Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #206: More fero/fert

The focus for today's lesson is more practice with the verb fero and its many compounds! This is one of the most common Latin verbs, with a wide range of meanings in English, so it's good to practice with these verbs. And you will see that these Latin fero verbs have also given us an enormous range of English compounds.

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

And here are today's proverbs:

1. Canities non affert sapientiam.
White-hair doesn't bring wisdom.
ca-NI-ties non affert sapi-EN-tiam.

The verb affert is a compound: ad-fert, "carries toward, brings."

The word sapientiam is the accusative form of sapientia, and it is the object of the verb, while the word canities is the subject.

The white hair of old age is what this proverb is referring to: white hair, i.e. age, doesn't necessarily make someone wise! If they don't learn from what they experience, someone with a lot of experience might actually still be a fool!

2. Semper aliquid novi affert Africa.
(There's) Africa always brings something new.
semper A-liquid novi affert A-frica.

The word aliquid, "something," is a neuter pronoun, and it could be in the nominative or accusative case (those always look the same for neuter words!). But the word Africa is in the nominative case, so it is the subject of the verb, and aliquid is the object, in the accusative case.

The word novi is in the genitive case, and it goes with "something." This is a Latin idiom: they said, aliquid novi, "something of-new," while in English we just say "something new." The grammar is a little different, but the meaning is the same!

For the Romans, Africa was an exotic place, the origin of many weird wonders. These words are from the Roman writer, Pliny the Elder, who documented many of Africa's weird wonders in his massive compilation, The Natural History.

3. Inter dictum et factum multum differt.
Between saying and doing much differs.
inter dictum et factum multum differt.

You saw the differt compound yesterday: "carries apart, separates, differs." The phrase multum differt, "much differs," is equivalent to the English saying, "much is different; there is a big difference."

The words dictum and factum are both neuter adjectives being used substantively, as nouns. As neuter words, they have the same form in both the nominative and accusative, but here we know they are in the They complement the preposition inter here, which takes the accusative case.

And what is that big difference? Talk is easy... getting things done is much harder!

4. Aufert pannosam vestem ditissimus unam.
(The) richest (man) carries-away (just) one tattered garment.
aufert pan-NO-sam vestem di-TIS-simus unam.

The verb aufert is also a compound: ab+fert, "carries away, takes away."

The word vestem is the accusative form of vestis, and it is the object of the verb, while the word ditissimus, the richest man," is the subject. You haven't seen this word before, but you have seen the base word: dives (and ditissimus was sometimes spelled divitissimus).

The word vestem is feminine, so the adjective pannosam, "tattered, raggedy," is also feminine accusative, agreeing with its noun. The same also with the adjective unam, which is strongly emphasized as the last word, which is why I added "just" to the English: it is the placement of the word unam which gives it that special emphasis!

And just what is that una pannosa vestis? It is the winding sheet in which a corpse is wrapped for burial: the rich man leaves behind a wardrobe full of luxurious clothes, but what he takes to the grave is a single tattered garment. As we say in English: "You can't take it with you!"

5. Mus non ingrediens antrum cucurbitam fert.
(The) mouse not getting-into (the) mousehold is-carrying a pumpkin.
mus non in-GRE-diens antrum cu-CUR-bitam fert.

The word cucurbitam, "gourd, pumpkin," is the accusative form of cucurbita, and it is the object of the verb, while the word mus is the subject.

The word ingrediens, "going in," is a masculine nominative adjective — a verbal adjective, or participle — agreeing with mus. Latin uses those participles much more than English does, where this would probably be a clause of its own, so another way you could translate this would be: "The mouse cannot get into the mousehole because he is carrying a pumpkin."

There is a similar fable told by the Roman poet Phaedrus about mice who were unable to get into their mouseholes because they were wearing horns on their heads! You can read that fable here: The Mice and the Weasels.

Here's a recap: