
(A) rose isn't born from (a) shrimp.
e squilla non NAS-citur rosa.

The new word in this saying is squilla, "shrimp." The word "squill" is used in English to refer to the mantis shrimp. The word is in the ablative case here, squillā, with the preposition e (ex).

This saying is about the absurdity of expecting a rose to grow from a shrimp. Compare the English saying, "You can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear."

4. Aliud ex alio malum nascitur.
One evil is-born from another.
A-liud ex A-lio malum NAS-citur.

You know all the words in this saying too, and you have seen a very similar saying already: Aliud ex alio malum gignitur.

Notice the irregular form of the word aliud: instead of the usual -um ending that you would expect, it ends in -ud instead. The form alio is the ablative, with the -o ending you would expect.

5. Ex minima magnus scintilla nascitur ignis.
From the-smallest spark (a) great fire is-born.
ex MI-nima magnus scin-TIL-la NAS-citur ignis.

The new word in this saying is the feminine adjective minima, "smallest." You have not seen this adjective before, but you have seen the adverb: minime. Here the noun phrase minimā scintillā is in the ablative case with the preposition ex. Compare a similar saying you have seen before: Parva saepe scintilla magnum excitat incendium.

Notice the intricate word order, with the prepositional phrase ex minima scintilla interwoven with the noun phrase magnus ignis. This saying is in verse; the meter is dactylic hexameter, the same meter of Latin epic poetry.

Here's a recap: