Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #233: More practice with 4th-declension nouns

The focus for today's lesson is more practice with 4th-declension -us nouns. You'll see them in the nominative case, -us, and in the accusative, -um, and in the ablative too, -u.

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

And here are today's proverbs:

1. Casusne? Deusne?
(Was it) chance? (Was it) god?
ca-SUS-ne? de-US-ne?

The particle -ne is added to the end of a word to indicate that the statement is a yes-or-no question. Remember: Latin did not have punctuation like English, so they did not have a punctuation mark. Instead, they had this handy little particle to indicate yes/no question. (There are some other particles and also words used to form questions in Latin; you will see some of those later on.)

The word casus, "chance," is a noun from the verb cadit, "it falls." (This is one of those 4th-declension nouns that is formed from a verbal stem.) So, in Latin, "chance" is the way things fall. Like in dice! You can see Latin casus in English "case" and "occasion," and also "casual."

These words are found in Vergil's Aeneid! And, of course, for mere mortals, it is very difficult to tell whether events are happening by chance or whether there is a god at work.

2. Erinaceus partum differt.
(The) hedgehog puts-off giving-birth.
eri-NA-ceus partum differt.

The word erinaceus, "hedgehog," is the subject of the verb differt, and the word partum, the accusative of the 4th-declension noun partus, is the object of the verb.

You've actually seen a variation of this saying before: Echinus partum differt, where echinus is another way to say "hedgehog" in Latin. Here's the explanation again: The idea is that the prickly hedgehog experiences pain when she gives birth to the prickly baby hedgehogs, so she puts it off! But this just makes things worse: the longer she puts off giving birth, the more prickly the baby hedgehogs will be. She needs to just give birth to those babies and call it done... just like you might have some unpleasant task you keep putting off, and it just gets worse the longer you wait. Don't be like the hedgehog: get it done now!

3. Mirabile dictu.
Amazing to-say.
mi-RA-bile dictu.

The word mirabile, "wonderful, amazing" is a neuter adjective, referring to something in general, something that is wonderful. You can see this Latin root in English "admirable." This Latin word is also the origin of English "marvel."
The word dictu is the ablative form of the verbal noun dictus, from the verb dicit, "says."

Compare the English saying "sad to say."

You can also say something is amazing to-see, mirabile visu, with a verbal noun from the verb videt, "sees."

Coincidentally, the phrase mirabile dictu also appears in Vergil's Aeneid.

4. Colubram foves in sinu.
You're-nourishing (a) snake in (your) breast.
CO-lubram foves in sinu.

You know all the words in this saying! And you've also seen a variation on this saying before: Serpentem in sinu foves. Instead of serpentem, accusative of serpens, you have colubram here, the accusative form of colubra, another word for snake, which is also the origins of English "cobra."

Compare the English saying, "to nourish a snake in your bosom."

5. Ex fructu proprio cognoscitur arbor.
From (its) own fruit, (the) tree is-known.
ex fructu PRO-prio cog-NOS-citur arbor.

The word fructu is the ablative of the 4th-declension noun fructus, with the preposition ex. The adjective proprio is the ablative form of the masculine adjective proprius, agreeing with fructu.

The verb cognoscitur is the passive form of the verb cognoscit.

This is a saying echoed in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Here is how it appears in Luke: Non est enim arbor bona, quae facit fructus malos: neque arbor mala, faciens fructum bonum, Unaquaeque enim arbor de fructu suo cognoscitur, "For there is no good tree which produces bad fruits, and there is nota bad tree, making good fruit. For each tree is known by its fruit."

Here's a recap: