21.02.27: Level 1; First Latin Lessons (5); dative case: 1st declension; singular and plural [i]

I: Māter mea epistulam scrībit et epistulam parvae puellae dat. Parva puella epistulam agricolae dat. Agricola epistulam legit. Agricola mihi epistulam dat. Pecūniam agricolae dō. Agricola parvae puellae pecūniam dat. Parva puella pecūniam Cornēliae dat. Cornēlia est māter parvae puellae.

II: Māter mea dōnum parvīs puellīs dat. Parvae puellae laetae sunt. Māter mea parvās puellās amat.

III: Nautae epistulās dō. Nauta epistulās incolīs īnsulārum dat. Incolae īnsulārum pecūniam nautae dant.

IV: Agricola epistulam poētae dat. Poēta pecūniam agricolae dat. Dōnum puellīs dō. Parvae puellae mihi epistulam dant. Fīlia tua pecūniam nautae dat. Nauta mihi pecūniam dat.

(1) vocabulary

• dō: I give
• dat: (he / she / it) gives
• dant: they give
• dōnum: gift
• laeta: happy
• legit: (he / she / it) reads
• māter: mother
• mihi: to me (dative case)

(2) The dative case expresses the indirect object, the person to whom, for example, something is given or said.

Poēta [A] pecūniam ¦ [B] agricolae ¦ dat.

• The poet gives [A] money ¦ [B] to the farmer.

[A] pecuniam: the direct object [accusative]

[B] agricolae: the indirect object [dative]

English can change the word order by putting the indirect object first:

The poet gives ¦ [B] the farmer [indirect object] ¦ [A] money [direct object].

At the early stages of studying Latin it is better to use the translation with to so that the Latin dative case is clearly identified.

Nauta ¦ mihi ¦ pecūniam dat.

• The sailor gives ¦ me [indirect object] ¦ money [direct object] = The sailor gives money [direct object] ¦ to me [indirect object].

Dōnum puellīs dō.

• I give the girls [indirect object] ¦ a gift [direct object] = I give a gift [direct object] ¦ to the girls [indirect object].

(3) This text deals with the dative case of 1^st declension nouns:

1^st declension: nouns end in -a

Nominative singular: puella

[i] Dative singular: puellae

Nominative plural: puellae

[ii] Dative plural: puellīs

(4)

[i] dative case singular: -ae

Parva puella epistulam agricolae dat.

[ii] dative case plural: -īs

Dōnum puellīs dō.

(5) The same endings apply to 1^st / 2^nd declension adjectives:

Māter mea … epistulam ¦ parvae puellae ¦ dat.

• My mother … gives a letter ¦ to the little girl.

Māter mea dōnum ¦ parvīs puellīs ¦ dat.

• My mother gives a gift ¦ to the little girls.

LINKS

06.03.24: introduction to the dative case

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/04/060324-introduction-to-dative-case.html

06.03.24: further practice in the dative case of first declension nouns

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/04/060324-further-practice-in-dative-case.html

all posts:

https://adckl.blogspot.com/search/label/dative%20case

____________________

I: My mother writes a letter and gives the letter to the little girl. The little girl gives the letter to the farmer. The farmer reads the letter. The farmer gives the letter to me. I give money to the farmer. The farmer gives money to the little girl. The little girl gives money to Cornelia. Cornelia is the mother of the little girl.

II: My mother gives a gift to the little girls. The little girls are happy. My mother loves the little girls.

III: I give letters to the sailor. The sailor gives letters to the inhabitants of the islands. The inhabitants of the islands give money to the sailor. The sailor gives money to me.

IV: The farmer gives a letter to the poet. The poet gives money to the farmer. I give a gift to the girls. The little girls give a letter to me. Your daughter gives money to the sailor.

20.02.27: Topic / Level 4; animals at work (1)

NOTE: the topic can be used simply to make a list of vocabulary and the basic translations. However, to illustrate the vocabulary a large number of excerpts from original literature are used.

Here, and in the next posts, we look at animals as a means of transporting either goods or people, pulling some form of vehicle or farming equipment, as well as their use in war.

[1] One of the first words you would encounter when learning Latin is equus and it is by far the most common. There are, however, some other terms which should be noted even if they rarely occur.

[i] equus, -ī [2/m]: horse

Note: vehō, -ere, vēxī, vectus [3]: convey; commonly used when referring to how somebody was transported:

Alexander equō [ablative] vehebātur  (Quintus Curtius Rufus)

literally: Alexander was conveyed by a horse, i.e. Alexander travelled by horse / rode on horseback

[ii] equa, -ae [1/f]: mare

[iii] caballus, -ī [2/m]: pack-horse; nag; workhorse

The term refers to an inferior horse; in CL caballus is found in poetic works, but its use is evident in prose from the Late Latin period, hence the derivatives cheval in French and caballo in Spanish.

Old English already had firmly established vocabulary for domestic animals: hors; mīere. However, the Latin words are evident in English derivatives e.g. equine and, via French, cavalier and chevalier < Late Latin: caballārius, -ī [2/m]: horseman; rider

[iv] canthērius, -ī [2/m]: a gelding i.e. a castrated horse;  in a transferred sense, it can refer to an impotent old man

Three quotations from Plautus, none of which present the horse (or its human equivalent!) in a positive light:

(1) This first quotation from Plautus emphasises their low value:

ego faxim mūlī, pretiō quī superant equōs, sint vīliōrēs Gallicīs canthēriīs

• I’d see to it that the mules that cost more than horses, would be cheaper than Gallic geldings.

(2) Likewise, the horses are associated with the negative portrayal of fish-sellers:

Tum piscātōrēs quī praebent populō piscēs foetidōs, quī advehuntur quadrupedantī cruciantī canthēriō,  …

• Then the fishermen that offer the people stinking fish, that are carried around on a trotting, jolting [lit: torturing] gelding, …

(3) He may be an old lecher, but he still thinks he’s in with a chance …

quamquam vetus canthērius sum, etiam nunc, ut ego opīnor, adhinnīre equolam* possum ego hanc, …

• Although I’m an old gelding, even now, I think, I can still whinny at this little mare / little filly, …

*Plautine spelling: equulus, -ī [2/m]: foal; equula, -ae [1/f]: a little mare / filly

[v] verēdus, -ī [2/m]: a fast or light breed of horse; courier’s horse; hunting-horse

From Martial:

l1: Pārcius ūtārīs, moneō, rapiente verēdō, | You should use more sparingly, I advise you, the rushing hunting-horse,

l2: Prīsce, nec in leporēs tām violentus eās. | and you should not, Priscus, go so furiously after the hares,

ll3-4: Saepe satisfēcit praedae vēnātor, et ācrī / Dēcidit excussus, nec reditūrus, equō. | The hunter has often made amends to the prey, and, shaken off, has fallen – never to return - from the fierce horse.

[2]

[i] asinus, -ī [2/m]: donkey; ass

[ii] asellus, -ī [2/m]: small donkey

[iii] asina, -ae [1/f]: female donkey; she-ass

[iv] mūlus, -ī [2/m]: mule

[v] pullus, -ī [2/m]: although the noun can refer to a chicken or any young fowl, its meaning encompasses any young animal e.g. a foal

(1) Īte in castellum, quod contrā vōs est, et statim introeuntēs illūc, inveniētis pullum ligātum, super quem nēmō adhūc hominum sēdit: solvite illum, et addūcite. (Vulgate)

• “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.” 

(2) ecce rēx tuus veniet tibi iūstus et salvātor ipse pauper et ascendēns super asinum et super pullum fīlium asinae (Vulgate)

• Behold, your king comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; Lowly, and riding on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

19.02.27: Level 3+ (review); correlatives [6] making comparisons (3); totiēns … quotiēns …

[xi] totiēns … quotiēns … [or: totiēs … quotiēs …] | as often … as …

Unlike most other correlatives which can be ‘neatly’ conveyed, you cannot always mechanically translate but need to consider the most fluent rendering while retaining the underlying meaning: with totiēns … quotiēns … two actions take place with the same frequency.

