Part II Lesson 2

Try Latin for Beginners Chapter 1-2 Vocabulary Scatter

LESSON II

FIRST PRINCIPLES (Continued)

23. Inflection. Words may change their forms to indicate some change in sense or use, as, is, are; was, were; who, whose, whom; farmer, farmer’s; woman, women. This is called inflection. The inflection of a noun, adjective, or pronoun is called its declension, that of a verb its conjugation.

 

24. Number. Latin, like English, has two numbers, singular and plural. In English we usually form the plural by adding -s or -es to the singular. So Latin changes the singular to the plural by changing the ending of the word. Compare

Naut-a pugnat The sailor fights

Naut-ae pugnant The sailors fight

25. Rule. Nouns that end in -a in the singular end in -ae in the plural.

26. Learn the following nouns so that you can give the English for the Latin or the Latin for the English. Write the plural of each.

agri´cola, farmer (agriculture)1 aqua, water (aquarium) causa, cause, reason do´mina, lady of the house, mistress (dominate) filia, daughter (filial) fortū´na, fortune

fuga, flight (fugitive) iniū´ria, wrong, injury lūna, moon (lunar) nauta, sailor (nautical) puel´la, girl silva, forest (silvan) terra, land (terrace)

 

1. The words in parentheses are English words related to the Latin. When the words are practically identical, as causa, cause, no comparison is needed.

 

27. Compare again the sentences

Nauta pugna-t The sailor fights

Nautae pugna-nt The sailors fight

In the first sentence the verb pugna-t is in the third person singular, in the second sentence pugna-nt is in the third person plural.

 

15 28. Rule. Agreement of Verb. A finite verb must always be in the same person and number as its subject.

 

29. Rule. In the conjugation of the Latin verb the third person singular active ends in -t, the third person plural in -nt. The endings which show the person and number of the verb are called personal endings.

 

30. Learn the following verbs and write the plural of each. The personal pronouns he, she, it, etc., which are necessary in the inflection of the English verb, are not needed in the Latin, because the personal endings take their place. Of course, if the verb’s subject is expressed we do not translate the personal ending by a pronoun; thus nauta pugnat is translated the sailor fights, not the sailor he fights.

ama-t	he (she, it)	loves, is loving, does love (amity, amiable)
labō´ra-t	“   “   “	labors, is laboring, does labor
nūntia-t2	“   “   “	announces, is announcing, does announce
porta-t	“   “   “	carries, is carrying, does carry (porter)
pugna-t	“   “   “	fights, is fighting, does fight (pugnacious)

2. The u in nūntiō is long by exception. (Cf. § 12. 2.)

 

31. EXERCISES

I. 1. The daughter loves, the daughters love.
2. The sailor is carrying, the sailors carry.
3. The farmer does labor, the farmers labor.
4. The girl is announcing, the girls do announce.
5. The ladies are carrying, the lady carries.
II. 1. Nauta pugnat, nautae pugnant.
2. Puella amat, puellae amant.
 3. Agricola portat, agricolae portant.
 4. Fīlia labōrat, fīliae labōrant.
5. Nauta nūntiat, nautae nūntiant.
6. Dominae amant, domina amat.

DOMINA

Latin for Beginners: Part II Lesson 1

PART II

WORDS AND FORMS

LESSON I

FIRST PRINCIPLES

19. Subject and Predicate. 1. Latin, like English, expresses thoughts by means of sentences. A sentence is a combination of words that expresses a thought, and in its simplest form is the statement of a single fact. Thus,

Galba is a farmer Galba est agricola

The sailor fights Nauta pugnat

In each of these sentences there are two parts:

Subject

Galba Galba The sailor Nauta

Predicate

is a farmer est agricola fights pugnat

2. The subject is that person, place, or thing about which something is said, and is therefore a noun or some word which can serve the same purpose.

a. Pronouns, as their name implies (pro, “instead of,” and noun), often take the place of nouns, usually to save repeating the same noun, as, Galba is a farmer; he is a sturdy fellow.

3. The predicate is that which is said about the subject, and consists of a verb with or without modifiers.

a. A verb is a word which asserts something (usually an act) concerning a person, place, or thing.

13 20. The Object. In the two sentences, The boy hit the ball and The ball hit the boy, the same words are used, but the meaning is different, and depends upon the order of the words. The doer of the act, that about which something is said, is, as we have seen above, the subject. That to which something is done is the direct object of the verb. The boy hit the ball is therefore analyzed as follows:

Subject	Predicate
The boy	hit the ball (verb) (direct object)

a. A verb whose action passes over to the object directly, as in the sentence above, is called a transitive verb. A verb which does not admit of a direct object is called intransitive, as, I walk, he comes.

21. The Copula. The verb to be in its different forms—are, is, was, etc.—does not tell us anything about the subject; neither does it govern an object. It simply connects the subject with the word or words in the predicate that possess a distinct meaning. Hence it is called the copula, that is, the joiner or link.

22. In the following sentences pronounce the Latin and name the nouns, verbs, subjects, objects, predicates, copulas:

1.	America est patria mea America is fatherland my
2.	Agricola fīliam amat (The) farmer (his) daughter loves
3.	Fīlia est Iūlia (His) daughter is Julia
4.	Iūlia et agricola sunt in īnsulā Julia and (the) farmer are on (the) island
5.	Iūlia aquam portat Julia water carries
6.	Rosam in comīs habet (A) rose in (her) hair (she) has
7.	Iūlia est puella pulchra Julia is (a) girl pretty
8.	Domina fīliam pulchram habet (The) lady (a) daughter beautiful has

a. The sentences above show that Latin does not express some words which are necessary in English. First of all, Latin has no article the or a; thus agricola may mean the farmer, a farmer, or simply farmer. Then, too, the personal pronouns, I, you, he, she, etc., and the possessive pronouns, my, your, his, her, etc., are not expressed if the meaning of the sentence is clear without them.

14

LESSON II

FIRST PRINCIPLES (Continued)

23. Inflection. Words may change their forms to indicate some change in sense or use, as, is, are; was, were; who, whose, whom; farmer, farmer’s; woman, women. This is called inflection. The inflection of a noun, adjective, or pronoun is called its declension, that of a verb its conjugation.

24. Number. Latin, like English, has two numbers, singular and plural. In English we usually form the plural by adding -s or -es to the singular. So Latin changes the singular to the plural by changing the ending of the word. Compare

Naut-a pugnat The sailor fights

Naut-ae pugnant The sailors fight

25. Rule. Nouns that end in -a in the singular end in -ae in the plural.

26. Learn the following nouns so that you can give the English for the Latin or the Latin for the English. Write the plural of each.

agri´cola, farmer (agriculture)1 aqua, water (aquarium) causa, cause, reason do´mina, lady of the house, mistress (dominate) filia, daughter (filial) fortū´na, fortune

fuga, flight (fugitive) iniū´ria, wrong, injury lūna, moon (lunar) nauta, sailor (nautical) puel´la, girl silva, forest (silvan) terra, land (terrace)

1. The words in parentheses are English words related to the Latin. When the words are practically identical, as causa, cause, no comparison is needed.

27. Compare again the sentences

Nauta pugna-t The sailor fights

Nautae pugna-nt The sailors fight

In the first sentence the verb pugna-t is in the third person singular, in the second sentence pugna-nt is in the third person plural.

15 28. Rule. Agreement of Verb. A finite verb must always be in the same person and number as its subject.

29. Rule. In the conjugation of the Latin verb the third person singular active ends in -t, the third person plural in -nt. The endings which show the person and number of the verb are called personal endings.

