03.03.25: follow-up; Silvae apud Austinopolin (Vincent) [3] notes

[1] Watch out for:

hīc: here (with long /ī/; hic with short /i/ means he / this)

hūc: to here

hinc: from here

[2] Apud rīvulum dēambulāmus.  │ We’re walking near a little stream (brook) < rīvus, -ī [2/m]: stream; brook; the inclusion of -ul- in a Latin word makes it smaller; in grammar known as a diminutive and discussed here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinforstarters/posts/427339066544034/

[3] Diēs iūcundissimus est. │ It is a very pleasant day.

-issim¦us, -a, -um: the ending for the superlative which, depending on context can translate as most + the adjective or, simply, as very + the adjective

[4] Nōn versāmur Hustōniae neque Dallāsiī │ We’re neither in Houston nor in Dallas; when referring to being in named cities or towns (and in a few other limited circumstances), Latin does not use a preposition but an old case ending known as the locative, which was discussed here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinforstarters/posts/415064654438142/

[5] Austino¦polis: any word ending in polis or derived from it e.g. Constantinople ( < Constantinopolis), metropolis (metropolitan), necropolis is originally from Ancient Greek πόλις (pólis): town; city; some nouns in Latin, especially proper nouns derived from Greek, may retain Greek case endings or have a mixture of Latin and Greek case endings.

In the reel Vincent says: Sēlēgī Austinopolim │ I’ve chosen Austin; that is a (rare) Latin accusative case ending which also occurs in, for example, the name of the river Tiber i.e. Tiberis > accusative Tiberim; also; turris (tower) > turrim and puppis (stern of a ship) > puppim. However, in the title of the video on Youtube we have: silvae apud Austinopolin, which is a Greek accusative, and equally valid as an ending.

[6] Vincentius loquor, ¦ gubernāns raedam... │ It’s me, Vincent, speaking ¦ (while) driving the car …

This is an example of a present active participle, a very important feature of Latin and used frequently in the literature. Many posts were written on this and they are all here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IZm2lKJ6aMF_UTmnLZrkxif5AqNnAXyb/view?usp=drive_link

[7] These three sentences use the Latin subjunctive.

Scītisne ¦ ubi sīmus?

Sed nōn cōnstituī hūc venīre ¦ ut vīserem aedificia.

Bene sapiat.

The subjunctive is a massive topic that will be looked at in depth when Level 3 is introduced. However, whenever it turns up, I will make brief mention of it.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinforstarters/posts/618725067405432/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinforstarters/posts/618726997405239/

The subjunctive is used in many different ways including:

[i] an indirect question: scītisne ¦ ubi sīmus? │do you know ¦ where we are [ = where we might be]?

[ii] expressing purpose: Sed nōn cōnstituī hūc venīre ¦ ut vīserem aedificia. │ But I didn’t decide to come here ¦ (in order) to visit buildings [ = in order that I might visit …]

[iii] expressing a polite request

vivat rēx! │ (long) live the king! [= may the king live (long)]

Bene sapiat. │ Literally: may it taste well = enjoy your food = Bon appétit!

There is no historical evidence that, when told the peasants had no bread, Marie-Antoinette said “let them eat cake” which, in Latin, would be this type of subjunctive: but I wouldn’t lose your head over it!