Follow-up on a previous post. You don’t need to see a lot to find out a lot … and not just about maple tree tapping.
Referring to:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinforstarters/posts/920664230544846
Thanks to Magister Andrews for posting this because it can
be used at different levels.
(1) Follow the video and try to work out what he is saying.
Listen to his accurate, clear and slowly delivered commentary.
(2) Look at the transcript below and the translation.
(3) Read through the notes which show you that, even in a
short piece of Latin, there are features which occur at different stages in
learning the language.
Ecce arbor. | Look! A tree.
Haec arbor est acer. | This tree is a maple.
Acer est. │ It’s a maple tree.
Et ecce! | And look!
In acere est forāmen. | In the maple there is a hole.
Forāmen fodī in acere. | I’ve drilled a hole in the maple.
Cūr forāmen fodī in acere? | Why have
I drilled a hole in the maple?
Forāmen fodī quia succum aceris volō. |
I've drilled the hole because I want the sap of the maple.
Forāmen fodī ut succum aceris extraham. |
I've drilled the hole so that I may draw out the sap of the
maple.
____________________
extrahō, -ere [3]: extract
fodiō, -ere [3-iō]: (Classical Latin) dig; mine; (here)
drill
succus, -ī [2/m]: juice; sap
succulentus, -a, -um: juicy > English derivative:
succulent
____________________
There are three key features in this short
video, and you’ll see that I’ve titled each one according to a level i.e.
it isn’t a question of trying to ‘know’ it all at the same time but to become
familiar with ideas depending on where you are precisely in Latin.
Level 1
Latin nouns are grouped according to declensions based
on the endings that they share.
Grammar books and vocabulary lists give you the information
in slightly different ways, but this is how they are done in all posts in the
group:
succus, -ī [2/m]: juice; sap
The -ī is the genitive singular of
the noun, and listing that matters because, and this is only an example, nouns
ending in -us may belong to different declensions; you will
not be able to work that out from the nominative case alone:
succus: 2nd declension
pectus: 3rd declension
exercitus: 4th declension
However, only second declension nouns
have a genitive singular in -ī: that alone tells you the declension, but
I reinforce it by indicating the declension and the gender [2(nd)
declension / m(asculine)]
Here is another example:
puella, -ae [1/f]: girl
The genitive singular is -ae = 1st
declension + abbreviated information [1(st) declension / f(eminine)]
That is the only information you need about a noun: from
that information all the other forms can be created.
You’ll see that only the genitive singular ending is given
in both examples: -ī / -ae; there is no need to note the word in full because
all that is changing is the ending i.e.
succus > succī
puella > puellae
Level 1+
i.e. be familiar with 1st and 2nd declensions before you
move on … and up:
[i] Magister Andrews includes 3rd declension nouns; 3rd
declension nouns have their own genitive singular ending in -is:
arbor, -is [3/f]: tree; again, simply the genitive case
ending is given
acer, -is [3/n]: maple tree
succum aceris volō │ I want the sap of the
maple tree
In acere est forāmen │ There’s a
hole in the maple tree
[ii] Now look at the next one:
forāmen, forāminis [3/n]: hole
The genitive is still -is but the stem of
the noun has changed: forāmin-; once you have that stem, all the other 3rd
declension endings will be added to it. That is a common feature of 3rd
declension nouns and there is a large number of them. When I list those with
stem changes, I write it in full, for example:
nox, noctis [3/f]: night; the stem of the
noun is noct-
The stem changes are not as random as they first seem, and
there are many posts on the topic in the group. All of them are available in
the files section:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinforstarters/permalink/750844210860183
https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinforstarters/permalink/750845270860077
Level 3+
A taste of things to come …
Forāmen fodī ut succum aceris extraham.
I've drilled the hole so that I (may) draw out the
sap of the maple.
This is an example of the subjunctive, a lengthy
and sprawling topic that is usually left to the end of Latin grammar books. The
group will be looking at it in detail soon.
Here the subjunctive is used to express a purpose and there are often ‘markers’: ut (literally: so that / in order that). In this example, it could equally be translated as: I drilled the hole to draw out the sap … but, when dealing with the subjunctive – especially at the early stages – it is better to stick as close as possible to the literal meaning.