30. Learn the following verbs and write the plural of each. The personal pronouns he, she, it, etc., which are necessary in the inflection of the English verb, are not needed in the Latin, because the personal endings take their place. Of course, if the verb’s subject is expressed we do not translate the personal ending by a pronoun; thus nauta pugnat is translated the sailor fights, not the sailor he fights.

ama-t	he (she, it)	loves, is loving, does love (amity, amiable)
labō´ra-t	“   “   “	labors, is laboring, does labor
nūntia-t2	“   “   “	announces, is announcing, does announce
porta-t	“   “   “	carries, is carrying, does carry (porter)
pugna-t	“   “   “	fights, is fighting, does fight (pugnacious)

2. The u in nūntiō is long by exception. (Cf. § 12. 2.)

31. EXERCISES

I. 1. The daughter loves, the daughters love. 2. The sailor is carrying, the sailors carry. 3. The farmer does labor, the farmers labor. 4. The girl is announcing, the girls do announce. 5. The ladies are carrying, the lady carries.
II. 1. Nauta pugnat, nautae pugnant. 2. Puella amat, puellae amant. 3. Agricola portat, agricolae portant. 4. Fīlia labōrat, fīliae labōrant. 5. Nauta nūntiat, nautae nūntiant. 6. Dominae amant, domina amat.

DOMINA

Index for Latin 1

Lesson 1: Introduction to Latin Course

• Review

Change in Plans:

• Switching over to using Henle. However, I'm keeping the ones above since they still could be useful.
• Latin Boot Camp 1 precedes this. We'll try for about 1 class per week.
  

9/5 -- use online sources as much as possible.

Henle Latin 1


----about 135 lessons -----

Notes:

• Start with Latin Boot Camp 1.
• Try to memorize present tense for all the different conjugations (alongside this)
• Wheelock's Table of Contents

August - September

UNIT 1: First Declension

Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson 5
Lesson 6
Lesson 7: Review of First Chapter

(review of first declension/exercises from Beginner's Latin)

Review of First Declension: Beginner Latin
Beginner Latin: Table to Memorize
Beginner Latin: Translation Exercise

UNIT 2

Introducing Verb Conjugation -- Present Tense, First and Second Conjugation
Lesson 8: Second Declension -- servus
Lesson 9: More on 2nd Declension Masculine
Adjectives in the First and Second Declension
Translating Latin Maxims

Epitome Sacrae Historiae
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3

Set IV
Latin Boot Camp #5-6


Wheelock Chapter 3
Second Declension
Masculine Nouns and Adjectives
-Er Endings in Second Declension Masculine
Apposition
Reading Latin
Word Order
Latin Review/Excursion

Some Things to Know from Earlier Chapters

Infinitive and Stem in Conjugations
Latin REview/Excursion
Present Active Imperative

Set V
Latin Boot Camp 7-8

Wheelock Chapter 4
Second Declension Neuters
Adjectives
Present Indicative of Sum
Predicate Nouns and Adjectives
Substantive Adjectives

Latin Excursion
Review

Set VI
Wheelock Chapter 5
First and Second Conjugations:

Future and Imperfect
Adjectives in -er 
Review
Translating a Passage
Reading and Review
More Review

November - December

LESSON 3: The Third Declension

Third Declension -- Gender
Vocabulary for Lesson 3
Translating Words
Translating Phrases
Translating Sentences
More Sentences
Appositives
Translating Sentences
Complete the Sentence
Composition (Translating into Latin)
Translating Words
Expletive "There"
Translating Sentences
Composition
Latin Conversation
Declension of Pars
Translating Phrases
Translating Phrases into Latin
Translating Sentences
Composition
Review
Review of Nouns Like Lex and Pars
More Review
More Review
Note on Reading Latin
Translating a Passage
Translating a Passage #2
Composition
The Declension of Flumen
Translating
Translating
Translating
Review of the Third Declension
More Review
More Review
More Review
Latin Composition

Review

• Match Proverbs
• Then try the Bug Match

On Reading Latin

Romans always read aloud, or so they say.

