esse: to be; one of the most important verbs to know in Latin
sum: I am
es: you (singular) are
est: he / she / it is
sumus: we are
estis: you (plural) are
sunt: they are
[i] The first point to note is the absence of pronouns i.e. the words ‘I, you etc.’ Latin does have pronouns, and we will look at them, but the verb endings themselves indicate what in grammar is called the person and number i.e. who is performing the action and whether more than one person is performing that action; sum means ‘I am’ and the meaning is clear without the need for pronouns.
[ii] Latin verbs have two forms for ‘you’ depending on whether you are talking to one person or more than one person. Unlike, for example, French, German and Spanish, where the status of the person and / or your relationship with that person will determine which form of ‘you’ is used, that is not the case in Latin: whether you are talking to a slave, your sister, a shopkeeper or an emperor, you use the singular form.
[iii] In terms of grammar, we refer to the forms of the verb as follows:
sum: first person singular
es: second person singular
est: third person singular
sumus: first person plural
estis: second person plural
sunt: third person plural
It is important to become familiar with these terms since they are used all the time when discussing verb forms.
Now, it is easy to say what job you do. However, if you’re a graphic designer, then Classical Latin will not provide you with a word for it. Therefore, you can either find a ‘New Latin’ word (i.e. words that have been created in Latin to serve our contemporary needs, and such information is available online) or you can simply lie and say that you train gladiators….
Salvē! Nōmen mihi Gāius est. Lanista sum.
Hello, my name’s Gaius. I am a gladiator trainer.
Nūntius es. You (sg.) are a messenger
Iūlia ancilla est. Julia is a maidservant.
And we can [i] add -ne to the verb to ask questions and [ii] put nōn before the verb to make the statement negative:
Esne magister? Are you a teacher?
Minimē, magister nōn sum. Medicus sum. No, I'm not a teacher. I'm a doctor.
Estne agricola? Is he a farmer?
Minimē, agricola nōn est. Rēx est. No, he's not a farmer. He's the king.
Look carefully at the list of jobs below. You will see that the nouns have been divided into groups. For the purposes of the next post on declensions, focus on those nouns that end in [i] –(i)us, [ii] -er and [iii] -a; the other nouns we will look at in a later post.
Group [i]: ending in –(i)us
-us
- architectus: architect; master builder
- coquus: cook
- discipulus: pupil; student
- grammaticus: a grammar school or secondary school teacher of grammar (originally Latīn or Greek)
- lēgātus: envoy; ambassador (a word that commonly occurs in Latīn literature since, during battles, they were often sent to negotiate settlements)
- medicus: doctor
- servus: slave; servant
- vīlicus: steward of a farm or an estate
-ius
- argentārius / mēnsārius: banker; money-changer
- ēmissārius: spy
- gemmārius: jeweller
- nūntius: messenger
- plumbārius: plumber
- raedārius: coach / carriage driver
- sagittārius: archer
Group [iī] ending in -er
- faber: carpenter; workman
- magister: teacher
- signifer: standard-bearer (in the army)
Group [iiī] ending in -a
Masculine
- agricola: farmer
- aurīga: charioteer
- lanista: trainer / manager of a team of gladiators
- nautā: sailor
- pīrāta: pirate
- poēta: poet
Feminine
- ancilla: maidservant
- discipula: pupil (f)
- magistra: teacher (f)
- medica: doctor (f)
- rēgīna: queen
Be able to recognise the following nouns, but don’t focus on their endings yet.
- gladiātor: gladiator
- imperātor: commander; general; emperor
- pāstor: shepherd
- piscātor: fisherman; piscātrīx: fisherwoman
- pistor: baker (m); pistrīx: baker (f)
- scrīptor: writer (m); scrīptrīx: writer (f)
- textor: weaver (m); textrīx: weaver (f)
- tōnsor: barber (m); tōnstrīx: barber (f)
- vēnditor: seller; vendor
- cōnsul: consul (the highest political office in the Roman republic)
- caupō: innkeeper
- fullō: fuller (a launderer; a person who finished processing fabric, later to be made into clothing, blankets etc.)
- iūdex: judge
- rēx: king
- mīles: soldier
[i] The images show some of the occupations in Ancient Rome. Can you match them with the words from the list above?
[ii] A more detailed list of second declension masculine nouns ending in -er is also posted below.
No comments:
Post a Comment