Today is a catch-up day to review any lesson(s) you missed this past week and/or to work on whatever kind of practice is most useful to you. There's also a slideshow below to help you review all those 3rd-declension accusative nouns that you saw last week! Here are the lessons from this week, plus previous weeks:
And here's a slideshow with all the sayings from the week... and their cats! Read them out loud while you watch: you could throw in some meows too. :-)
I also made a printable crossword PDF with this week's sayings as the prompts; screenshots below.
The focus for today's lesson is more of those -em 3rd-declension accusatives. You may have noticed that we've only done feminine and masculine 3rd-declension nouns and adjectives, but you'll be learning about 3rd-declension neuter nouns and adjectives next week.
Today's sayings have the same word as both subject and object, a style that you have seen before. To get ready, here's a slideshow that reviews those "duplicated" sayings:
You can read through those "duplicated" proverbs here too:
The new word here is lis, a 3rd-declension noun, meaning "quarrel, argument," and more specifically "lawsuit, court case." Its accusative form is litem, and you can see this Latin root in English "litigation." The United States is not the only litigious society, as you can see from this saying.
2. Amor gignit amorem.
Love brings-forth love.
amor gignit a-MO-rem.
The new word here is the verb gignit, "brings forth, gives birth to."
The word amorem is the accusative form of the 3rd-declension noun you've already seen: amor.
Compare a similar saying that you saw earlier: Gratia gratiam parit.
3. Nec serpens serpentem comedit.
Snake doesn't eat snake.
nec serpens ser-PEN-tem COM-edit.
The new word here is the verb comedit, "eats, consumes," which is a compound com-edit. You can see this root in English "edible" and also in the word "comestible."
The word serpentem is the accusative form of the 3rd-declension noun you've already seen: serpens.
Do you remember the little word nec? It is like non, and here it negates the verb: nec comedit, "doesn't eat."
Compare to this similar saying: Lupus lupum non edit.
4. Furem fur cognoscit et lupum lupus.
Thief knows thief and wolf (knows) wolf.
furem fur cog-NO-scit et lupum lupus.
The new word here is the verb cognoscit, "recognizes, knows," and you can see this root in English "cognition."
The word furem is the accusative form of the 3rd-declension noun you've already seen: fur.
Likewise, lupum is the accusative form of a 2nd-delcension noun: lupus.
Notice the word order: the object comes before the subject, furem fur ... lupum lupus.
For the meaning, compare the English saying, "Thick as thieves."
5. Lupus non leporem sed lupum generat.
(A) wolf doesn't give-birth-to (a) rabbit, but (a) wolf.
lupus non LE-porem sed lupum GE-nerat.
You know all the words in this saying already!
The word leporem is the accusative form of the 3rd-declension noun you've already seen: lepus.
The charm of this saying depends on the similar-sounding nouns: lupus and lepus.
Meanwhile, the "Lupus non leporem generat" part of this saying is like this saying about the eagle and the dove: Aquila non parit columbam.
The focus for today's lesson is more of those sentences that don't have verbs... but you know that there is a verb implied because there is an accusative noun, an object for the verb-that-is-not-there.
As a quick review, here are the verbless proverbs that you saw before:
Capra gladium. Goat (found) sword.
Cornix scorpium. Crow (grabbed) scorpion.
Atlas caelum. Atlas (holds up) sky.
Most of the words today are new, so there's no slideshow to review, but you will see lion, leo, and crow, corvus, in today's sayings. You'll also see a form of the verb latrat, "barks."
Unus quidem, sed leo est.
Corvus oculum corvi non eruit.
Canis mordens non latrat.
And here are today's proverbs:
1. Calvus pectinem. (The) bald man (has/wants a) comb.
calvus PEC-tinem.
The masculine adjective calvus means "bald," and here it is used substantively, as a noun: "bald (man)." It You can see this root in "Calvary" (Latin calvaria means "skull," the ultimate head-without-hair).
The word pectinem is the accusative of the 3rd-declension noun pecten, "comb." From this Latin root we get English "pectinate" and also, via French, "peignoir," the bathrobe or dressing gown you might wear while combing your hair.
This is one of these sayings about an absurd mismatch; compare these sayings that you saw previously: Nauta aratrum poscit and Speculum caecus poscit.
2. Corvus serpentem.
(The) crow (grabbed a) serpent.
corvus ser-PEN-tem.
The word serpentem is the accusative of the 3rd-declension noun serpens, which gives us English "serpent." The Latin word is actually a participle from the verb serpo, "creep, crawl," so serpens literally means "creeping, crawling."
This saying is like the one you saw last week: Cornix scorpium. The idea is the same: someone grabs something, expecting a treat, and instead: disaster! This saying has its own article at Wikipedia: The crow and the snake.
3. Carpathius leporem. (The) Carpathian (imported a) rabbit.
car-PA-thius LE-porem.
Carpathos is a Greek island in the southeastern Aegean, and Carpthius refers to someone who lives on the island, a Carpathian. (Not to be confused with the Carpathian Mountains in Europe!)
The word leporem is the accusative of the 3rd-declension noun lepus, "hare, rabbit." You can see this root in English "leporine." There is also this film: Night of the Lepus. It involves mutant killer rabbits but, as Wikipedia notes, "the film's biggest failure is considered to be the inability to make the rabbits seem scary. Night of the Lepus has since gained cult status for its laughably poor quality." (I have watched this movie, and it is indeed laughable!)
The story behind this proverb is ecological: there were no rabbits on the island of Carpathus, but a foolish Carpathian brought a rabbit to the island, although it must have been a few rabbits... because the rabbits then overwhelmed the island, eating up the vegetation. So, the saying refers to someone who does something reckless that leads to disastrous consequences. For more about this saying, and the similar rabbit disaster in Australia, see Michael Gilleland's blog post: Rabbits.
The word hinnulus means "colt," specifically a colt born from a stallion and a she-donkey, which is also called a "hinny" in English.
The word leonem is the accusative form of leo.
So, the idea here is that some weak person is foolishly attacking, chasing, etc. someone who is far stronger than they are. The Greek version of this saying is Ὁ νεβρὸς τὸν λέοντα (ho nebros ton leonta), "The fawn (attacks) the lion."
The noun catalus means "puppy." Don't confuse this noun with the name of the famous Roman poet, Catullus. The spelling makes a difference!
The verb allatrat means "bark at." You haven't seen this verb before, but you have seen the uncompounded form: latrat, "barks," in the saying: Canis mordens non latrat.
The meaning of this saying is like the meaning of Hinnulus leonem: a puppy has no business barking at a lion. That is both a foolish and dangerous thing for a puppy to do!
Here is this week's vocabulary review: the slides have the English translations, plus links back to the original posts if you want to review the notes... along with the cats!
These are the instructions for how to use the slideshow as a quiz, and here's a link to the full-size show. And remember: reading OUT LOUD is the key. So, you can use this as a quiz, filling in the blanks when you can, or you can just use it as a way to review and read 30 previous proverbs out loud. The more you hear, the more you learn! So, you can read the proverb out loud 3 times: once with the slide that shows the English, then a second time with the cat slide, and then one last time without English or cat.
If you want to do even more reviewing, here's the random review slideshow from Week 18, Week 17, and Week 16 (which is the first week with this type of review).
The focus for today's lesson is more practice with 3rd-declension accusatives ending in -em. It's also a chance for you to keep learning the stems of those 3rd-declension nouns. Remember: you can see the stem in the genitive -is form and also in the accusative -em form. Here are some of the genitive and accusative 3rd-declension forms you've seen so far, along with the nominative form:
nox: Luna oculus noctis.
homo: Mors est latro hominis.
scelus ... salus: Confessio sceleris initium salutis.
leo ... rex: Sicut fremitus leonis, et regis ira.
cor ... os: Pulchra est harmonia cordis et oris.
fur: Occasio facit furem.
nemo: Tempus neminem manet.
finis: Nescit homo finem suum.
vermis: Avis matutina vermem capit.
piscis ... minor: Piscem vorat maior minorem.
And here is a little slideshow (with cats) of the words you have seen before that you will see again in today's sayings:
And here are today's proverbs; I've underlined the accusative form each time:
1. Amor tollit timorem.
Love removes fear.
amor tollit ti-MO-rem.
The verb tollit means to "lift up" and it can also mean "carry off, remove," which is the meaning here. You can see this root in English "extol."
The word timorem is the accusative of the 3rd-declension noun timor, "fear." You haven't seen this word before, but you have seen these two related words: the adjective timidus and the verb timet. The idea is that love makes you courageous, feeling no fear.
2. Repellit ver hiemem.
Spring drives-out winter.
re-PEL-lit ver HI-emem.
The verb repellit, "drive back, drive out," and it gives us English "repel."
The 3rd-declension noun ver means "spring," as in English "vernal," and Italian primavera (first-spring). The word hiemem is the accusative of the 3rd-declension noun hiems, which you have seen before.
The words come from the Metamorphoses of the Roman poet Ovid.
And speaking of primavera...
3. Colubra restem non parit.
(A) snake doesn't beget (a) rope.
CO-lubra restem non parit.
The noun colubra means "snake, serpent," and it is a feminine noun. There is also a masculine form of this same word: coluber.
The word restem is the accusative of the 3rd-declension noun restis, which means "rope, cord."
The idea is that something dangerous, like a serpent, is not going to produce something harmless, like a rope. Compare the saying you saw earlier: Aquila non parit columbam.
From the Latin noun opportunitas we get English "opportunity." The word latronem is the accusative of the 3rd-declension noun latro, which you've seen before. The plural form is latrones, which is the name of a ancient Roman board game. You can find out more at Wikipedia: Latrones.
Compare a saying you saw earlier: Occasio facit furem.
5. Pauper dominum, non sortem mutat.
(A) poor (man) changes (his) master, not (his) fate.
pauper DO-minum, non sortem mutat.
The word sortem is the accusative of the 3rd-declension noun sors, which means "lot, allotment, lottery," and thus also "fate, destiny." You can see this root in English "sort" and also "sorcery" (from the idea of "casting lots" as a form of divination).
Notice how this saying is two statements combined, with the focus on the two accusatives, dominum and sortem, which are the objects of a single verb:
Pauper dominum (mutat),
(pauper) non sortem mutat.
The idea is that someone who is poor might have a new boss, but the poverty remains the same. For an Aesop's fable on this theme, see the story of The Sensible Ass.
The focus for today's lesson is something new: the accusative ending for the 3rd declension. You've learned the -am accusative for the 1st declension and the -um accusative for the 2nd declension, and now for the 3rd declension the accusative ending is -em.
But there's something different about the 3rd declension. Do you remember from when you studied the genitive ending for the 3rd declension? Here's that previous post if you want to review. The trick with the 3rd declension is that you cannot form the stem from the nominative form, like you can for the 1st and 2nd declension. For the 3rd declension, you need to know the stem. So, to make the genitive you add -is to the stem, and you make the accusative by adding -em to the stem. And how do you know the stem? You have to learn it, or you can look it up in the dictionary. The dictionary always gives the genitive form because that is what you need to know the stem:
mors. nominative
mort-is genitive
stem: mort- (remove -is from the genitive to get the stem)
mort-em accusative
If you want to take a look at the variety of 3rd-declension noun and adjective stems, this slideshow gives you the genitive form next to the nominative form for 50 different 3rd-declension words. You can click on through and compare the nominative and genitive forms to get a sense of how these stems work:
And here is a little slideshow (with cats) of the words you have seen before:
And here are today's proverbs; I've underlined the 3rd-declension accusatives:
3. Nescit homo finem suum.
(A) person doesn't-know their end.
nescit homo finem suum.
You also know all the words in this saying!
The word finem is the accusative form of finis, a 3rd-declension noun you know already. It is a masculine noun, so it takes a masculine accusative adjective: suum.
The "end" here refers to the end of life. In other words, no one can know what life has in store for them in the future, especially at the end. The words come from the Biblical Book of Ecclesiastes.
The 3rd-declension noun avis is a feminine noun, so it takes a feminine adjective: matutina, "morning, early-morning, early." The Roman goddess of the dawn was Matuta, also known as Mater Matuta, equivalent to Greek Aurora. You can find out more at Wikipedia.
The word vermem is the accusative form of vermis, "worm," a 3rd-declension noun. You can see this Latin root in English "vermin." Both Latin vermis and English "worm" are from the Indo-European root wr̥mis.
The verb capit means "takes, grabs, gets," and you can see this root in English "capture."
We have this saying in English too: "The early bird gets the worm."
5. Piscem vorat maior minorem.
(The) bigger (fish) eats (the) littler fish.
Piscem vorat maior mi-NO-rem.
The word piscem is the accusative form of piscis, "fish," a 3rd-declension noun. You can see this Latin word in the astrological sign "Pisces" (pisces is the plural form in Latin: "fishes").
The masculine adjective maior, "bigger," gives us English "major." This is the comparative form of an adjective you have seen before: magnus. The word minorem is the accusative form of an adjective you've seen before, minor.
Notice how the accusative noun phrase, piscem minorem, wraps around the whole sentence.
I can't resist sharing Brueghel's illustration of this saying, which has a line of Latin verse below the image: Grandibus exigui sunt pisces piscibus esca, "The tiny fishes are food for the big fishes."
