The grammatical points covered in the previous posts are explained in greater depth in this post and the subsequent ones.
Key words:
declension
gender
Latin nouns are placed into one of five groups depending on
the endings which they have. These groups are called declensions. Here,
we are looking at two declensions:
[1] nouns ending in -a belong to the first declension
[2] nouns ending in [i] –us and [ii] –um belong to the second
declension
[1] Most nouns in the first declension are feminine in gender
although, as you have already seen, a few which refer to occupations that were
associated with males are masculine. Nevertheless, they all take the same
endings.
ancilla: maidservant
Hispānia: Spain
magistra: teacher (f)
mēnsa: table
Rōma: Rome
taberna: shop
A few examples of masculine nouns in the first declension:
agricola: farmer
aurīga: charioteer
poēta: poet
[2] [i] Nouns ending in -us in the second declension are
almost all masculine, although, again, there are a few which are feminine but
they take the same endings.
amīcus: friend
calceus: shoe
fīlius: son
lectus: bed; couch
oculus: eye
sagittārius: archer
While there are quite a few second declension nouns in -us
which are feminine, many of them are very rare. Below are some more common
ones:
Aegyptus: Egypt
fāgus: beech tree
humus: ground
pīnus: pine tree
pōmus: fruit; fruit tree
A small group of nouns ending in -er and -ir also belong to
the second declension; they are all masculine, for example:
ager: field
liber: book
vir: man
[ii] Nouns ending in -um in the second declension are neuter.
Eborācum: York
librārium: bookcase; library
Londinium: London
tēctum: roof
tēlum: javelin
vīnum: wine
[5] “masculine”, “feminine” and “neuter” are grammatical terms
and they refer not only to animate nouns e.g. human beings, but also to objects
and abstract ideas.
Exercise
Take a look at the words below; to which declension (first or
second) do they belong? It’s a straightforward task because all you have to do
is look at the ending. Don’t be concerned by the meanings of some of these
words at this stage; they will all be introduced.
argentārius
armārium
ātrium
Britannia
cubiculum
culīna
discipulus
fenestra
fluvius
galea
gladius
hortus
magister
mēnsa
nūntius
papȳrus
peristȳlium
plaustrum
pōculum
puer
sella
signifer
stilus
tabula
templum
trīclīnium
via
LINKS
(1) 19.02.24: Gender
https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/04/gender-latin-nouns-are-grouped.html
https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinforstarters/posts/394339326510675/
(2) 23.02.24: declensions [1] first and second declension
https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/04/declensions-1-first-and-second.html
https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinforstarters/posts/396107356333872