The first two quotations do conform to dictionary translations of the correlative:

[A] cum tū eī contumēliōsissimē totiēns male dicās [B] quotiēns tē illī adfīnem esse dīcis (Cicero)

• since [A] you abuse him in the most insulting manner as many times [B] as you say that he is associated with you

[A] totiēns, [B] quotiēns praescrībitur, … [A] hymnum recitārimus (Cicero)

• [A] we shall recite … a hymn as often [B] as is prescribed

The order of the correlative construction may be reversed and variations in form can occur:

quotiēnscumque dīcō, totiēns mihi videor in iūdicium venīre (Cicero)

• As often as / however often I speak, I seem just as often to be brought into judgment …

At this level of Latin, you will encounter more flexible and fluent translations which will avoid awkwardness and still convey the sense of the correlative in context without rendering it so literally:

quotiēns ībis, totiēns magis placēbit quod bonum erit

[Lit: However often you go, what will be good will just as often please you more.]

In context, the quotation is from Cato’s Dē Agricultūrā:

• However often you go, a good piece of land will please you more at each visit.

Likewise, in this example, you encounter Cicero’s style of the tricolon i.e three statements which, here, are structurally identical:

(1) quotiēns coniugem, (2) quotiēns domum, (3) quotiēns patriam vidēret, totiēns sē beneficium meum vidēre (Cicero)

[Lit: [A] As often as he saw his wife, as often as his home, as often as his country, [B] so often he saw my kindness. ]

A fluent translation needs to retain the emphatic idea that both [A] and [B] happened with the same frequency. At the same time the translation should avoid clumsiness:

Every time he saw his wife, or his home, or his native land, he always recognised my kindness.

• He never saw his wife’s face, or his home, or his native land, without recognizing the debt he owed to me. [transl. Winstedt]

There is no “answer” and this correlative is only an example to show that, when translating Latin, you need to be flexible and not always use verbatim definitions from a dictionary.

In other words, dictionary definitions are a starting point, but not necessarily a solution.

22.07.26: The Orbis Sensualium Pictus of Comenius – the book that survived troubled times

• The images are original and simply sharpened by AI since the typeface was not always clear.
• In the video, there are a few AI generated images to try to convey what life was like at that time
• The music for the video is 16^th century: from the Dansereye by Tielman Susato (1551)

The Orbis Sensualium Pictus of Comenius has been a fabulous source of vocabulary and has provided a platform for expanding on the content. First published in 1658, the Orbis Pictus is a series of detailed and numbered images organised thematically, with accompanying Latin and, in the 1659 edition, English texts. It is a constant time-travelling companion to the 17th century. However, I paused for a while and wondered what life was like for the kids who were reading it, those who were teaching from it – and the man who sold it.

UK members in particular may be interested to know that the Latin-English version of this book (which is used in all the posts) was published in 1659, the year after the death of Oliver Cromwell but before the Restoration of the Monarchy:

[Images #1 and #2]

JOH. AMOS COMENIUS's
VISIBLE WORLD.
OR,
A Picture and Nomenclature of all the chief
Things that are in the world, and of
Mens Employments therein.

Translated into English,

By CHARLES HOOLE, Teacher of a

Private Grammar-School in

Lothbury, LONDON.

For the use of young Latine-Scholars.

LONDON,

Printed for J(oshua). Kirton, at the Kings-

Arms, in Saint Paules Church-yard, 1659.

(1) The ‘Kings-Arms’ refers to a sign protruding from above the shop front. However, not all businesses had signs indicating what they sold. Saint Paul’s Church Yard was the hub of the London book trade, and so signs which depicted, for example, a bell, or an ‘angell’ were used to distinguish one shop from another. The name ‘Kings-Arms’ was used throughout the Cromwellian period (other publications refer to it), and so it was an equivalent of a legal trade-mark rather than any (unwise) declaration of support for the monarchy. If Cromwell could order the beheading of a king, then no bookseller was going to stand up to him.

