1.03.24: genitive case singular and plural of 1st declension nouns

1.03.24: genitive case singular and plural of 1st declension nouns

First read the two short texts and note the endings in bold. You have seen these endings in a text posted previously and some brief explanation was given at that point. Here, we will look at them in a little more detail.

[The Road to Latin (Chesnutt) 1932]

Marcella

Puella est Marcella. Marcella est fīlia Terentiae. Terentia est domina vīllae. Marcella est laeta quod novam tunicam habet. Tunica Marcellae est longa et alba. Marcella corbulam portat. Marcellae corbula est pulchra. Marcella statuās deārum amat. Vīlla est plēna statuārum deārum. Corbula Marcellae est rosārum albārum plēna. Marcella statuās deārum ōrnat; corōnae deās dēlectant.

Puellae laetae

Cornēlia et Secunda sunt fīliae Tulliae. Tullia et fīliae vīllam pulchram et ancillās multās habent. Vīta fīliārum Tulliae est laeta quod Tullia fīliās amat. Ancillae Tulliae sunt laetae quod Tullia est benigna domina. Vīta Tulliae est laeta quod et fīliae et ancillae sunt bonae. Ancillae nōn semper labōrant. Saepe puellae et ancillae ambulant. Tullia est magistra fīliārum et ancillārum. Puellae sunt laetae; puellae Tulliam magistram amant.

benignus, -a, -um: kind

tunica: tunic (common form of everyday clothing worn by both men and women)

genitive case

In English, we say "My friend's book" using an 's apostrophe to indicate possession; one small spelling change makes that plural i.e. "My friends' teacher". However, we don't tend to use it with inanimate nouns i.e. we would more likely say "The windows of the house are all broken" rather than "The house's windows are all broken". In French, all possessions are indicated with the preposition 'de' (of): My brother's book > The book of my brother > Le livre de mon frère. In German and Russian, the possession is also indicated by placing the 'possessor' after the thing 'possessed' and, in fact, both those languages - as in Latin - use the genitive case. The apostrophe 's in English is also a genitive case; it was in Anglo-Saxon as -es (cyninges > Modern English king's) and it is one of the few remaining examples of when the original English language had a full case system.

The genitive case in Latin is used to indicate the possessor:

Marcella est fīlia ¦ Terentiae. Marcella is the daughter ¦ of Terentia = Marcella is Terentia's daughter.

Terentia est domina ¦ vīllae. Terentia is the mistress ¦ of the villa.

Tunica ¦ Marcellae est longa et alba. The tunic ¦ of Marcella is long and white = Marcella's tunic is long and white.

You can see that, when translating, it is more natural to use apostrophe 's when the possessor is animate and of when it is referring to something inanimate, but that is merely a question of translation style rather than a rule.

The genitive case normally follows the noun that is 'possessed' but it can precede it:

[i] Marcellae [ii] corbula est pulchra. [ii] The basket [i] of Marcella is beautiful = Marcella's basket is beautiful.

In practice, however, the genitive will most often occur after the noun.

Cornēlia et Secunda sunt fīliae ¦ Tulliae. Cornelia and Secunda are Tullia's daughters [i.e. the daughters ¦ of Tullia]

Ancillae ¦ Tulliae sunt laetae. Tullia's maidservants [i.e. the maidservants ¦ of Tullia] are happy.

Vīta ¦ Tulliae est laeta. Tullia's life [i.e. the life ¦ of Tullia] is happy.

The genitive singular of 1st declension nouns looks the same as the nominative plural: -ae

Nominative singular: puella

Genitive singular: puellae

The genitive plural of 1st declension nouns is -ārum

Nominative plural: puellae

Genitive plural: puellārum

Marcella statuās deārum amat. Marcella loves the statues of the goddesses.

Marcella statuās deārum ōrnat. Marcella decorates the statues of the goddesses.

Tullia est magistra fīliārum et ancillārum. Tullia is the teacher of the daughters and the maidservants = Tullia is the daughters' and maidservants' teacher.

The genitive is not used only to express possession; it is used in many other circumstances where English uses of e.g. in quantities 'a bottle of wine' (which we look at in a later post) and, in the use in this text with the adjective plenus, -a, -um meaning 'full':

Corbula Marcellae est rosārum albārum plēna. Marcella's basket is full of white roses.

You can also see in the example above:

[i] the adjective endings are the same as the noun

[ii] two genitive cases in the same sentence

Corbula [i] Marcellae est [ii] rosārum albārum plēna.

[i] Marcella's basket is full [ii] of white roses

Further examples of this are in:

Vīta [i] fīliārum [ii] Tulliae est laeta.

The life [i] of the daughters [ii] of Tullia is happy = The life [ii] of Tullia's [i] daughters is happy.

Vīlla est plēna [i] statuārum [ii] deārum.

The villa is full of the statues of the goddesses.