02.09.24: Level 2; Practice in reading the perfect tense; A First Latin Reader (Vincent) [17]

Scīpiō, quī erat imperātor Rōmānus in Āfricā, Hannibalem prope Zamam vīcit. Ubi Hannibal ex Āfricā excessit, Scīpiō pācem cum Poenīs fēcit. Poenī nāvēs longās, quās Scīpiō incendit, elephantōs, omnēs captīvōs Rōmānīs dedērunt. Inde Scīpiō cum cōpiīs discessit et ad Siciliam nāvigāvit. Postquam mīlitēs Rōmam mīsit, Scīpiō iter per Ītaliam fēcit et Rōmam pervēnit. Argentum multum cīvitātī, quadringentōs assēs mīlitibus dedit. Propter victōriās Rōmānī Scīpiōnem ‘Āfricānum’ appellāvērunt.

Sentence structure

What types of clauses are in italics?

Scīpiō, quī erat imperātor Rōmānus in Āfricā, Hannibalem prope Zamam vīcit.

Poenī nāvēs longās, quās Scīpiō incendit, elephantōs, omnēs captīvōs Rōmānīs dedērunt.

Ubi Hannibal ex Āfricā excessit, Scīpiō pācem cum Poenīs fēcit.

[a] Postquam mīlitēs Rōmam mīsit, ¦ [b] Scīpiō iter per Ītaliam fēcit ¦ et [c] Rōmam pervēnit. 

____________________

Scipio, who was the Roman commander in Africa, defeated Hannibal near Zama. When Hannibal left Africa, Scipio made peace with the Carthaginians. The Carthaginians gave long ships, which Scipio set on fire, the elephants, and all the captives to the Romans. From there Scipio left with his troops and sailed to Sicily. After he sent the soldiers to, Scipio made a journey / marched through Italy and reached Rome. He gave a great deal of silver to the city, (and) four hundred asses to the soldiers. Because of his victories, the Romans called Scipio 'African'.

____________________

“quadringentōs assēs mīlitibus dedit”

as, assis [3/m]: a Roman coin; it had the lowest value and was sometimes referred to in literature with the sense of worthlessness (compare Engl. a penny-worth)

Vīvāmus, mea Lesbia, atque amēmus, │ Let us live, my Lesbia, and let us love,

rūmōrēsque senum sevēriōrum │ And the rumours of rather stern old men

omnēs ūnīus aestimēmus assis! │ Let us value them all at one penny!

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

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

02.09.24: adverbs [1](3); Latin tutorial

 

02.09.24: adverbs [1](2); introduction

Ever since the group began, adverbs have been used without looking at them in much detail although lists of time phrases have been included which act as adverbs. 

You probably were taught at school – not just in English but in other languages too – that an adjective ‘modifies’ or 'describes' a noun i.e. gives extra information about a noun, for example a loud noise.

When an English speaker thinks of the word adverb, two thoughts most often come to mind: 

[i] an adverb modifies / describes a verb

[ii] the ending is -ly

> He spoke slow¦ly.

But that is a “quick fix” explanation.

Image #1: an adverb modifies:

1. a verb e.g. he spoke loudly / quietly / angrily
2. an adjective e.g. very / rather / unbearably loud
3. another adverb e.g. he spoke fairly loudly / extremely quietly / quite angrily
4. A whole sentence e.g. Luckily, they still had some bread left.

The same functions apply in Latin.

Image #2: adverbs - both in English and Latin - often don't end in -ly and the Latin equivalent,  and at times can be created with using more than one word. There are so many of them that it would be impossible to list every one that exists. It is also useful, although not essential, to group the adverbs according to type when learning them.

Image #3: we’ll look at four ways of creating adverbs and adverbial phrases because, to a large extent, English and Latin match although they don’t always end up in the same boxes. Below is a summary of what the posts will cover.

[1] Engl. addition of -ly │ La. -ē / -ter

[i] La. -ē

dear > dearly │ cārus > cārē

happy > happily │ laetus > laetē

[ii] La. –(i)ter

brave > bravely │ fortis > fortiter

cruel > cruelly │ crūdēlis > crūdēliter

[2] a single word not formed from an adjective:

always │ semper

here │ ibi

therefore │ ergō

yesterday │ herī

Latin’s case system can come into play when adverbs are formed for example a case can express the idea in a single word which, in English, needs a preposition. However, as mentioned above, once that adverb has been created, it will not change:

at night │ nocte

at home │ domī

[3] adverbial phrases: two or more words that, individually, are not adverbs but, when used together, act as adverbs to give additional information about the action:

The Greeks attacked Troy for many years. │ Graecī Troiam multōs annōs oppugnāvērunt.

I’ll return within a few days. │ Paucīs diēbus redībō.

Again, note that Latin uses its case system whereas English needs a preposition.

[4] prepositional phrases; like [3] above these words individually are not adverbs but can function as adverbial phrases when combined:

I go towards the camp. │ Ad castra eō.

02.09.24: adverbs [1](1); Alice in Adverbland

From Alicia in Terra Mirabili, the Latin translation by Clive Carruthers of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

In these three short extracts you can see a very large part of what is going to be discussed in a number of posts.

Adverbs exist in various forms in Latin: adverbs can by created by using specific endings (e.g. celeriter; maeste; confestim), or words that are adverbs in themselves with no endings (e.g. nunc, ibi, tum) or by the use of the cases (e.g. solum; certō). We will also look at adverbial phrases e.g. magnis litteris (in large letters) which are made up of words that are not adverbs but, when working together, do act as adverbs. The posts will also lead to further information on the ablative case that has a big role to play when dealing with adverbs.

We’ll look at the adverbs in groups based upon [i] how they are formed and [ii] what the adverbs describe.

It isn’t quite the “wonderland” that it first appears to be.

[1]

Nunc ibi invenit ampullam parvam ('Certo non hic erat antea,' inquit Alicia), cuius circum cervices alligatus est titulus chartaceus. In eo magnis litteris belle scriptum est: HAURI ME.

Now she found a little bottle there, ("which certainly was not here before," said Alice,) and tied round the neck of the bottle was a paper label, with the words "DRINK ME," beautifully printed on it in large letters.

[2]

Lepus Martius horologium prehendit, maesteque id intuitus est. Tum in poculum theae id immersit, et iterum intuitus est. Sed solum iteravit id quod prius dixit: 'Optimum vere butyrum fuit!'

The March Hare took the watch and looked at it gloomily: then he dipped it into his cup of tea, and looked at it again: but he only repeated what he had said before, "It truly was the best butter.”

[3]

Quamquam hac subita mutatione ¦ multum territa est, tempus non esse perdendum putabat; nam celeriter deminuebatur. Itaque confestim partem frusti alterius edere coepit. Mentum eius tam arte contra pedem compressum est ut os aperire vix posset. Postremo autem hoc effecit…

She was a good deal frightened ¦ by this very sudden change, but she felt that there was no time to be lost, as she was shrinking rapidly; so she set to work at once to eat some of the other bit. Her chin was pressed so closely against her foot, that there was hardly room [La. she was barely able] to open her mouth; but she did it at last…

01.09.24: Level 1; Ora Maritima 9[3]

The numbers refer to notes after the text.

[i] Nōbīs puerīs fēriae plēnae sunt gaudiōrum ā māne usque ad vesperum. Nōnnumquam in scaphā cum Petrō nāvigāmus. Petrus est adulescentulus vīgintī annōrum. Petrī scapha nōn sōlum [ii] rēmīs sed etiam vēlīs apta est. Plērumque rēmigāmus, sed nōnnumquam vēla damus, cum ventus nōn nimis asper est. Petrus scapham gubernat et [iii] vēlīs ministrat. Nōs puerī scapham bellam laudāmus et amāmus.