(2) Images #3 and #4: Charles Hoole’s school was at Tokenhouse Yard, Lothbury. The frontispiece of another work by Hoole specifically states this:

Aesop. Æsop’s fables, English and Latine. … By Charles Hoole, Mr. in Arts, L.C. Oxon; and teacher of a private grammar school, in the Token-House in Lothbury, near the Royall Exchange, London. London: Printed by W. Wilson, for the Company of Stationers, 1657.

That same area is described in terrifying detail by Defoe during the Plague Year of 1665 although, by that point, Hoole was no longer working there:

“Passing through Token-House Yard in Lothbury, of a sudden a casement violently opened just over my head, and a woman gave three frightful screeches, and then cried, “O death, death, death!” in a most inimitable tone, and which struck me with horror, and a chillness in my very blood. There was nobody to be seen in the whole street, neither did any other window open, for people had no curiosity now in any case, nor could anybody help one another.”

In 1665, 3880 Londoners died of the plague – in one week.

That district was razed to the ground in 1666 by the Great Fire of London.

(3) Image #5: Saint Paul’s Churchyard, the location of Kirton’s shop, suffered the same fate. One of his clients was Samuel Pepys, who notes in his diary: ‘I hear Kirton my bookseller, poor man, is dead; I believe of grief for his losses by the fire’. (11th November 1667)

(4) Image #6: It’s just one book, but it survived those troubled times – although, tragically, there were thousands of people who did not. The book had a further edition in 1672 – after the Restoration – that no longer simply refers to the ‘Kings-Arms’ shop sign, but to Charles II, the King himself.

18.02.27: Level 2 (review); Carolus et Maria [40] (3)

NOTE: This the last post on the textbook 'Carolus et Maria'; the entire book has been discussed in a total of 147 posts; the link to all of them is at:

https://adckl.blogspot.com/search/label/textbook%3A%20Carolus%20et%20Maria

Ōlim vesperī magistra cum discipulīs ad silvam it. Cēnam portāvērunt. Secūrēs sūmpsērunt. Puerī arborēs parvās secūribus suīs cecīdērunt frēgēruntque quod ignem facere voluērunt. Post cēnam omnēs circum ignem sē disposuērunt. Intereā discipulī fābulam postulāvērunt. Hōc modō magistra nārrāre incēpit:

“Multīs ante annīs per hās ipsās silvās prīmī incolae Americānī errābant. Barbarī ab hostibus Britannīs appellābantur. Saepe apud hōs incolās ignēs huius generis vidēbantur. Apud Britannōs cōnspectus eōrum ignium signum perīculī esse putābātur, quandō ipsī aut fugiēbant aut in castella sē recipiēbant et per vigiliās noctis sine quiēte sē dēfendēbant. Saepe Britannī secūrēs sūmēbant et arborēs caedēbant. Tum castella validiōra faciēbant.

“Multī barbarī, autem, erant benignī et aliōs incolās occīdere nōlēbant, sed saepe iniūriae hostium eōrum erant magnae. Posteā ubi barbarī ē rēgnō suō ab hostibus pellēbantur ipsī saevī et dūrī fīēbant. Semper paucī ex barbarīs cum hostibus pācem restituere volēbant. Tum hostēs eōrum ad ignem magnum invītābantur et erat pāx. At intereā hostēs erant perfidī. Tum barbarī impetūs magnōs facere cōnstituēbant. Usque ad castella hostium succēdēbant et castella circumveniēbant. Hostēs ē castellīs exīre nōn poterant quod undique castella circumventa sunt.

“Barbarī nōn semper pugnābant. Saepe cantābant et saltābant. Interdum animālia capiēbant. Equōs validōs habēbant et bonī equitēs in summō honōre habēbantur. Nōnne vōs etiam nunc in animīs vestrīs sonitum pedum equōrum paene audītis?”

Diū omnēs siluērunt. Postrēmō “Habēbanturne fēminae in summō honōre?” rogāvit Maria.

“Minimē,” respondit magistra. “Fēminae, autem, nōn erant semper miserae quamquam officia eārum erant magna difficiliaque.”

