Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #234: Wrapping up the 4th declension

Today is the last round of practice with those fourth declension nouns, the sneaky ones ending in -us, with -um for the accusative, but with -us (-ūs) for the genitive, -ui for the dative, and -u (-ū) for the ablative. In today's sayings, there is a mix of accusative and ablative forms.

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

And here are today's proverbs:

1. Nemo ante obitum beatus.
Nobody (can be called) happy before (their) death.
nemo ante O-bitum be-A-tus.

You have not seen the adjective beatus, "blessed," before, but you have seen the superlative form: beatissimus, "most blessed."

The word obitum is the accusative form of the noun obitus, "encountering, reaching, reaching the end," as in reaching the end of life; the accusative is being used here with the preposition ante. This is one of those 4th-declension nouns that is form from a verb: obit. And yes, this is the root of English "obituary."

This is a very common idea in both Latin and Greek proverbial wisdom: you never know what tomorrow could bring, so you cannot say that someone has had a blessed (lucky, fortunate, etc.) life until they reach the end of their life. It is a quite pessimistic saying in that sense: the idea is that things can always get worse, not that they can always get better!

2. Nec semper arcum tendit Apollo.
Apollo doesn't always stretch (his) bow.
nec semper arcum tendit A-POL-lo.

You know all the words in this saying!

The word arcum is the accusative form of the noun arcus; it is the object of the verb tendit, and the subject is Apollo. Remember, his name belongs to the 3rd declension, so this is the nominative form; the stem is Apollin- (like many 3rd declension nouns, you can't always see the stem in the nominative form).

The metaphor of the "bow stretched tight" is used in both proverbs and fables to represent the person who never relaxes, who never takes a break. Apollo was the most renowned archer among the gods, so the idea is that if even Apollo takes a break sometimes, you need to do the same!

3. In portu naufragium facis.
You're-making (a) shipwreck in port.
in portu nau-FRA-gium facis.

The noun naufragium, "shipwreck," is new, but you have seen a related word: naufragus, "a shipwrecked person." With neuter nouns like naufragium you cannot tell just from looking at the word whether it is nominative or accusative because the forms are the same, but from context here, you can tell it has to be the accusative object of the verb, facis, because the subject of the verb is "you."

The word portu is the ablative form of the noun portus, which means "harbor, port," just as you would expect! It is in the ablative case with the preposition in. Note that there is also a feminine noun formed from this same root, with a similar meaning: porta, meaning "gate, passage, door."

This saying about a project that has taken an unexpected turn for the worse: it's one thing for a ship to sink during a storm at sea, but something else to sink right there in the supposedly safe harbor!

4. In pulicis morsu deum invocat.
(He) invokes (a) god for (a) flea bite.
in PU-licis morsu deum IN-vocat.

The new word in this saying is pulicis, the genitive form of pulex, which means "flea." The words are cognates, i.e. both Latin pulex and English "flea" come from the same Indo-European root, plews.
The word morsu is the ablative form of the noun morsus, another example of the ablative case with the preposition in.

The word deum is the acccusative form of deum, the object of the verb invocat.

The subject of the verb is not expressed, as often in Latin; the idea is that the proverb can be used to refer to "anyone" who is engaged in this foolish behavior.

Like many proverbs, this one echoes an Aesopica fable about a man who foolishly calls on a god for help when he is bitten by a flea: The Man, the Flea, and Heracles. The idea of course is that you should not bother the gods for such trivial things.

5. Somno, esca, potu, nemo carere potest.
Nobody can-do-without sleep, food, (and) drink.
somno, esca, potu, nemo ca-RE-re potest.

It's long, but you know all the words in this saying too!

The word carere is the infinitive of the verb caret, used with the verb potest: "can lack." The subject is nemo, "nobody," which is another one of those 3rd-declension nouns with a sneaky stem: much like Apollo has the stem Apollin-, the word nemo has the stem nemin-.

The verb takes an ablative complement, so somno is the ablative of the masculine noun somnus (2nd declension), while potu is the ablative of the masculine noun potus (4th declension), and esca (escā) is the ablative of the feminine noun esca (1st declension).

I'm glad somno was included in the list. Nobody would be foolish enough to go without food or drink, but some people seem to think that they can get away without enough sleep!

Here's a recap: