08.05.24: review; Initium (Appleton and Jones)

A short excerpt from Initium, a first Latin course on the direct method. Written by Appleton and Jones in 1916, it shows the way in which Latin teachers were reconsidering how the language should be taught. They don’t shy away from explaning grammar but do it through dialogues and question – answers so that, unlike so many Latin books which focus one what ‘he’ did or ‘they did’, it allows pupils to talk about themselves and directly to others i.e. by speaking it, by relating it to themselves, the grammar is reinforced.

https://www.fabulaefaciles.com/lib.../books/appleton/initium

__________

Quīntus: Optima est pompa. Vidēsne animālia ista?

Mānlius: Elephantī sunt. Elephantōs anteā nōn vīdī.

Sextus: Et signa mīlitum spectā! Vidēsne tū, Quīnte? Nōn vidēs. Spectātōrēs spectās. Nōlī illōs spectāre. Pompam spectā! Cūr spectātōrēs spectās?

Quīntus: Quia Mārcum videō.

Sextus: Mārcum nōn vidēs. Ille in lectō iacet.

Quīntus: Videō eum. Nōnne tū vidēs?

__________

Focus on two words: [i] spectō, spectāre [1]: look (at); watch and [ii] videō, vidēre [2]: see

How do they say:

1. Do you see those animals?

2. Don’t look at them.

3. I see him (next topic).

4. I haven’t seen (elephants) before (perfect tense: coming up soon)

5. I see (Marcus).

6. Look at (the soldiers’ standards)!

7. Surely you (can) see?

8. Watch (the parade)!

9. You don’t see (Marcus)

10. You’re watching the spectators.

Why does he say Quīnte when the boy’s name is Quīntus?

How do they say: “He’s lying in bed.”?

__________

Q: It’s an excellent parade. Do you see those animals?

M: They’re elephants. I haven’t seen elephants before.

S: And look at the soldiers’ standards! Do you see, Quintus? You don’t see. You’re watching the spectators. Don’t look at them. Look at the parade! Why are you watching the spectators?

Q: Because I see Marcus.

S: You don’t see Marcus. He’s lying in bed.

Q: I see him. Surely you see (him)? [You see (him), don’t you?]

08.05.24: review; Cornelia, an American Girl

This post and the next are from two reading books for youngsters learning Latin. Like the previous posts they are here to show words operating in context.

https://la.wikisource.org/wiki/Cornelia_Puella_Americana

“Cornelia” by Mima Maxey was written for schools in 1933. She bases the story on an American girl which would have helped her pupils to connect the language with the world around them in the same way that Comenius did in the 17th century.

These little books were carefully written to introduce language gradually. In this extract she uses a range of present tense and imperfect tense verbs. She also includes some very common adverbs and other key words.

One point to note is that the author uses the present tense to describe past events. This was a feature in some original Classical Latin writing i.e. to use the present tense to make the action more vivid. The translation however, keeps the present tenses to show how those present tense English verbs match with the Latin ones, but it would be possible to put the entire text into the past which is the more usual way in English.

The translation, if you need it, is posted in the comments.

__________

Māne hodiē Cornēlia ad scholam ībat. Agrī erant pulchrī et per agrōs laetē ībat. Per agrōs fluēbat flūmen parvum. Prope flūmen erant flōrēs pulchrī. Diū inter flōrēs prope flūmen Cornēlia manēbat quod diēs erat pulcher et puella erat laeta. Ecce! Subitō cum puella nōn longē ā flūmine abest, aliquis vidētur. Hic vir est paene caecus et miser et malus. Quam timida est Cornēlia! Vir ācriter clāmat. Pecūniam postulat. Puella nōn respondet quod multum timet. Ad mūrum quī est circum agrōs currit. Vir puellam stāre iubet, sed Cornēlia nōn stat. Vir quoque currit. Cum nōn longē abest, iterum pecūniam postulat quod pecūniam multum dēsīderat. Cornēlia pecūniam ad virum iacit sed nōn magnam pecūniam habet. Vir est īrātus quod magnam pecūniam dēsīderat, sed nōn magnam pecūniam accipit. Puella iterum currit et nunc ācriter clāmat quod est prope scholam et sociōs. Vir pecūniam in flūmen iacit, et flōrēs frūmentumque agricolae vāstat. Tum properat longē ab illō locō. Ubi puerī puellaeque ad mūrum veniunt, vir nōn vidētur, neque posteā prope illum locum vidētur.

__________

A few words of vocabulary since most have come up before:

aliquis: someone

caecus, -a, -um blind

iubeō, iubēre [2]: order, command (and what you order the person to do is in the infinitive)

postulō, postulāre [1]: ask for; demand

socius, -ī [2/m]: (here) companion; in Classical Latin literature, especially with military themes, it means 'ally'

vāstō, vāstāre [1]: most often appears in vocabulary and dictionaries as 'lay waste' but can refer to 'ruin' or 'destroy'; often used in the literature to refer to destroying fields or 'flattening' territories.

Find the Latin

Verbs:

[present]

1. The man is shouting.

2. He demands money.

3. The girl does not reply.

4. Cornelia doesn’t stand.

5. He destroys the flowers.

6. The man orders Cornelia to stand.

7. She is very afraid [= she fears a lot]

8. Cornelia doesn’t have much money.

9. She runs to the wall.

10. Cornelia throws the money to the man.

11. He doesn’t receive / get much money.

12. The boys come to the wall.

13. The man is angry.

14. Since he isn’t far away …

[imperfect]

15. It was a beautiful day.

16. The fields were beautiful.

17. Flowers were near the river.

18. Cornelia was going to school.

19. She was walking happily through the fields.

20. A small river was flowing through the fields.

21. Cornelia remained for a long time.

[passive]

22. Somebody is seen / can be seen.

23. The man isn’t seen / can’t be seen

Others [these are in bold in the text above; try to match them]

1. afterwards

2. again

3. almost

4. also

5. among

6. and

7. around

8. because

9. bitterly; harshly

10. but

11. far

12. for a long time

13. happily

14. how (scared she is)

15. in the morning

16. nor

17. now

18. since

19. suddenly

20. then

21. today

22. when

23. this man

24. from that place

25. near that place

__________

Cornelia was going to school this morning. The fields were beautiful and she was walking happily through the fields. A small river flowed through the fields. There were beautiful flowers near the river. Cornelia remained among the flowers near the river for a long time because the day was beautiful and the girl was happy. Behold! Suddenly, when the girl was not far from the river, someone is seen. This man is almost blind and miserable and evil. How scared Cornelia is! The man shouts out sharply. He demands money. The girl does not answer because she is very afraid. She runs to the wall that is around the fields. The man orders the girl to stand, but Cornelia does not stand. The man also runs. Since he is not far away, he again demands money, because he greatly desires money. Cornelia throws money at the man, but she does not have much money. The man is angry because he desires a lot of money, but he doesn't get a lot of money. The girl runs again and now cries loudly because she is near the school and her friends. The man throws money into the river, and destroys the farmers flowers and grain. Then he hurries away from that place. When the boys and girls come to the wall, the man cannot be seen seen, nor is he seen near that place afterwards.

07.05.24: macrons sometimes matter!

This is a good post; thank you for giving the Latin in the mirror image!

ANIMA ÆTHERE FLVITAT; CORPVS TERRA ERRAT

Anima aethere fluitat; corpus terra errat

aethēr, aetheris [3/m]: the ‘upper air’; the ether; the heavens

anima, -ae [1/f]: it can mean ‘breath’ but here ‘soul’, ‘spirit’

corpus, corporis [3/n]: body

terra, -ae [1/f]: land

errō, errāre [1]: wander

fluō, fluere [3]: float

> fluitō, fluitāre [1]: this was mentioned some time back; the ending -itō can be used with some Latin verbs to suggest that the action happens frequently; a good translation of it is ‘float about’

Anima aethere fluitat │the soul / spirit floats in the heavens …

It’s the next part that is particularly useful:

Unlike, for example, French é or ç or German ü which use what are called diacritics, i.e. symbols to indicate a particular pronunciation of the letter, Classical Latin didn’t.

The existence of the macron, the line above the vowels is used, for example, in textbooks and certain edited works of literature to indicate difference in the pronunciation of the vowels:

[1] a, e, i, o, u: short vowels

[2] ā, ē, ī, ō, ū: long vowels

Pronunciation was discussed at a very early stage of the group.

There is no need to write any Latin word with a macron but they’re useful to achieve accurate pronunciation, and they are very useful when dealing with Latin poetry. As the posts have gone along, I’ve sometimes said that, when learning, it’s a good idea to include them.

I begin with an example from German:

Bruder: brother

Brüder: brothers

Consider how unhelpful English can be: I read [/reed/] a book (present tense) but I read [/red/] a book (past simple).

So, sometimes, the difference in pronunciation also indicates a change in meaning.

Nominative: terra; land

Ablative: terrā; (here) on the land or 'by land' e.g. when travelling

Anima aethere fluitat; corpus terrā errat │ The spirit floats in the heavens; the body wanders on the earth.

07.05.24: theory and practice [3]: Julia, a Latin Reader [3]

A quick reminder: all of my posts since 02.05.24 have been based on this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY1FVZ9fUl8

Almost everything that Vincent said on that video has been used for review.

Note the two words in block capitals in the text:

Hōc modō Troia tandem capta est. Graecī verbīs falsīs Troiānōs dēcēpērunt. "Ō Troiānī," inquiunt, "in hāc terrā in diēs languēscimus. Bellō vulneribusque fessī patriam cāram līberōsque dulcēs dēsīderāmus. Nōn HĪC in aliēnā terrā, sed domī inter amīcōs vītam reliquam agere cōnstituimus. Iam satis diū bella gessimus; tempus est HINC, Deōrum Immortālium auxiliō, discēdere. Prīmum autem Minervae nūmen* dōnō plācābimus. Tum illa nōs ventīs secundīs domum redūcet."

[In this way Troy was finally taken. The Greeks deceived the Trojans with false words. "O Trojans," they said, "we have been languishing in this land day after day. Tired of war and wounds, we long for (our) dear country and sweet children. Not HERE in a foreign land, but at home among friends, we have decided to spend the rest of our lives. We have fought wars long enough; it is time to depart FROM HERE with the help of the immortal gods. But we will first appease the divine will of Minerva with a gift. Then she will bring us back home with favourable winds."]

*nūmen, nūminis [3/n] its basic meaning is a ‘nod of the head’ but very often when the gods are involved it refers to divine will.

Notes:

[1] Google translate alert!

Beware the Greeks bearing gifts.

Beware Google giving translations.

What it is: Tum illa nōs ventīs secundīs domum redūcet. │ Then she will bring us back home with favourable winds.

What Google Translate thinks it is: Then she will bring us home in twenty seconds.

[2] in hāc terrā in diēs languēscimus │ we have been languishing in this land day after day

French and German speakers will get this straight away:

I’ve been living here / I’ve lived here for three years (and I still am).

Fr: J’habite ici depuis trois ans; Gmn: Ich wohne seit drei Jahren hier; both French and German (and Russian) literally express this by using a present tense i.e. I am living here since three years. Russian often uses uzhe (already) with a present tense to convey that.

Latin does the same; it uses a present tense often with iam (already) or other expression of time to express an action that started in the past and is still happening:

in hāc terrā in diēs languēscimus │ we have been languishing in this land day after day [literally: we are languishing in the land day after day (and we still are)]

There is no separate Latin verb form that expresses the English “have been doing something”.

[3] In the video, Vincent said:

Et vidētur frāter meus illīc │ And my brother is seen / can be seen over there.

hīc and illīc

[i] vocabulary lists sometimes miss the spelling difference:

hīc – with long /ī/ - means ‘here’

[ii] illīc: (over) there

There is a little ‘bunch’ of these which you need to be able to recognise; it’s best to visualise them and so they are posted with images because they have “fussy” differences which aren’t always easy to remember!

Here they are listed with examples, but the only way I could recall them was to visualise them; check the image.

[1]

hīc: here

hūc: to here (in older English we used to say hither)

hinc: from here

[2]

illīc: (over) there

illūc: to there (in older English we used to say thither)

illinc: from there

From the texts:

Nōn hīc in aliēnā terrā, │ Not here in a foreign land …

tempus est hinc … discēdere. │ It is time to depart from here …

From the video:

Et vidētur frāter meus illīc │ And my brother is seen / can be seen over there.

Further examples from the authors:

[1]

Hīc semper in lūctū manēbō (Gesta Rōmānōrum) │ I shall always remain here in mourning.

Vāde, vocā virum tuum, et venī hūc. (Vulgate)│Go, call your husband and come (to) here.

Abī hinc(Livy) │ Go away from here …

[2]

Illīc sum atque hīc sum. (Plautus) │I’m here and there.

Saepe tamen illūc ībat (Gesta Rōmānōrum) │ However, he would still often go (to) there.

num … mulier illinc vēnit? (Plautus) │Hasn’t the woman come from there?

