21.05.24: Level 2: perfect tense [1] stem, endings; first conjugation (1)

The term ‘perfect tense’ can be understood in different ways depending on what languages you know and so, to avoid complicating things, the Latin perfect tense is, in English:

[i] the simple past i.e. I went, and [ii] the present perfect i.e. I have gone

Latin does not distinguish between the two. Most often, however, it is translated as [i] i.e. I, you etc. did something – usually once and finished.

To create the perfect tense you need to know [i] 1 set of endings which applies to all verbs in the perfect tense and [ii] The third principal part.

The principal parts are like English swim – swam - swum i.e. you need those to be able to form all the tenses.

Until now, only two principal parts have been given:

portō, portāre [1]: carry

Those two parts tell you the conjugation to which the verb belongs and from which you can form the [i] present, [ii] imperfect and [iii] future tenses as well as [iv] the imperative / command forms:

Latin tutorial videos on Youtube on the verb forms covered so far:

[1] present tense:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTl7H0WFwbE

[2] imperfect tense:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-OLocTTe50

[3] future tense:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FTBG0Jg6Cg

[4] imperative:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FLimwTryE4

For most Latin verbs there are two more principal parts. For now, we’ll only look at the third principal part [image #1].

[1] portō [2] portāre │ [3] portāvī

Different tenses and verb forms can be created from this third part but the one that is crucial is the perfect tense. If you’re aiming to read the literature – especially narrative - then you’ll be reading about what people did and this is the tense that will occur most often.

[i] It is the 1st person singular that is listed: portāv │ī

[ii] portāv- is the stem; that’s what you need to know

[iii] To that stem the following endings are added:

portāv│ī: I (have) carried

portāv│istī: you [sg.] (have) carried

portāv│it: he / she / it (has) carried

portāv│imus: we (have) carried

portāv│istis: you [pl.] (have) carried

portāv│ērunt: they (have) carried

Those endings [image #2] are for the perfect tense of all four conjugations and so, for any verb, they are simply added to the stem of the third principal part.

[iv] Almost all 1st conjugation verbs have this stem ending in -v- e.g.

hurry: festīnō, festīnāre, │ festīnāvī

love: amō, amāre │ amāvī

praise: laudō, laudāre, │ laudāvī

sail: nāvigō, nāvigāre, │ nāvigāvī

watch: spectō, spectāre │ spectāvī

work: labōrō, labōrāre │ labōrāvī

[v] So, it’s simply the stem + the ending

festīnāvī [festīnāv + ī]: I (have) hurried

amāvistī [amāv + istī]: you [sg.] (have) loved

laudāvit [laudāv + it]: he / she / it (has) praised

nāvigāvimus [nāvigāv + imus]: we (have) sailed

spectāvistis [spectāv + istis]: you [pl.] (have) watched

labōrāvērunt [labōrāv + ērunt]: they (have) worked

[vi] A few common verbs don’t have a stem in -v-:

dō, dare, ded¦ī [1]: give

stō, stāre, stet¦ī [1]: stand

But the same endings are always added:

dedimus: we gave

stetērunt: they stood

21.05.24: Level 1; Ora Maritima [1] (2)

book: https://www.facebook.com/.../permalink/445400638071210/

video: if you have CC (closed captioning) option - turn it off.

OM_01: pronunciation notes; stress

The reader makes two small errors which I’ll mention at the end of this post. None of us are perfect, and I’m sure that, when we’re speaking a second language – or even our native language – we slip up from time to time.

All the stress rules of Latin are in these readings.

A Latin word is made up of one or more syllables. One of those syllables will be stressed i.e. said a LIT-tle more STRONG-ly than the O-ther SYL-lables.

The rules for this in Latin are fairly straightforward.

[1] In English a word can be stressed on a final syllable e.g. be-GIN.

In Latin, the final syllable is not stressed. Therefore, in a two syllable word, it is always the first syllable that’s stressed.

án-te [AN-te]

bél-la [BEL-la]

mé-a [ME-a]

vī́l-la [U̯ĪL-la]

ṓ-ra [Ō-ra]

pró-cul [PRO-kul]

ú-bi [U-bi]

a diphthong is a single sound made from two vowels as in English: sAId or trEE

/ae/ is a single sound: as in English ‘eye’

/au/ is a single sound: as in English ‘how’

náu-tae: 2 syllables

[2] When a word is more than two syllables, the following rules apply:

[i] 2nd last syllable is a long vowel e.g. ca-│ tē-│ nae: that syllable is stressed i.e. ca-TE-nae

ca-tḗ-nae [ka-TĒ-nae]

be-ā́-tās [be-Ā-tas]

nau-tā́-rum [nau-TĀ-rum]

for-mī́-dant [for-MĪ-dant]

[ii] 2nd last syllable is a short vowel followed by 2 consonants e.g. an-│ cĭl-│la: that syllable is stressed i.e. an-CIL-la

an-cíl-la [an-KIL-la]

in-tér-dum [in-TER-dum]

pro-cél-lās [pro-KEL-las]

Although there are no examples in the text, that also applies if:

(a) the 2nd last syllable is a diphthong: per-SAE-pe

(b) the 2nd last syllable is followed by /x/ [=ks i.e. 2 consonant sound]: pa-ra-DOX-us

____________________

[iii] 2nd last syllable is a short vowel, the stress moves back one place:

á-│ mĭ-│ ta [A-mi-ta]

há-bĭ-tat [HA-bi-tat]

ma-rí-tĭ-ma [ma-RI-ti-ma]

nā́-vĭ-gō [NĀ-u̯i-go]

[Note: he makes two slight errors: [i] in the second last line he mispronounces nautās, making it sound like *nautos*; NAU-tās with long /ā/ is the correct pronunciation, and [ii] A-mant i.e. the stress should be on the first syllable, not the second *a-mánt*]

 

20.05.24: Level 1; Ora Maritima [1] (1)

book: https://www.facebook.com/.../permalink/445400638071210/

video: if you have CC (closed captioning) option - turn it off.

All the notes are given in the book

At the beginning of each section the author tells you what the aim of the sections are; for these two sections – and the next two:

[First Declension of Nouns and Adjectives, together with the Present Indicative of sum and of the First Conjugation.]

1. Quam bella est ōra maritima! Nōn procul ab ōrā maritimā est vīlla. In vīllā amita mea habitat; et ego cum amitā meā nunc habitō. Ante iānuam vīllae est ārea; in āreā est castanea, ubi luscinia interdum cantat. Sub umbrā castaneae ancilla interdum cēnam parat. Amō ōram maritimam; amō vīllam bellam.

2. Fēriae nunc sunt. Inter fēriās in villā maritimā habitō. Ō beātās fēriās! In arēnā ōrae maritimae sunt ancorae et catēnae. Nam incolae ōrae maritimae sunt nautae. Magna est audācia nautārum: procellās nōn formīdant. Nautās amō, ut nautae mē amant. Cum nautīs interdum in scaphīs nāvigō.

In these two little paragraphs the author shows you almost all the endings of first declension nouns in Latin, and their basic uses

In these two little paragraphs the author shows you almost all the endings of first declension nouns in Latin, and their basic uses

Nominative

ancilla … parat: the maid prepares

luscinia … cantat: the nightingale sings

amita mea habitat: my aunt lives

Quam bella est ōra maritima! How beautiful the seashore is!

____________________

nautae … amant: the sailors love …

incolae … sunt nautae: the inhabitants are sailors

sunt ancorae et catēnae: there are anchors and chains

Fēriae nunc sunt: It’s now the holidays (pl. in Latin: there are now holidays)

Genitive

ante iānuam │vīllae: in front of the door │of the country house

sub umbrā │castaneae: under the shade │ of the chestnut tree

incolae │ōrae maritimae: the inhabitants │of the seashore

in arēnā │ōrae maritimae: on the sand │ of the seashore

____________________

audācia │ nautārum: the bravery │of the sailors

Accusative

Amō ōram maritimam: I love the sea coast

amō vīllam bellam: I love the beautiful house

ante iānuam: in front of the door

____________________

nautās amō: I love the sailors

procellās nōn formīdant: they do not fear storms

inter fēriās: during the holidays

Ō beātās fēriās! [the accusative in used Latin when giving exclamation]: Oh happy holidays!

Ablative

in vīllā: in the house

in āreā: in the open area

in arēnā on the sand

in villā maritimā: in the seaside house (in the house by the sea)

cum amitā meā: with my aunt

nōn procul │ab ōrā maritimā: not far │ from the seashore

____________________

in scaphīs: in the boats

cum nautīs: with the sailors

____________________

And the phrase that, when I first read it, became the phrase that I like the most in Latin.

sub umbrā [ablative singular] │ castaneae [genitive singular]

And, if you add in the rest of the sentence, there are two other case endings in the bag:

Ancilla [nominative singular]│ cēnam [accusative singular] │ parat.

sub umbrā │ castaneae │ ancilla [nominative singular] │ … cēnam [accusative singular] │ parat.

Under the shade │of the chestnut tree │the maid │prepares │dinner. 

____________________

[1] How beautiful the coast is! There is a country house not far from the coast. My aunt lives in a country house; and I now live with my aunt. In front of the door of the house there is an open area. In the open area there is a chestnut tree, where the nightingale sometimes sings. Under the shade of a chestnut tree the maid sometimes prepares dinner. I love the seaside; I love the beautiful country house.

[2] It's the holidays now. During the holidays I live in the house by the sea. Happy holidays! There are anchors and chains in the sand of the seashore. For the inhabitants of the coast are sailors. The boldness of the sailors is great: they are not afraid of storms. I love the sailors, as the sailors love me. I sometimes sail with the sailors in boats.

 

20.05.24: Level 1: vocabulary; 10 at a time: people [1]

19.05.24: Level 1; Ora Maritima - introduction

I’m going to be doing quite a few Level 1 posts on this text: Ora Maritima by Edward Sonnenschein. Sonnenschein was the Professor of Classics at the University of Birmingham. The book was written at a time when the teaching of Latin was being seriously reviewed i.e. moving away purely from the rote learning of tables to reading the language in context. The book was targeted at British schoolkids, but the language is far from being kids’ stuff.

It was also very carefully written to focus on what you really need to know as the foundations of the language.

Everything you need is in the book itself: the texts, the vocabulary (chapter by chapter) and the grammar notes – step-by-step. I’ll be posting some review material based on the book but I won’t be saying much about the vocabulary and grammar because it’s all in there and everything has also been covered here in the group.

And please use the group to ask questions.

The whole book is on file here in the group:

https://www.facebook.com/.../permalink/445400638071210/

The book is also available for download at:

https://archive.org/.../cu31924031202850/page/n27/mode/2up

Online versions with text only:

https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Ora_Maritima/Text

https://fergusjpwalsh.github.io/sonnens.../ora_maritima.html

David Amster mentioned that he likes this book, and I’m sure others who have studied Classics know it and like it too.

I like it not just because of the language; it was written in a ‘gentler’ age where life was slower, and where people didn’t want the “answer” at the press of a button. Learning a language as challenging as Latin takes time, determination and patience.

Yes, the book is a bit "old fashioned" but it works. 

19.05.24: crossing the line

The group was started exactly three months ago.

The aim was to be focused exclusively on the learning of Latin from a learner’s point of view. Every post was designed to build on a previous one.

You can use this group in different ways.

Since it started there are now over 430 posts which began from no knowledge until this stage. If you’re stepping in now, please again take a look the archive: all the declensions, all the adjectives, most of the case uses, the verb conjugations and three tenses are complete. And, along the way, a range of topics: basic greetings, describing self and family, shopping, rooms in the house, places in the town, many of the numbers, ages, daily routine, hobbies, likes and dislikes, asking for and giving directions, and the weather have all been topics for speaking.

The group has grown large and members are at different levels.

From now on, for my own posts, I will try each time to post two levels, and every post will be titled that way.

Level 1: review of basics; everything in these posts will have been done before and so, as I’ve mentioned, all the posts can be viewed easily on the other site. I’ll include vocabulary review, some simple grammar exercises and reading and listening.

Level 2: continuing from where the posts ended today 19.05.24 and moving up

From time to time, there will be more challenging posts e.g. some poetry if you want to have a try at those, but it will be indicated that these posts are for those who already have a fair command of Latin, but anybody, of course, can “have a go”.

19.05.24: review; find the Latin

All of the words below were in the previous text. Try the match-up exercise. The answers are in the comments.

1. again

2. always

3. both… and…

4. for a long time

5. neither… nor

6. no longer

7. now

8. quickly

9. soon

10. still

11. then*

12. then*

13. meanwhile

*two different words 

19.05.24: review; spot the difference

Apply that same technique in the previous post with most of the verbs in this text

[i] Imperfect: look for -ba- / -bā-

[ii] Future: look -bō /-bi- / -bu-

[iii] Also in this text are the imperfect and future of sum, esse which came up in earlier posts and a few present tense verbs that are easy to spot.

____________________

Grāta erant Deae dōna populī, et Cerēs templum diū habitābat.

Intereā in ārīs aliōrum deōrum neque pōma neque ūvae neque rosae iacēbant. Nōn iam herba in prātīs, nōn iam pōma in agrīs flōrēbant, quod adhūc Cerēs propter fīliam flēbat, itaque Iuppiter Deae, "Plūtō," inquit, "fīliam tuam habet. Persephonē rēgīna Īnferōrum est. Sed Mercurius ad rēgnum Īnferōrum properābit, et puellam ad templum tuum celeriter apportābit."

Deinde Mercurius ad Īnferōs properābat. Persephonē cum virō suō in lectō sedēbat. Misera erat puella, quod adhūc Deam cāram dēsīderābat. Sed Mercurium vidēbat et laeta erat. "Iterum," inquit, "Deam cāram vidēbō, iterum Cerēs fīliam suam habēbit."

Tum Plūtō verbīs benignīs "Ō Persephonē,’ inquit ‘memoriae tuae grātus semper erit Plūtō; iterum rēgīna Īnferōrum eris. Nunc caeruleum est caelum, iūcunda sunt prāta, sed mox gelidum erit caelum, gelidī erunt et ventī et agrī. Tum iterum virum tuum et rēgnum Īnferōrum dēsīderābis. Valē, Ō cāra rēgīna.

____________________

[A] Vocabulary

dōnum, -ī [2/n]: gift

iaceō, iacēre [2]: lie

Īnferī, -ōrum [2/m/pl]: the gods of the underworld

itaque: and so

prātum, -ī [2/n]: meadow

propter + accusative: on account of

rēgnum, -ī [2/n]: kingdom

[B] Find the Latin

[i] Imperfect tense

1. Ceres lived for a long time …

2. Ceres was still weeping …

3. Then Mercury started to hurry [was hurrying] …

4. Persephone was sitting …

5. She could see (Mercury) [she was seeing…]

6. She still desired …

7. Fruits were no longer flourishing…

8. Meanwhile … neither grapes nor roses were lying …

__________

[ii] Imperfect tense of sum, esse:

9. The girl was miserable

10. The gifts were pleasing

__________

[iii] Future tense:

1. I shall see

2. Then …you will desire your husband

3. Ceres will have …

4. Mercury will hurry … and will quickly bring…

__________

[iv] Future tense of sum, esse:

5. You will be queen again

6. Pluto will always be

7. Soon the weather will beice-cold

8. Both the winds and the fields will be frosty

__________

[v] Present tense:

1. Pluto has your daughter

2. Persephone is the queen

3. Now the sky is blue

4. The meadows are pleasant

 

19.05.24: review; eō, īre [3]; imperfect and future tense; spot the difference

Both of these tenses were covered in far earlier posts and reviewed recently.

[images #1 and #2] eō, īre in [i] the imperfect tense and [ii] the future tense. That’s what I saw when I started to learn Latin, and every grammar book will do the same.

As always, one of the challenges of Latin is that the words all look very similar, and it’s easy to misread them. But take it apart. What is it you need to look for?

Latin verbs are made up of ‘components’, just like a piece of electrical equipment. A Latin verb has three components and those three components do in a single word what an English verb sometimes needs to do in two, three or more separate words.

Take it apart:

īre: infinitive; to go

Remove the ending -re > ī- ; that’s the stem, like the stem of a flower. It looks odd to have a single letter stem, but that’s what it is: go i.e. [1] the base meaning of the verb

Latin then gives two further pieces of information: [2] the tense and [3] the person or thing that’s performing the action.

[2]

Either [i] Imperfect tense i.e. I was going, you were going etc. or I used to go etc. Latin uses the imperfect tense markers: -ba- / -bā-

Or [ii] The future tense markers: -bō / -bi- /-bu- I shall, you will etc. dosomething

[3]

Then the personal endings are added

-ō / -m: I

-s: you (sg.)

-t: he / she / it

-mus: we

-tis: you (pl.)

-nt: they

Examples:

[1] ī -ba-m │ I was going

[stem ī + │ imperfect marker -ba -│ + person -m (I) ]

[2] ī-bi-mus │ we will go

[stem ī + │ future marker -bi -│ + person -mus (we)]

[4] Follow the steps and try the match up exercise. The answers are below the exercise.

It doesn’t matter how you learn something as long as it works for you …

[i] The image of the ‘imperfect sheep’ … -ba-, -bā- ... is used by some people to remember the imperfect tense of almost every verb in Latin!

[ii] I remembered the future tense of two verb conjugations -bō, -bi- and -bu - by this rather odd book title!

18.05.24: where it all started …

 

18.05.24: derivations [2]

This post is less about Latin but more on how English developed and enhanced its vocabulary because of it.

[1] re: again │ redo; reread; rewrite: these three are good examples of the way in which English can apply Latin prefixes to Germanic words

Old English: dōn (do) + Latin: re- > redo

Old English: rǣdan (read) + Latin: re- > reread

Old English: wrītan (write) + Latin: re- > rewrite

Sometimes, English has both Latin and Germanic in the same word!

La: in- expressing opposite; Engl: -ly ( OE: -līċ) > indirectly

[2] ‘progress’: an example of displacement where an original Old English word had its meaning shifted or the word was completely lost.

OE: forþgang (progress); it still exists in ‘go forth’ but the Latin derived “progress” replaced that original Old English meaning.

[3] What is very frequent in English is the co-existence of two words, one from Old English and the other derived (Latin) i.e. came from Latin. Sometimes these words are synonyms and sometimes have a related meaning, but a meaning more specific than they were in the original Latin.

[i] What is a common feature is that ‘domestic’ and ‘agricultural’ vocabulary in Old English is enhanced by Latin derived words:

ox (and we still have the plural: oxen < OE oxan) │ Latin derivation: bovine (La: bōs; ox)

house < OE hūs │ Latin derivation: domestic (La: domus house)

ship < OE sċip │ Latin derivation: naval (La: nāvis; ship); English has ‘shipping lanes’ (< OE) and also ‘maritime laws’ (< Latin: mare; sea)

sail < OE seġl is an interesting one; here, you can see that it remains fixed as the act of sailing on a boat, but the Latin derived word navigate(La: nāvigāre; sail) is used in a more specialised way.

[ii] Sometimes we can’t be sure:

farm: could be from Mediaeval Latin ferma or possibly OE feorm(rent; supplies) but there’s no question as to where agriculture comes from!

[4] Is there much difference between these two?

friendly [< OE: frēondlīċ]; Modern German: freundlich │ amicable [< La: amīcus; friend]

But English often uses derived words to express abstract ideas or subtle differences in meaning:

brain [< OE bræġn]: He’s very brainy. │ He’s very cerebral rather than emotional. [La: cerebrum; brain]

I have a pet cat. [< OE catt] │ She has feline features. [< La: fēles; cat]; the word cattus, -ī [2/m] is Late / Mediaeval Latin – Old English already had it – and, rather like cats themselves, nobody knows where the word came from!

· dog [< OE docga] │ canine teeth [< La: canis; dog]

[5] There are a few Latin words hiding in Old English which came from the Angles and Saxons who occupied Britain after the Romans left. There is some debate as to whether the Germanic tribes took these words from the Romans.

wall │ Gmn: Wall; rampart │ La: vallum; wall, rampart

street │ Gmn: Straße; street │ La: (via) strāta; paved road

Some sites list others e.g. ‘cheese’ and ’wine’ but I’m not convinced they are of Latin origin despite their similarities i.e cheese │ Gmn: Käse │ La: cāseus, and wine │ Gmn: Wein │ La: vīnum. I should imagine that the Germanic tribes were eating cheese and drinking wine long before the Romans got involved!

Image #1: a small part of the Lord’s Prayer in Old English and Latin; there is nothing in the OE prayer that’s from Latin, not even ‘father’, or ‘name’ which look similar. Those two words, both in English and in Latin, come from the same Indo-European root, a reconstructed language that is the common ancestor of most of the European languages. English didn’t take those words from Latin; they were already in the languages of the Germanic tribes.

Image #2: Then the Normans come …

Image #3: … and English ends up like this 

18.05.24: review; verb conjugations

This little dialogue gives an insight into an aspect of Roman life. The wealthy and influential often had ‘clientēs’, people who visited them, paid their respects and were generally looking for some sort of favour or financial assistance.

The doorman is very cynical about the reasons why they want to visit his master!

____________________

Salūtātor (Forēs pulsat) Num dormiunt omnēs? Aperī iānuam!

Iānitor Quis tam vehementer forēs pulsat? Num ārdēmus?

Salūtātor Salūtātor sum. Licetne mihi patrōnum salūtāre?

Iānitor Cūr ita māne ades? Prīma modo est hōra. Audī! Gallus cantat.

Salūtātor Errās. Tardus est gallus, namque secunda iam est hōra. Ecce, aliī adsunt clientēs.

Clientēs Adestne patrōnus? Licetne nōbīs intrāre?

Iānitor Intrāte omnēs. Dominus adest, sed eum vidēre nōn vultis. Salūtant clientēs patrōnum, sed rē vērā petunt sportulās.

Clientēs Sportulās nōbīs dā, pessimē. Necesse est sine morā abīre.

(Iānitor clientēs per vestibulum in ātrium dūcit.)

Iānitor Ecce, in mēnsā sunt sportulae. Accipite atque abīte.

(Clientēs sportulās capiunt et abeunt.)

____________________

Vocabulary

foris, -s [3/f]: door

iānitor, iānitōris [3/n]: doorman

mora, -ae [1/f]: delay; sine morā: without delay

patrōnus, -ī [2/m]: the ‘patron’ i.e. the master of the house; this is the man who can do the favour

rē vērā (or: rēvērā) in actual fact

salūtātor, salūtātōris [3/m]: literally, one who greets from the verb salūtō, -āre [1]: greet, but here referring to somebody who has come to visit

sportula, -ae [2/f]: small basket but can also refer to ‘a gift’ i.e. a handout 

vehementer: violently; loudly

Note:

Licet: an impersonal verb i.e. literally it means it is allowed / permitted

Licetne mihi patrōnum salūtāre? │ Is it permitted for me to greet the patron? │ May I greet the patron?

Licetne nōbis intrāre? │Literally: Is it permitted for usto come in? │ May we come in?

[A] These dialogues from Appleton’s Initium are carefully written. There are all different verb types in the text which have already been covered and reviewed.

[1] Imperative /command forms

[i] Talking to one person:

Give us (the baskets / gifts)

Listen

Open the door!

[ii] Talking to more than one person

Come in, everybody.

Take / receive / accept (them) ..

1st conjugation

You’re wrong

Who’s knocking the door?

The cock’s crowing

The clients greet the patron

2nd conjugation

We’re not on fire, are we?

3rd conjugation

The doorman leads (takes) the clients …

They’re looking for gifts

3rd-iō conjugation

They take the gifts

4th conjugation

Surely not everybody’s sleeping? [in Latin, this is plural i.e. all people]

Irregular verb

You don’t want to see him.

[B] the verbs with prefixes

1. It’s necessary [(here) we need] to go away

2. They go away

3. Go away!

4. Why are you here in the morning?

5. Is the patron here?

6. The master is present.

7. Other clients are here.

____________________

(Beats at the door) Surely not everybody’s asleep? Open the door.

Who’s banging at the door so loudly at the door? We’re not on fire, are we?

I am a visitor. May I greet the patron?

Why are you here in the morning like this? It’s only the first hour? Listen! The cock’s crowing.

You’re wrong. The cock’s late, for it’s already the second hour. Look, other clients are here.

Is the patron here? May we come in?

Come in, everybody. The master is present, but you don’t want to see him. The clients greet the patron but, in fact, they’re looking for gifts.

Give us the gifts, you most evil man. We need to leave without delay.

(The doorman leads the clients through the entrance into the reception room.)

Look! The baskets are on the table. Take (them) and go away!

(The clients take the baskets and leave.)