Dative case: usage

[i] Nōbis puerīs fēriae plēnae sunt gaudiōrum │ The holidays are full of joys [= fun] for us boys; it could also translate as “We boys have holidays full of fun” [literally: to us boys are holidays full of fun]

[ii] Petrī scapha nōn sōlum rēmīs [dat.] sed etiam vēlīs [dat.] apta est. │Peter’s boat is suitable not only for oars but also for sails.

aptus belongs to a group of adjectives which are followed by the dative case; these adjectives when translated are normally followed in English by ‘to(wards)’ or ‘for’ with meanings related to fitness, likeness, relationships, and nearness. Whatever quality the adjective denotes e.g. ‘suitable’, ‘hostile’, ‘friendly’ the following noun or pronoun is in the dative since the adjective refers to that word.

fitness                                              

• accomodatus, -a, -um: adapted (to)
• aptus, -a, -um: fitted (to)
• ūtilis, -e: useful (for)

relationships

• amīcus, -a, -um: friendly (to)
• inīmicus, -a, -um: hostile (to)
• molestus, -a, -um: troublesome

suitability

• idōneus, -a, -um; opportūnus, -a, -um: suitable

nearness

• fīnitimus, -a, -um; propinquus, -a, -um; vīcīnus, -a, -um: neighbouring

similarity

• similis, -e: similar (to)
• dissimilis, -e: dissimilar (to)
• pār, paris: equal (to)

[iii] Petrus ... vēlīs ministrat. │ Peter attends to the sails.

01.09.24: Level 1; review; practice in the cases [4](2); 1st / 2nd declension nouns and adjectives: accusative singular (2)

Colloquium

The teacher asks the pupils what they saw today:

Quid ¦ vīdistis ¦ hodiē? │ What ¦ did you see ¦ today?

Each in turn says what they saw.

Discipulus prīmus: the first pupil

Discipulus secundus: the second pupil

Discipulus tertius: the third pupil

Etc.

Which student (1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd etc.) saw …

a donkey

a farmer

a gate

a Gaul

a German

a Greek

a sailor

a temple

a town

a wall

Brutus

Diana’s shrine

Geta

Here are some things you may have seen. Change them into the accusative e.g.

porta > portam vīdī │ I saw / have seen a gate

Brutus > Brutum vīdī │ I saw / have seen Brutus

templum > templum vīdī │ I saw / have seen a temple

amīcus (friend [masc.])

discipulus (pupil [masc.])

hortus (garden)

lūdus (school)

medicus (doctor)

____________________

amīca (friend [fem.])

discipula (pupil [fem.])

taberna (shop)

puella (girl)

vacca (cow)

____________________

Theatrum (theatre)

thermopolium (shop selling hot food)

macellum (market)

cubiculum (bedroom)

librārium (bookcase; book shelf)

01.09.24: Level 1; review; practice in the cases [4](1); 1st / 2nd declension nouns and adjectives: accusative singular (1)

[1]

Nominative singular: pecūnia (money)

Accusative singular: pecūniam

Pecūniam habet [direct object of the sentence] │(s)he has money

multus, -a, -um: much; a lot (of)

Multam pecūniam habet / (s)he has much (a lot of) money

[2]

Nominative singular: servus

Accusative singular: servum

Servum habet [direct object of the sentence] │(s)he has a slave

bonus, -a, um: good

Servum bonum habet │ (s)he has a good slave

[3]

Nominative singular: scūtum

Accusative singular: scūtum [no change]

Scūtum habet [direct object of the sentence] │ (s)he has a shield

lātus, -a, -um: wide

Scūtum lātum habet │ (s)he has a wide shield

Lectiō §16

vulnerat: injures

equus, -ī [2/m]: horse

Hasta barbarum vulnerat — hasta Gallum vulnerat — hasta Rōmānum vulnerat. [2] Geta Dāvum vulnerat — Dāvus Getam nōn vulnerat — Geta scūtum habet — Dāvus nōn habet scūtum — Geta equum habet — Dāvus nōn habet equum — Geta equum incitat — Dāvus Getam fugat — sed Getam nōn vulnerat — nam Geta bonum equum et scūtum lātum habet.

Lectiō §17

occupat: occupies

saepe: often

tōtus, -a, -um: all; the whole

castellum, -ī [2/n]: castle

mehercule! by Hercules!

quid? what?

Caesar īnsulam occupat. Īnsula magna est. Sed Caesar saepe īnsulam magnam occupat. Ōra īnsulae longa est. Sed Caesar tōtam ōram occupat. Mūrus oppidī est altus. Sed Caesar mūrum occupat. Oppidum magnum est. Sed oppidum occupat. Oppidum habet castellum. Castellum est magnum. Sed Caesar castellum occupat. Est via lāta et bona. Viam occupat Caesar. Mehercule! quid nōn occupat Caesar?