Saturday, March 1, 2025

25.05.25: Level 1; readings [12] - [15]: review (2a); 2nd declension nouns in –(e)r; 1st / 2nd declension adjectives in -er

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Latin_for_beginners_(1911)/Part_II/Lesson_XIII

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/09/111024-level-1-review-practice-in-cases.html

https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinforstarters/posts/552007307410542/

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/09/111024-level-1-review-practice-in-cases_3.html

https://wordwall.net/resource/77378345

[1] There is a group of second declension masculine nouns ending in –(e)r.

Apart from the nominative singular (2nd declension masculine nouns almost always end in -us in the nominative singular) these nouns have exactly the same endings in all other cases both singular and plural. However, some of these nouns, before case endings are added, drop the /e/ before the -r.

Nominative singular: magister, but in all other cases – singular and plural: magistr-

Note the remark that “some” of these nouns drop /e/ which is a reason why, when learning Latin nouns, you should always learn them together with the genitive singular because it is the genitive singular that is used to indicate if there are any changes to the noun when it declines.

[i] /e/ is dropped

ager, agrī [2/m]: field

liber, librī [2/m]: book

magister, magistrī [2/m]: teacher

[ii] /e/ is retained

puer, -ī  [2/m]: boy

signifer, -ī [2/m]: standard-bearer

vir, -ī [2/m]: man

[2] Masculine adjectives in -er of the first / second declension are declined like nouns in -er. A few of them are declined like puer, but most of them like ager. The feminine and neuter nominatives show which form to follow:

[i] līber [masculine] lībera [feminine] līberum [neuter]: free; declines like puer i.e. the /e/ is retained in all cases

[ii] pulcher [masculine] pulchra [feminine] pulchrum [neuter]: pretty; declines like magister i.e. the /e/ is dropped when endings are added



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