St Augustine, coming to visit St Ambrose who would become instrumental in his conversion to Christianity, was surprised by his peculiar way of reading. 

"When he read," said Augustine, "his eyes scanned the page and his heart sought out the meaning, but his voice was silent and his tongue was still. Anyone could approach him freely and guests were not commonly announced, so that often, when we came to visit him, we found him reading like this in silence, for he never read aloud."

Of course, this is how the majority of us read nowadays unless we are reading aloud for someone to listen.  A classics professor writes:

There is no disputing the fact that the Romans read everything aloud, in fact they were apparently not able to read silently. We know this from testimony about Roman villas having private "reading rooms" where the master could read without disturbing the family, and it was only in the time of St. Augustine that silent reading developed, perhaps out of the requirements of monastic life. In other words, all Romans continually "phonated" the way a third grade child often does, and were happy with this as a satisfactory way to read. Of course there is one major benefit: Reading is kept to a slow and sensitive pace, one savors the sounds and enjoys minute changes of meaning and inflections of mood. It is said that a modern student must be able to read forty pages of non-technical prose an hour simply to be able to keep up with college assignments in the Humanities. One marvels at how much is covered, but cannot help wondering how much is missed.

Go on to next section

Some Advice on Reading

• Wheelock recommends reading aloud or at least pronouncing the Latin under your breath when you are reading a Latin sentence.   This slows you down and also echoes the way the Romans actually read what they wrote,
• Father Henle recommends learning NOT to translate mentally into English when you are reading Latin.  Try to simply get the sense of the Latin words.  This is advice for the long term.  At first, it's almost impossible to avoid translating in your head, and of course, most beginning Latin courses require translations.   However, it is something to keep in mind.  

Try rereading the first 3 chapters of Lhomond's Epitome Sacrae Historiae

The story is familiar to you.   Try reading it using the suggestions above.  

Here are some questions about it:

Quis caelum creavit? 
Quid coegit tertiô diê?  
Quid êdûxit ê terrâ?   
Quando Deus quiêvit?   
Qui diê fêcit sôlem et lûnam, et stellâs?  
Quîs natant in aquîs?   
Ubi volitant avês? 
Quid nômen prîmae mulieris habuit? 


You can probably figure out the question terms for yourself but if you can't, go here for help (second paragraph)

When you think you know the answers, try the Scatter:

Word Order II

Longer but still simple Latin sentences often have this order:

1. Subject and its modifiers (adjectives) -- Nominative Case
2. Indirect Object -- Dative Case
3. Direct Object (s) -- Accusative Case
4. Adverbial Words/Phrases --  often Ablative or Accusative
5. Verb.

Wheelock's Latin says that the Romans were fond of the periodic style which seeks to keep the reader in suspense till the end of the sentence.   This periodic style was commonly used by classically educated English writers and speakers up until the second part of the 19th century at least.

English Example (from the poet Milton)

... the moon, whose orbThrough optic glass the Tuscan artist views,

from Welsh poet Dylan Thomas

"Years and years ago, when I was a boy, when there were wolves in Wales, and birds the color of red-flannel petticoats whisked past the harp-shaped hills, when we sang and wallowed all night and day in caves that smelt like Sunday afternoons in damp front farmhouse parlors, and we chased, with the jawbones of deacons, the English and the bears, before the motor car, before the wheel, before the duchess-faced horse, when we rode the daft and happy hills bareback, it snowed and it snowed."

You can see that in our native language, the verb-at-end sentence is not completely confusing.   We can usually wait till the end to get to the sentence's action.

The idea with Latin is to:

1. Read straight through (aloud or under your breath, preferably)
2. Try to wait for the end to see the verb.

However, this is just something to keep in mind for the long-term -- for example, when you're at TAC reading Aquinas, perhaps.  Many people just beginning to read Latin jump to the verb at the end.   I often do it, but I still think this is good advice to keep in mind.