20.08.24: follow-up; food and drink [12]; vocabulary [2]: Greek-type nouns

cynosbatos, -ī [2/f]: [i] dog-rose; wild briar [ii] blackcurrant; this noun belongs to a group known as Greek-type, hence the ending -os (from Anc. Gk. κυνόσβατος (kunósbatos). In the extract below from Pliny the Elder note the accusative case in -n:

Āpulum vomitus facit, stomachum et alvum solvit. quīdam id cynosbatōn vocant, │ Apulian caper-tree produces vomiting and diarrhoea. Some persons call this shrub dog-brier,

From an earlier post (28.04.24) discussing this feature with some proper nouns:

Beware the Greeks bearing case endings!

Nominative: Aenēās et Anchīsēs … ex urbe effugiunt. │ Aeneas and Anchises escape from the city.

Accusative: Deī Aenēān et Anchīsēn… servant. │ The gods save Aeneas and Anchises.

A small point that hasn’t been discussed before: proper nouns i.e. the names of people, sometimes come from Ancient Greek, especially ones that crop up in the mythology.

Aenēās and Anchīsēs are good examples.

Some of these nouns are known as “Greek-type” in dictionaries.

Aenēās: (Wiktionary) first-declension noun (masculine Greek-type with nominative singular in -ās), singular only.

Anchīsēs: (Wiktionary) First-declension noun (masculine Greek-type with nominative singular in -ēs), singular only.

Some of these nouns have case endings that are originally from Greek or the Greek ending is an alternative to the Latin; the one that stands out is an /n/ in the accusative; no Latin noun has /n/ as an accusative ending, only those that are derived from Greek names.

Nominative: Aenēās (the nominative ending is Greek, not Latin: Αἰνείας; Aineíās)

Accusative: Aenēam (Latin accusative which is what you would expect); Aenēān (Greek accusative: τὸν Αἰνείᾱν; tòn Aineíān)

Nominative: Anchīsēs (from Greek: Ἀγχῑ́σης; Ankhī́sēs)

Accusative: Anchīsēn (Greek accusative: τὸν Ἀγχῑ́σην; tòn Ankhī́sēn)

It’s just something to note: if you see a name with an -n in its accusative, it isn’t a mistake; it’s a Greek ending.