Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #184: Deponent -etur verbs

The focus for today's lesson is deponent verbs of the 2nd conjugation, which means they have the theme vowel of -e-. Some of the active verbs you know from the 2nd conjugation are habet, nocet, tacet, etc. Now you will learn some 2nd conjugations verbs that have only passive forms but active meaning, and they can even take a direct object, just as if they were active verbs.

To begin, here is the slideshow (with cats) of the words you have seen before:

And now here are today's proverbs:

1. Deus tuetur.
God protects.
deus tu-E-tur.

The verb tuetur means "protect, guard." From this same Latin root we get the English word "tutor," who was originally a guardian or protector, although the word now means a teacher.

You can also find this saying with an object: Deus tuetur nos, "God protects us," Deus tuetur iustos, "God protects the righteous," and so on.

2. Nil veretur veritas.
Truth fears nothing.
nil ve-RE-tur VE-ritas.

The verb veretur means "fear, be in awe of, respect." From this Latin root we get the English words "revere" and "reverend."

The word nil here is a neuter noun in the accusative case, and it is the object of the verb. Even though these verbs look passive, they have active meanings and can even take direct objects, just as if they were active verbs.

This is the motto of the Silverthorn Collegiate Institute:

3. Fraus meretur fraudem.
Deceit deserves deceit.
fraus me-RE-tur fraudem.

The verb meretur means "deserve, be worthy of." From this Latin root we get the English word "merit."

The word fraus is in the nominative case, the subject of the verb, and fraudem is the accusative form, the object of the verb.

This is a legal principle, and a controversial one, since it endorses a cycle of never-ending retaliation: one act of fraud justifies a fraud in response, which justifies more fraud, and so on.

4. Primus error veniam meretur.
(A) first mistake deserves forgiveness.
primus error VE-niam me-RE-tur.

You haven't seen the adjective primus before, but you have seen the neuter form of this adjective: primum. This is the masculine form, agreeing with the masculine noun error, which is the subject of the verb: primus error.

The word veniam is the accusative form of the noun venia, which means "forgiveness," and it is the object of the verb. This is where we get the phrase "venial sin," in English, i.e. a sin that can be forgiven, as opposed to a "mortal sin."

5. Cogitationis poenam nemo meretur.
Nobody deserves punishment of-thinking.
cogitati-O-nis poenam nemo me-RE-tur.

In other words, no one should be punished for their thoughts.

The word cogitationis is the genitive form of the noun cogitatio, which means "thought, thinking." You haven't seen this word before, but you have seen the verb that it comes from: cogitat.

The word poenam is the accusative form of poena, and it is the object of the verb.

In English, we would say "punishment for thinking" or "for their thoughts," but the Latin idiom uses the genitive: "punishment of thinking," poena cogitationis. This is sometimes called an "objective" genitive because it is taking the role of the object of an implied verb: "punish the thoughts."

There can also be a "subjective" genitive, and you can only distinguish between the two of them from context; there is nothing in the form of the genitive itself to distinguish them. Of course, we have this same ambiguity in English: "the love of God" could mean God's love for someone (subjective genitive), or it could mean someone's love for God (objective genitive). In both Latin and English, only the context can help distinguish between those two different uses of the genitive.

Here's a recap:

Deus tuetur.
Nil veretur veritas.
Fraus meretur fraudem.
Primus error veniam meretur.
Cogitationis poenam nemo meretur.

And here is today's audio: