04.08.24: Level 2; Practice in reading the perfect tense; A First Latin Reader (Vincent) [7]

Gāius Marcius Coriolōs, oppidum Volscōrum, superāvit. Inde Rōmānī Marcium Coriolānum appellāvērunt. Sed populus Rōmānus Coriolānum, quia erat superbus, cōnsulem nōn creāvit et posteā ex oppidō expulit. Coriolānus et Attius Tullius, quī erat rēx Volscōrum, Rōmae appropinquābant et agrōs Rōmānōrum vastābant. Rōmānī nūntiōs multōs ad Coriolānum frūstrā mīsērunt. Sed, ubi Veturia et Volumnia et puerī ad Coriolānum vēnērunt, lacrimae fēminārum superāvērunt. Coriolānus cōpiās redūxit et oppidum erat tūtum.

Sentence structure: the sentence structure in these texts is fairly simple but they do give practice in identifying key words that break up a long sentence into clauses:

principal / main clause: part of the sentence that can stand alone and make sense:

• Sed populus Rōmānus Coriolānum ... cōnsulem nōn creāvit. │ But the Roman people ... did not make Coriolanus a consul.

subordinate clause: a clause that cannot stand alone and must be connected to another part of the sentence:

• ...quia erat superbus ... │ ...because he was arrogant ...

• ...ubi Veturia et Volumnia et puerī ad Coriolānum vēnērunt ... │ ...when Veturia and Volumnia and the children came to Coriolanus ...

relative / adjectival clause: this is also a subordinate clause in that it cannot stand alone, but has the specific name of relative clause because it relates / refers to / describes a previously mentioned person / thing

• Attius Tullius, quī erat rēx Volscōrum ... │ Attius Tullius, who was the king of the Volsci ...

[i] Sed populus Rōmānus Coriolānum, ¦  [ii] quia erat superbus [subordinate clause of reason], ¦ [i] cōnsulem nōn creāvit [principal clause #1]  ¦ [i] et posteā ex oppidō expulit [principal clause #2].

[i] Coriolānus et Attius Tullius, ¦ [ii] quī erat rēx Volscōrum [relative / adjectival clause], ¦ [i] Rōmae appropinquābant [principal clause #1] ¦ [i] et agrōs Rōmānōrum vastābant [principal clause #2].

[i] Sed, ¦ [ii] ubi Veturia et Volumnia et puerī ad Coriolānum vēnērunt [subordinate clause of time], ¦ [i] lacrimae fēminārum superāvērunt [principal clause].

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Gaius Marcius overcame Coriolos, a town of the Volsci. Then the Romans called Marcius Coriolanus. But the Roman people did not make Coriolanus a consul because he was arrogant, and afterwards expelled him from the town. Coriolanus and Attius Tullius, who was king of the Volsci, approached Rome and laid waste the fields of the Romans. The Romans sent many messengers to Coriolanus in vain. But when Veturia and Volumnia and the children came to Coriolanus, the women's tears overcame (them). Coriolanus brought back his troops, and the town was safe.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnaeus_Marcius_Coriolanus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volsci

04.08.24: Level 2; Participles: the present active participle [1]

A participle is a word formed from a verb and is used as an adjective e.g. walking, shouting.

Here are examples of present active participles from the previous text “Dē Crocodīlō”:

1. Rōbertus igitur, vidēns ¦ hunc stultum puerum ¦ ad flūmen ambulantem … │ Robert, therefore, seeing this foolish boy [who was] walking towards the river
2. … et fīlium tertium ¦ in rīpā stantem ¦ longō baculō pulsāvit. │ …and, with a long stick, he beat the third son ¦ [who was] standing on the bank.
3. Rōbertus … puerum ululantem audīvit. │ Robert … heard the boy howling.

Latin makes extensive use of participles and they are a major component in being able to read the Roman authors.

[A]

The man ¦ who is working in the garden ¦ is my friend. = [i] The man working in the garden is my friend.

• In the second sentence ‘working’ describes the man.

Did you see that man ¦ who was working in the garden? = [ii] Did you see that man working in the garden?

• In the second sentence ‘working’ still describes the man but does not change even though the action being referred to is in the past.

‘working’ in [i] and [ii] is expressed in Latin by the present active participle. The term ‘present’ does not refer to when the action is / was performed but that the action happens / happened at the same time as the main action.

I can hear a barking dog. / I can hear a dog barking. = I can hear a dog that’s barking.

I could hear a barking dog. / I could hear a dog barking. = I could hear a dog that was barking.

[B]

While he was sitting on the riverbank, │ the boy completely forgot about the time.

= While sitting on the riverbank │ the boy …

= Sitting on the riverbank │ the boy …

Here, the English -ing can convey ‘as’ ‘while’ or ‘when’ somebody is / was doing something. Again, the Latin present active participle can convey this idea.

__________

Note! What Classical Latin does not do is use these to convey the English progressive tenses i.e. I am going, I was working, I shall be leaving. The present, imperfect and future tense in Latin are only ever used:

labōrō: I work or I am working

labōrābam: I was working

labōrābō: I shall work or I shall be working.

Mediaeval Latin can use participles to convey this idea, but not in the Classical Language.

Similarly, there are other constructions which use -ing in English but are not expressed by a Latin present participle and will be covered later e.g. [i] By giving him food, we saved him. [ii] Seeing is believing.’ Neither [i] nor [ii] are participles in Latin since they do not describe a noun.

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Here are other examples that show [A] and [B] above; translations can be flexible provided they convey the idea of two actions happening at the same time.

• Puellam lacrimantem videō. │ I see a girl ¦ crying / … who is crying.
• Puella ¦ multa carmina canēns ¦ cēnam parat. │ The girl ¦ [while] singing many songs ¦ prepares dinner.
• In silvā ambulāns ¦ mīles corpus vīdit. │[While] walking / as he was walking in the forest ¦ the soldier saw the body.

Image #1: The 15^th century Christmas carol ‘The Boar’s Head Carol’ describes the ancient tradition of presenting a boar’s head at the Yuletide banquet.

reddō, -ere [3]: give back; deliver > reddēns, -entis: giving back; delivering

Caput aprī dēferō │ The boar’s head I bear

Reddēns laudēs Dominō │ While giving back / As I give back praises to the Lord.

Because participles are adjectives, they agree in gender, number and case with the noun. The examples below show this.

[1]

• Rōbertus igitur, vidēns ¦ hunc stultum puerum ¦ ad flūmen ambulantem …
• Robert [nominative], therefore, seeing [nominative] ¦ this foolish boy [accusative] walking [accusative] towards the river …

[2]

• … et fīlium tertium ¦ in rīpā stantem ¦ longō baculō pulsāvit.
• …and, with a long stick, he beat the third son [accusative] ¦ standing [accusative] on the bank.

[3]

• Rōbertus … puerum ululantem audīvit.
• Robert … heard the boy [accusative] howling [accusative].

Over the next few posts we’ll look at what endings are used. 

03.08.34: follow-up on member's post; spotting the numbers: numbers 1 – 900

Many posts have looked at the topic of numbers. More posts, which will discuss numbers in greater detail, will be coming soon. As a way of preparing for that, take a look at the word cloud. At first sight it seems quite challenging! However, like the declension tables, you need to take it all apart and see what is actually happening when numbers are formed.

There are six key points you need to know to be able to handle numbers – all of them. Here’s a summary:

[1] 1 – 10

[2] vīgintī; centum; mīlle

[3] -decim

[4] ūnde- / duodē-

[5] -gintā

[6] -centī / -gentī

Point [1]

Almost every number in Latin is formed from the base numbers 1 – 10.

ūnus (1); duo (2); trēs (3); quattuor (4); quīnque (5); sex (6); septem (7); octō (8); novem (9); decem (10)

Point [2]

The only numbers beyond that which are not formed from 1- 10 are: vīgintī (20), centum (100) and mīlle (1000)

So, what is it you need to know to be able to recognise the numbers without getting dragged down by spelling changes and / or declensions (because some numbers do decline)?

In the same way that English has thirteen and thirty and three hundred, so too does Latin.

Point [3] teens: -decim (decim < decem [10])

The base number may change a little in its spelling but it’s still recognisable:

ūnus > ūndecim (11)

sex > sedecim (16)

Point [4] duodē- / ūndē-

These can catch you out!

Take them apart:

duo (2) dē (from)

ūn (1) dē (from)

These two are used in compound numbers ending in 8 and 9 e.g. 28, 49 etc. with the next multiple to come and are known as subtractive forms i.e. taking away from the next number rather than adding to it which the other compound numbers do.

ūndecim (11); duodecim (12); tredecim (13); quattuordecim (14); quīndecim (15); sēdecim (16); septendecim (17)

Now …

duo ¦ dē ¦ vīgintī = two from twenty = 18

ūndēvīgintī = one from twenty = 19

Point [5] Multiples of ten: -gintā

vīgintī (20) is the only multiple of ten that does not end in -gintā and cannot be deduced from the numbers 1 - 10. La. vīgintī > Fr, vingt; Sp. veinte; It. venti; Port. vinte.

Again, don’t be concerned by spelling changes; the base number is still obvious.

trīgintā (30); quadrāgintā (40); quīnquāgintā (50); sexāgintā (60); septuāgintā (70); octōgintā (80); nōnāgintā (90)

Compound numbers are straightforward since they are most often two (or more) parts of the number placed side-by-side. You may see other ways of expressing the compounds but the meaning is always clear.

vīgintī ūnus (21); ūnus et vīgintī (compare Gmn: einundzwanzig and older style English one and twenty)

trīgintā duo (32); duo et trīgintā

quadrāgintā sex (46)

quīnquāgintā quīnque (55)

septuāgintā trēs (73)

octōgintā septem (87)

nōnāgintā quattuor (94)

Note again the compounds ending in 8 and 9:

duo ¦ dē ¦ septuāgintā [2 from 70] = 68 i.e. don’t ‘skim read’ the main number; look at what comes before it

ūndēnōnāgintā [1 from 90] = 89

Combinations like vīgintī novem and vīgintī octō are also possible, but less common than the forms shown above.

Point [6] Multiples of 100: -centī / -gentī

Those endings have been formed from centum (100)

duo > ducentī (200)

quīnque > quīngentī (500)

sex > sēscentī (600)

novem > nongentī (900)

Take a good look at:

[2] -gintā: the marker for multiples of ten

[3] -gentī: a marker for the multiples of 100

Both have a /g/ and /nt/ and they can be misread, but the vowels are different.

-gIntā

-gEntī (remember it comes from centum)

Match the numerals with the Latin numbers; there are three base numbers in this exercise - trēs quīnque septem - and so look for [i] the "markers" and [ii] duodē- / ūndē-

3; 5; 7; 13; 15; 17; 28; 30; 49; 50; 70; 300; 500; 700

03.08.24: Level 1; Ora Maritima [6](4)

2^nd declension neuter nouns