21.12.24: Level 2; the passive voice [5]; present tense passive; all forms [1]; torture yourself with the present passive; first person singular and plural

[i]

Nūllā spē, nūllō timōre sollicitor, nūllīs rūmōribus inquiētor (Pliny) │ I am not agitated by any hope, not by any fear; I am not disquieted by any rumours.

sollicitō │ I make (i.e. somebody) anxious > sollicitor │ I am agitated

inquiētō │ I disturb (i.e. somebody else) > inquiētor │I am disturbed

[ii]

Video: Vincent is reading the famous two-line poem by Catullus (Carmen 85):

Ōdī et amō. Quārē id faciam fortasse requīris. │ I hate and I love. Why I do this, perhaps you ask.

Nesciŏ, sed fierī sentiō et excrucior. │ I don’t know, but I feel it happening and I am tortured.

excruciō │ I torture / torment (somebody) > excrucior │ I am tortured

[1]: first person singular

laudō │ I praise > laudor│ I am praised; all that has happened is -r is added to the first person singular active ending and the /o/ is shortened (indicated – only here for reference - by ŏ). There are no stress changes.

The conjugation doesn’t matter; the ending is always the same.

Pronunciation changes are indicated. Remember that a long ō is pronounced like English ‘oh, no!’ and a short /ŏ/ is pronunced like English ‘or’ or a donkey braying ee-aw 

• laudō │ I praise > laudŏr [[lAU-doh (like Engl, ‘oh!’) > lAU-dor (like Engl. ‘or’) ] │ I am praised
• moneō│ I warn > moneŏr  [mO-ne-oh > mO-ne-or] │ I am warned
• dūcō│ I lead > ducŏr [dOO-coh > dOO-cor]│ I am led
• capiō │ I capture > capiŏr [cA-pi-oh > cA-pi-or]│ I am captured
• audiō │ I hear > audiŏr [AU-di-oh > AU-di-or] │ I am heard / listened to

[2]: first person plural

laudāmus │ we praise > laudāmur │ we are praised

You could say either that you remove the ending of the active i.e. -mus and change it to -mur or, body swerve that, and say that the -s changes to -r (which was the way I interpreted it); the result is the same. There are no changes in stress or vowel length; [ ʹ] is only used here as a reminder of where the stress lies.

monḗmus │ we warn > monḗmur │ we are warned

dū́cimus │ we lead > dū́cimur │ we are led

cápimus │ we capture > cápimur │ we are captured

audī́mus │ we hear > audī́mur │ we are heard

We’re almost done:

laudor │ I am praised

laudātur │  he / she / it is praised

laudāmur │ we are praised

laudantur │ they are praised

20.12.24: Level 1; D’Ooge; Colloquia Latina [2]

D: Heus, serve! Ubi equus meus est?

S: In agrō, domine, equus est.

D: Estne in agrō cōpia frūmentī?

S: Sāne, et cōpia aquae est.

D: Estne aqua quae in agrō est, bona?

S: Aqua agrī bona est et frīgida.

D: Unde aqua est ?

S:  Aqua ex fluviō est quī per agrum fluit.

D: Amatne equus fluvium quī per agrum fluit?

S: Equus et fluvium amat et silvās quae in rīpīs sunt.

Vocabulary

[i]

cōpia, -ae [1/f]: quantity; amount

aqua, -ae [1/f]: water

rīpa, -ae [1/f]: bank (of a river)

dominus, -ī [2/m]: master

equus, -ī [2/m]: horse

fluvius, -ī [2/m]: river

servus, -ī [2/m]: slave

ager, agrī [2/m]: field

frūmentum, -ī [2/n]: grain

[ii]

bonus, -a, -um: good

frīgidus, -a, -um: cold 

Find the Latin

1. (the horse) loves
2. both … and
3. does (the horse) love …?
4. from where
5. from; out of the river
6. in the field
7. on the banks
8. which / that (2 words)
9. yes

____________________

M: Hey there, slave! Where is my horse?