 

07.05.24: theory and practice [2]: Julia, a Latin Reader [2]

Omnēs hōs annōs Mārs fīliōs suōs dīligenter cōnservābat, et tandem geminīs, iam adolēscentibus omnia mōnstrāvit. Tum frātrēs, propter mātris avīque iniūriās īrātī, "Sine dubiō," inquiunt, "Amūlius* hārum rērum poenās gravissimās dabit."

[All these years Mars carefully preserved his sons, and at last he showed everything to the twins, who were already young men. Then the brothers, angry because of the wrongs of their mother and grandfather, said, "Without a doubt, Amulius will pay the heaviest penalites for these things.”]

*In Roman mythology Amulius was the king of Alba Longa who ordered the death of the infant twins Romulus and Remus.

07.05.24: theory and practice [1]: Julia, a Latin Reader [1]

https://www.fabulaefaciles.com/library/books/reed/julia

Below are some short passages from Julia, a Latin reader, a great little book for review purposes which has been used before for another topic and will be used again. They show you some of the words that have been discussed in previous recent posts. When you see them they’re nowhere near as scary as when they’re first being explained!

I like to use extracts from schoolbooks because the authors most often stick to the basic meanings of the words. Learning the declensions takes time (they have already been posted) but it’s best to see them in context.

[1]

Haec et alia multa Iūlia ē benignō lūdī magistrō audiēbat. Posteā, iam adolēscēns, ad longinquās terrās nāvigābat et ipsa rēs multās mīrāsque vīdebat. Vōs quoque fortasse ad Ītaliam Graeciamque ōlim ipsī nāvigābitis, et illa loca oculīs vestrīs vidēbitis, ubi poētae habitābant, dē quibus haec omnia nārrāvērunt.

[These and many other things Julia heard from the kind school teacher. Later, when she was already grown up, she used to sail to distant lands and she herself saw many wonderful things. You too, perhaps, will sail to Italy and Greece one day, and you will see with your own eyes those places where the poets lived, about which they have recounted all these things.]

[i] haec: neut. plural (nominative or accusative) often has a very general meaning of “these things” or “those things” referring to events in the past or have just happened.

In English we might say “I told you all that yesterday”, ‘all that’ referrring to more than one thing said.

“Now all that’s over, we can go out” i.e. ‘events’, ‘things that have happened’

Haec can convey the same idea, but it’s plural.

[ii] Below are two examples of phrases where this idea is used. They involve a grammatical concept which, at this stage, should be left alone but I’ll give their meanings

• hīs dictīs: [literally “these things having been said] > after these things had been said, i.e. the writer is referring to statements already made
• hōc factō: [literally: “this thing having been done”] > after this thing had been done, i.e. reference is being made to some action already compleeted

[2]

In Forō Rōmānō ruīnae sunt templī Vestae rotundī, nec procul Virginum Vestālium domus. Hae virginēs omnium Rōmānārum sacerrimae putābantur, quod ignem sacrum in templō rotundō cūrābant. Hunc ignem Aenēās, Rōmānōrum pater, Troiā dīligentissimē apportāverat. Omnium Virginum Vestālium nōtissima erat Rhēa Silvia, Rōmulī Rēmīque māter. Haec nōn Rōmae sed Albae Longae habitābat, nōndum enim Rōma aedificāta erat.

[In the Roman Forum are the ruins of the round temple of Vesta, and, not far off, the house of the Vestal Virgins. These virgins were considered the most sacred of all the Romans, because they tended the sacred fire in the round temple. Aeneas, the father of the Romans, had most diligently brought this fire to Troy. The most famous of all the Vestal Virgins was Rhea Silvia, the mother of Romulus and Remus. She lived not in Rome, but in Alba Longa, for Rome had not yet been built.]

Note: the use of haec here: this (woman) i.e. ‘she’

07.05.24: useful quotations

This quotation shows features that have been discussed before and is useful in the reviews that we're doing at the moment.

1. principium, -ī [2/n]: beginning

2. rēs, reī [5/f]: matter; thing, a word that was discussed a lot when looking at fifth declension nouns

3. omnis, -e: all; again, a very important word that came up in earlier posts when looking at 3rd declension adjectives

4. parvus, -a, -um: small; a 1st / 2nd declension adjective and agrees in gender, number and case with its noun i.e. principia.

Omnium rērum │ prīncipia parva sunt. The beginnings │of all things │are small.

And the quotation makes the point; there is no purpose in posting random quotations that contain concepts which are too complex or haven’t been dealt with before. This one, however, shows features that have all been done.

Another member has just said that so much can be found in one sentence: I agree, but it has to be the right sentence, and this one is absolutely right.