Referring to:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinforstarters/posts/1101999429077991
Again, Magister
Andrews produces a short video which, if you want, you can explore in more
depth:
One key concept
and two “steps up” i.e. don’t try to do everything at once. Step [1] is
absolute basic Latin. Step [2] makes you aware that words in Latin change. Step
[3], i.e. it is not a first step, explains briefly what particular
changes are.
Step [1]
[i] Quid est hoc?
| What is this?
[ii] Haec
est crux. | This is a cross.
Why does it change
from hoc to haec?
[i] If you don’t
know what it is, then you don’t know what gender it is. Therefore, Latin
uses the neuter form to ask the question. German, Spanish and Russian,
for example, do the same:
Gmn: Was ist das?
Sp: ¿Qué es eso?
Russ: Chto eto?
(Что это?)
[ii] However,
Magister Andrews knows what it is – and he knows the gender: crux
is feminine, and the feminine form for ‘this’ is haec:
Haec est crux. | This is a cross.
But you can avoid
the issue by simply saying: crux est | it’s a cross
The next noun he
uses is fūnis (cord / string)
[i] Don’t know
what it is?
Quid est hoc?
[ii] Now you do
(it’s masculine):
Hic est fūnis. | This is a cord / string.
Fūnis est. | It’s
a cord / string.
[iii] The third
noun he uses is collum (neck); it is a neuter noun and so hoc is
used for both the question and the answer.
Quid est hoc?
Hoc est collum meum. | This is my neck.
Collum meum est. |
It’s my neck.
Therefore, three
key words:
this: hic
(masculine), haec (feminine), hoc (neuter)
Step [2]
If you are new to
Latin then you need to be aware from an early stage that words change depending
on what they are doing in a sentence. Becoming familiar with these changes
takes time and patience, but Magister Andrews gives some examples.
[i] Crux in
fūne est. | The cross is on the string.
in collō | on the neck
Lat: in = Engl: in
or on
Step [3]
crucem in
collō pōnō | I put the cross on the neck (or: on my neck; Latin
does not normally use the possessive ‘my’ if it’s obvious who you’re talking
about)
2 points to note:
[i] Here, crux
is the direct object i.e. the action is being done to the cross: -em
indicates this.
[ii] crucem:
a large number of Latin nouns change the stem before an ending is added:
crux > cruc¦em
This is not as
random as it first appears; there are patterns and English has many derivatives
where that change is shown.
crux > cruc¦em
> Engl. crucify; crucifixion; excruciating;
cruciform (in the shape of a cross); crucial
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