S: The horse is in the field, master.

M: Is there a supply of wheat in the field?

S: Yes, and a supply of water.

M: Is the water which / that is in the field good?

S: The water in the field is good and cold.

M: Where is the water from?

S: The water is from the river that / which flows through the field.

M: Does the horse love the river that flows through the field?

S: The horse loves both the river and the woods that / which are on the riverbanks.

20.12.24: level 1; topic; school [8]; Music [4]: the Romans didn't have them - but Bach did

[1] I couldn’t do this topic without hunting for the Latin for such a fabulous instrument. The Romans didn’t have it, but Bach did - and its name is listed in 1657:

Images #1 and #2: technica curiosa sive mirabilia artis (Gaspar Schott)

clavicymbalum, -ī [2/n]: harpsichord from Latin: clāvis (key) + cymbalum (cymbal)

Image #2: The history of this is interesting: a manuscript written by Arnault from 1440 has instructions for the manufacture of different keyboard instruments: "Four different mechanisms are described and pictured, including three that pluck the strings and one that strikes the strings. The striking mechanism, which Arnaut informs us could be installed in various forms of keyboard instruments regardless of their names ... indicates that the “piano” was not a later development but was contemporary with the harpsichord and clavichord. For some reason, it fell by the wayside only to appear sporadically until its final “invention” by Bartolomeo Cristofori around 1700." (Pollens, Cambridge 2022).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcsfDxojdV8

Bach: Harpsichord Concerto No.1 in D Minor BWV 1052 (Jean Rondeau)

[2] Apart from the harpsichord another common keyboard instrument which preceded the piano:

clāvichordium, -ī  [2/n]: clavichord

Image #3: drawing of a clavichord (1636)

[3] References to a piano date from 1700 as being owned by the Medicis; Cristofori, who is credited with inventing the piano, worked for them. The Italian term was clavicembalo col piano e forte, a key harpsichord with soft and loud i.e. a distinction was made since the instrument could allow variations in volume and tone depending on the force with which a key was struck. Therefore, the instrument was called a pianoforte and, in shortened form, piano. None of that, of course, is a Latin term!

One source lists seven Latin possibilities, some of which are more convincing than others. The one, however, which appears in four references, three of which have citations, is:

clāvile, -is [3/n]: piano

• clāvilī canō: I play the piano

With references from at least the late 17th century:

clāviatūra, -ae [1/f]: keyboard

20.12.24: Level 2; the passive voice [4]; present passive; passive agent

[1] A passive statement can stand alone:

Fābula narrātur │ A story is (being) told

Oppidum munītur │ The town is (being) fortified

[2] Often, however, the passive statement is made together with a passive agent; this is the grammatical term that refers to the person by whom the action is performed.

The story is told ¦ by the teacher.

The passive agent is expressed by ā / ab + the ablative case

Fābula ā magistrō narrātur │ The story is (being) told by the teacher

Oppidum ā mīlitibus mūnitur │ The town is (being) fortified by the soldiers

[3] A passive statement may also include by what something is done i.e. something inanimate. Latin then uses the ablative without a preposition = the ablative of means / instrument

Oppidum mūrō altō mūnītur │ The town is fortified by / with / by means of a wall

Oppidum mūrīs firmīs mūnītur │ The town is fortified by / with / by means of  strong walls

[4]

Below is the text again together with questions about the content; note the two different ways in which the question is asked:

[i] Ā quō │ by whom? i.e. the answer is looking for a passive agent expressed by ā / ab + the ablative case

Ā quō fābula narrātur? │ By whom is the story told? [= Who is the story told by?] > Fābula ā magistrō narrātur. │ The story is told ¦ by the teacher [passive agent].

[ii] Quōmodo? │ how? i.e. the answer is looking for an ablative of means or instrument with the ablative alone

Quōmodo oppidum mūnītur? │ How (with what / by what means) is the town fortified? > Oppidum mūrō altō mūnītur. │ The town is fortified by / with / by means of a high wall [ablative of means].

Orbilius magister discipulōs laudat sī dīligenter student. Interdum ā magistrō fābulae nārrantur. Hodiē Orbilius rogat, “Dēsīderātīsne fābulam, puerī?” “Certē, certē, fābulam longam, fābulam longam dēsīderāmus,” puerī clāmant. Tum fābula dē Helenā, fēminā pulchrā Graecā, ab Orbiliō nārrātur.

“In Graeciā Helena habitat. Fēmina pulchrā ā multīs virīs amātur. Troiānus clārus ad Graeciam nāvigat. Fēmina pulchra ā Troiānō vidētur et amātur. Tandem Troiānus fēminam Troiam dūcit. Graecī sunt īrātī; itaque bellum parātur. Arma et frūmentum et armātī onerāriīs ad ōrās Troiānās mittuntur. In ōrīs Troiānīs Graecī castra pōnunt. Troia mūrō altō et portīs frimīs mūnītur. Posteā castra Graecōrum fossā et vallō altō mūniuntur. Graecī Troiānōs nōn timent sed ā Troiānis timentur. Diū bellum geritur. Armātī gladiīs, hastīs sagittīs pugnant. Et Graecī et Troiānī ā virīs clārīs dūcuntur sed deī victōriam nōn dant.”

1. Ā quō fābulae nārrantur?
2. Ā quō fābula dē fēminā pulchrā nārrātur?
3. Ā quō pulchra fēmina vidētur et amātur?
4. Quid ā Graecīs parātur?
5. Quōmodo arma et frūmentum at armātī ad ōrās Troiānās mittuntur?
6. Quōmodo Troia mūnītur?
7. Quōmodo castra Graecōrum mūniuntur?
8. Ā quō Graecī timentur?
9. Quid diū geritur?
10. Ā quō et Graecī et Troiānī dūcuntur?

19.12.24: Level 2; the passive voice [3]; the present passive; 3rd person singular and plural; pronunciation and stress

The passive endings for all the conjugations are the same, but if you want to pronounce Latin accurately then take a look at the changes in pronunciation and the vowel stress:

1st conjugation

láudăt > lăudātur i.e. the stress shifts and /a/ is lengthened [lAU-dat > lau-dAH-tur]

láudănt > lăudántur i.e. the stress shifts [lAU-dant > lau-dAn-tur]

i.e. in spoken Classical Latin there was a distinct pronunciation difference; if, however, you are only wanting to read the language, then this is not a major point although, if you are dealing with CL poetry, then vowel lengths and stresses will matter. Stress marks e.g. ó or ŏ are only used here to show the changes; they are not written in CL apart from when analysing poetry.

2^nd conjugation

dócĕt │ he / she teaches > dŏcētur [dO-cet > do-cÉ-tur] │ he / she is (being) taught

dócĕnt │ they teach > dŏcéntur [dO-cent > do-cEn-tur] │ they are (being) taught

3^rd and 3^rd-iō conjugations; note the difference in the singular and plural forms

singular

dūcit │ he / she leads > dūcitur [no change: dU-cit > dU-ci-tur] │ he / she is (being) led

cápit │ he / she captures > cápitur [no change: cA-pit > cA-pi-tur] │ he / she is (being) captured

plural

dūcunt │ they lead > dūcúntur [dU-cunt > du-cUn-tur]│ they are (being) led

cápiunt │they capture > căpiúntur [cA-pi-unt > ca-pi-Un-tur] │they are (being) captured

4^th conjugation

áudĭt │ he / she hears > ăudītur [AU-dit > au-dEE-tur] │ he / she is (being) heard

áudĭunt │ they hear > ăudiúntur [AU-di-unt > au-di-Un-tur] │ they are (being) heard