20.04.24: inchoative verbs [2]

A nice use of the inchoative verbs is with colour:

albus, -a, -um: white > albēscō, albēscere [3]: become white; turn pale

non aequore verso tam creber fractis albescit fluctus in undis (Silius) ¦ Thick and fast they come, like the billows on a stormy sea that whiten amid the breaking waves

So, we can combine this with a quick recap on some of the colour adjectives in Latin:

niger, nigra, -um: black > nigrēscit: it turns / it’s becoming black

ruber, rubra, -um: red > rubēscit: it turns red; can also refer to blushing

flāvus, -a, -um: yellow > flāvēscit: it turns yellow

viridis, -e [3rd declension adjectīve; coming soon]: green > viridēscit: it turns green

All the inchoative verbs are 3rd conjugation; most of them are unlikely to be found in any other person except the 3rd singular or plural since they primarily describe changes happening to inanimate objects. A nice one, though, is canēscō, canēscere [3]: become white; turn grey; it’s from the adjective cānus, -a, -um, ‘grey’ with reference to hair. You can use it in this way: canēscō: I’m growing old, I’m growing grey with age.

Have a look at the images posted and match them with these simple phrases:

folium, -ī [2/n]: leaf

frōns, frondis [3/f]: foliage; leafy branch

1. Abōrēs frondēscunt.

2. Caelum nigrēscit.

3. Caelum rubēscit.

4. Capillus albēscit.

5. Folia autumnō rubēscunt.

6. Herba flāvēscit.