17.05.24: Nigeria – in Latin

Another of Vincent’s great videos that revise vocabulary and grammar

Hodiē prīmum in convīviō Nigeriānō intersum.

Et ego sum ūnicus Asiāticus quī adest.

Invītātus sum ā condiscipulō quī est ex tribū Igbō.

Nigeria est cīvitās multinatiōnālis.

Sunt multī gregēs ethnicī cum cultūrīs et linguīs distīnctīs.

Hī hominēs sunt polyglottī.

Tempus est cibum sūmere.

Haec pōtiō Nigeriāna vocātur “zobō”.

Ego nequeō saltāre sed placet mihi spectāre.

____________________

cīvitās, cīvitātis [3/f]: state; society

condiscipulus, -ī [2/m]: fellow student

convīvium, -ī [2/n]: party; banquet; feast

grex, gregis [3/m]: (here) group of people

polyglottus, -ī [2/m] (Late Latin): polyglot

pōtiō, pōtiōnis [3/f]: drink

tribus, tribūs [4/f]: tribe

ūnicus, -ā, -um: only; single

Notes:

[1] nequ¦eō, nequ│īre: be unable; cannot

[2] in convīviō … intersum

Et ego sum ūnicus Asiāticus quī adest. │ I am the only Asian who is present [who’s here].

the verb sum, esse: be can also have prefixes

adsum, adesse: be present

absum, abesse: be away

intersum, interesse: attend; take part

[3] This point has not yet been covered in the group:

Invītātus sum ¦ ā condiscipulō │ I was/ have been invited ¦ by a fellow student.

[4] Find the Latin:

1. for the first time

2. This drink is called …

3. These people …

4. I like │ to watch [literally: it pleases me │ to watch]

5. It’s time │ to have food.

____________________

Today, I’m attending a Nigerian party for the first time. And I am the only Asian present. I was invited by a fellow student who is from the Igbo tribe. Nigeria is a multinational society. There are many ethnic groups with distinct cultures and languages. These people are polyglots. It is time to take food. This Nigerian drink is called “zobo”. I can't dance but I like to watch.

  

17.05.24: eō, īre with prefixes [2]

Here, the aim is quickly to recognise the personal endings as well as the prefixes:

answers below the exercise

-ō: I

-s: you (sg.)

-t: he / she / it

-mus: we

-tis: you (pl.)

-nt: they

17.05.24: eō, īre with prefixes [1]

In this one: quick recognition of the verbs and their meanings

Match the English verbs with the word cloud (not colour coded):

1. approach

2. cross

3. go

4. go (pl.)!

5. go (sg.)!

6. go away

7. go back

8. go by

9. go forth

10. go in

11. go out

12. go under

13. perish

 

16.05.24: match the prefixes

Can you match the Latin with the English meaning? Answers are after the exercise.

16.05.24: derivations [1]; Latin prefixes in English

It is said that knowledge of Latin will help your understanding of English. That’s true, but it can also be the other way around. And the Latin prefixes are a good example of this because most of them are commonly found in English.

English isn’t a Romance language; it wasn’t derived from Latin, but from the languages of the Germanic tribes that occupied Britain around the time the Romans left in the early 5th century. However, the English language acquired a massive treasure of vocabulary, most of which was indirectly derived from Latin through Old French after the Norman Conquest and many of them had a long journey before they reached English.

As mentioned in the previous post, most of the Latin words listed below can be either prepositions or prefixes. However, this post isn’t about whether they are prepositions or prefixes, but what they mean.

Some of the Latin words listed can have several meanings but it’s best, I think, to start with the basics.

Seeing how they connect to English derivatives can help a lot in remembering their meanings. I learned all of these by using the derivatives.

In other words …

Seeing how they join with words that have come down from Latin to English can help a lot in bringing their meanings back again into your mind.

ab: away │ absent

ante: before │ ante-natal clinic

ad: near; towards (also ac-, af- as a prefix) │ acquire; affect; advertise

circum: around │ circumnavigate; circumference

contrā: against │ contradict

cum [preposition]: with > prefix: con-, com-, col- │ conference; committee; collect

dē: [i] about; concerning │describe; depict [ii] down / away from │ descend; depart; de-ice the car

dis: apart │ disband; discuss; dissect

ex: out of │export; ex-wife

extrā: outside │ extra-curricular

in: in(to) │ inspect; invade; import

in- / im- / il- used to create opposite meanings: indefinite; impossible; illogical

inter: between │ international

intrō: inwards; within │ introverted

per: through │perceive; permanent i.e. it stays through to the end; peruse i.e. look through something (usually in detail)

prae: before; in front of │ prehistoric; pre-war; preposition i.e. a group of letters placed in front of another word

prō: before in front of; in a forward direction │ propose; progress

post: after │ post-natal clinic; post-war

re: again │ redo; reread; rewrite

sub: under │ submarine

super: above │ supernatural

trāns: across │ transport

16.05.24: review; eō, īre [2]

What happens with eō, īre is a good example of how to ‘get round’ what seems to be a lot to learn. This post, and the next one, put it all together.

eō, īre is important because of the addition of prefixes:

eō, īre: go > ab¦eō, ab¦īre: go away

A prefix, a small group of letters added to the beginning of a word e.g. happy > unhappy

In Latin, all the prefixes below, apart from re-, also work separately as prepositions:

ad: to(wards) e.g. Ad īnsulam nāvigant. │ They’re sailing towards the island.

When they are added to verbs, they will most often have the same meaning.

ad¦eō, ad¦īre: approach i.e. go to(wards)

By adding these prefixes to eō, īre the verb has multiple meanings.

Below are some examples; some of these verbs can have more than one meaning but these are the key ones that show the connection to the prefix:

• abeō, abīre: depart; go away
• adeō, adīre: approach; go to
• exeō, exīre: exit; go out
• ineō, inīre: go in
• pereō, perīre: perish; die
• praetereō, praeterīre: go by
• prōdeō: go forth
• redeō, redīre: go back; return
• subeō, subīre: go under
• trānseō, trānsīre: cross; go across

Here are some examples, starting with the basic verb and then adding prefixes to it to change its meaning.

eō, īre: go

[1] Duae parvae puellae ad magistram eunt et fābulam nārrant. │ The two small girls go to the teacher and tell the story.

> ex¦eō, ex¦īre: go out

Māter et medicus ex¦eunt. │The mother and the doctor go out.
Māter ex¦īre incipit. │ The mother starts to go out

Sportulam accipit, et per vestibulum ex¦it. │ He receives the basket and goes out through the entrance.

[2] abeō, ab¦īre: go away

Ecce, in mēnsā sunt sportulae. Accipite atque ab¦īte. │ Look! The baskets are on the table. Take (them) and go away.
Clientēs sportulās capiunt et ab¦eunt. │ The customers take the baskets and (they) go away.

[3] re+eō > red¦eō, red¦īre: go / come back

Ō māter, red¦ī, mea māter! │ Oh, mother, return, my mother!
Red¦īte, servī, domum! │ Go back home, slaves!

[4] A good example from the Vulgate where you can see that these prefixes aren’t only added to eō, īre:

Generātiō praeter¦it, et generātiō ad¦venit; terra autem in aeternum stat. │ A generation goes past and a generation arrives (i.e. comes towards), but the earth remains forever.

[5]

Tōtus, tōtus amor est quō per¦eō! (Mediaeval) │ It is a new, new love from which I’m dying / perishing.

[6]

Trāns¦eunt Rhēnum nāvibus ratibusque (Caesar) │ They cross the Rhine in ships and rafts

And from the same section of Caesar’s work:

Prīmōs Eburōnum fīnēs ad¦eunt │ They arrive at the frontiers of the Eburones

[7] I’m adding this one just to show that the action may not always be physical:

Quam multa molesta et difficilia quae sub¦īmus! (Cicero) │ How many troubles and annoyances are there which we undergo!

And why I mention that this post is connected to the next one is because, when faced with what seems to be a long list of small words, you can approach that list from another angle.

Image #1: examples of eō with its prefixes

Image #2: sentences from the post

Image #3: Back in the days when nobody argued about spelling, here is the famous stage direction from Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale:

Exit, pursued by a bear.