14.02.25: Level 2; the passive voice [34]: the perfect passive [15]; the perfect passive participle as adjective [3]: participial phrases [1]

The first image shows the title page of “Latin made simple” by Rhoda Hendricks.

The title neatly shows a participial phrase i.e. a participle + additional word(s)

faciō, facere, fēcī, factus [3-iō]: make

• lingua Latina ¦ facilis facta │ the Latin language ¦ (which has been) made easy

• The vodka martini ¦ shaken by the waiter ¦ was much to Bond’s liking.

Here the participle still describes the vodka martini but has been extended to include by whom that action was performed; we call that a participial phrase = the vodka martini ¦ which had been shaken by the waiter …

• The man ¦ arrested by the police ¦ on Tuesday night ¦ will appear in court tomorrow. That equals “The man ¦ who had been arrested by the police on Tuesday night …

The participles as adjectives or as part of a participial phrase refer to something that already had or was / has already been done to the subject; bear in mind the term ‘perfect’ i.e. completed

• The ¦ recently discovered ¦ fresco in Pompeii is causing a lot of interest = the fresco which was / has been recently discovered …

Participial phrases are very common in original literature.

The soldiers rebuilt the town, ¦ destroyed by the enemy.

This is a participial phrase comprising the participle (destroyed) + additional information which, in Latin, is usually ‘by whom / what’ the action was done:

Mīlitēs oppidum ¦ ab hostibus dēlētum ¦ restituērunt.

The soldier, ¦ injured by a sword, ¦ was lying beneath a tree.

• Mīles ¦ gladiō vulnerātus ¦ sub arbore iacēbat.

Both Latin and English could have expressed these by using clauses and a full passive verb:

• The soldiers rebuilt the town ¦ which had been destroyed by the enemy. │ Mīlitēs oppidum ¦ quod ab hostibus dēlētum erat ¦ restituērunt.
• The soldier ¦ who had been injured by a sword ¦ was lying beneath a tree. │ Mīles ¦ quī gladiō vulnerātus erat ¦ sub arbore iacēbat.

In practice, however, it is the participial construction which is most common in Latin:

• Agrōs ¦ ab hostibus vastātōs ¦ vīdimus. │ We saw the fields, ¦ [which had been] laid waste by the enemy.
• Epistulam ¦ ab imperātōre scrīptam ¦ in mēnsā posuit. │ On the table he placed the letter ¦ [which had been] written by the emperor.

Translations, as always, can vary and depend on style and context:

Vir ¦ ab uxōre suā venēnātus ¦ mox recuperāvit.

• The man, poisoned by his wife, soon recovered.
• The man who had been poisoned by his wife soon recovered.
• Having been poisoned by his wife, the man soon recovered.
• The man, after he’d been poisoned by his wife, soon recovered.

Exercise

Complete each phrase or sentence with both the participle and additional word(s) that form the participial phrase; note that, in Latin, the participle will normally come last; compare the numbering of the English and the Latin.

In this exercise, the participle is in the nominative case

1. Henry the Second, ¦ [i] killed ¦ [ii] by a lance  │ Henricus Secundus [ii] __________ [i] __________
2. Claudius, ¦ [i] poisoned ¦ [ii] by Agrippina │ Claudius [ii] __________ [i] __________
3. Medusa ¦ [i] beheaded ¦ [ii] by Perseus │ Medusa [ii] __________ [i] __________
4. The murderer ¦ [i] thrown down ¦ [ii] from the Tarpeian rock │ Interfector [ii] __________ [i] __________
5. The soldier ¦ [i] injured ¦ [ii] by an arrow │ Mīles [ii] __________ [i] __________
6. The women ¦ [i] carried off ¦ [ii] by the Romans │ Fēminae [ii] __________ [i] __________
7. The townspeople ¦ [i] slaughtered ¦ [ii] by the enemy │ Oppidānī [ii] __________ [i] __________
8. Regulus [i] [who had been] handed over ¦ [ii] to the enemy was killed. │ Regulus ¦ [ii] __________ ¦ [i] __________ ¦ interfectus est.
9. Now Laodamia ¦ [i] conquered by ¦ [ii] grief ¦ was not able to live longer. │ Nunc Laodamia ¦ [ii] __________ ¦ [i] __________ ¦ diutius vivere non poterat
10. There, ¦ [ia] broken ¦ [iia] by sickness ¦ [iiia] and hunger ¦ and ¦ [ib] clothed ¦ [iib] in rags ¦ he fed himself with birds. │ Ibi [iia] __________ ¦ [iiia] __________ ¦ [ia] __________ et ¦ [iib] __________ [ib] __________ avibus se alebat.

• hostī
• trāditus
• ā Persēō
• ā Rōmānīs
• ab Agrippīnā
• ab hostibus
• dē saxō Tarpēiō
• dēcollāta
• dēiectus
• dolōre
• fameque
• frāctus
• hastā
• interfectus
• morbō
• pannīs
• raptae
• sagittā
• trucīdātī
• venēnātus
• vestītus
• victa
• vulnerātus

Henricus secundus hastā interfectus