Post fīnem fābulae Maria “Utra est grātior vīta,” rogāvit, “nostra an vīta barbarōrum?”

“Nostra,” clāmāvērunt puellae. At puerī ita nōn putāvērunt.

[1] Give the 1^st person singular present tense of the following verbs from the text:

[i] it

[ii] sūmpsērunt

[iii] cecīdērunt

[iv] frēgērunt

[v] disposuērunt

[vi] nōlēbant

[vii] fīēbant

[viii] poterant

[ix] siluērunt

[2] Give the nominative singular of the following nouns from the text:

[i] hostibus

[ii] ignēs

[iii] generis

[iv] noctis

[v] quiēte

[vi] animālia

[vii] equitēs

[viii] pedum

[3] Identify (1) the case and (2) declension of the noun in bold and (3) explain why it is being used:

[i] barbarī … ab hostibus pellēbantur

[ii] barbarī impetūs magnōs facere cōnstituēbant

[4] Identify the clause type

[i]  … ubi barbarī ē rēgnō suō ab hostibus pellēbantur …

[ii] … quod undique castella circumventa sunt.

[iii] … quamquam officia eārum erant magna difficiliaque.

[5] Identify the type of word in bold:

[i] ōlim

[ii] frēgēruntque

[iii] Tum castella validiōra faciēbant.

[iv] quandō ipsī aut fugiēbant aut in castella sē recipiēbant

[v] sē recipiēbant

[vi] ē rēgnō suō

[vii] ipsī saevī et dūrī fīēbant

[viii] officia eārum

[6] Find from the text a one word synonym for nōn semper.

[7] Translate, focussing on the words on in bold:

[i] Hōc modō magistra nārrāre incēpit:

[ii] Usque ad castella hostium

[iii] Apud Britannōs

[iv] “Habēbanturne fēminae in summō honōre?”

[8] Explain the meaning and use of the words in bold:

[i] [a] “Utra est grātior vīta,” rogāvit, “nostra [b] an vīta barbarōrum?”

[ii] Nōnne vōs etiam nunc … audītis?”

[9] Explain the differences in verb usage between:

[a] castella circumveniēbant

[b] castella circumventa sunt

____________________

[1]

[i] eō; [ii] sūmō; [iii] caedō; [iv] frangō; [v] dispōnō; [vi] nōlō; [vii] fīō; [viii] possum; [ix] sileō

[2]

[i] hostis; [ii] ignis; [iii] genus; [iv] nox; [v] quiēs; [vi] animal; [vii] eques; [viii] pēs

[3]

[i] hostibus: ablative; 3rd declension; used after ab to show the agent of the passive verb pellēbantur

[ii] impetūs: accusative; 4th declension; direct object of facere

[4]

[i] temporal clause

[ii] causal clause

[iii] concessive clause

[5]

[i] adverb (of time)

[ii] enclitic particle acting as a conjunction

[iii] comparative adjective

[iv] conjunctions; specifically correlative conjunctions since they are used together

[v] reflexive pronoun

[vi] reflexive possessive adjective referring to the subject of the sentence

[vii] emphatic pronoun

[viii] possessive pronoun

[6] interdum

[7]

[i] In this way the teacher began to tell the story.

[ii] Right up to the enemies’ forts.

[iii] Among the Britons.

[iv] Were women held in the highest honour?

[8]

[i]

[a] utra: which (of two)?; suggests there are two alternative answers

[b] an: or; introduces the second alternative i.e. X or Y?

[ii] nōnne: surely?; the answer is expected to be positive

[9]

[a] circumveniēbant: active verb; they surrounded the forts

[b] circumventa sunt: passive verb; the forts were / have been surrounded

17.02.27: Level 1; step-by-step; scaffolding [2] identifying nouns

[A]

vīnum | wine

Quid est hoc? | What is this?

Vīnum est. | It’s wine.  

• X est | It is X.

Estne aqua? | Is it water?

• Estne X? | Is it X?

Nōn est aqua. | It’s not water

• Nōn est X| It is not X.

Vīnum est. | It’s wine.

• Y est | It’s Y.

The patterns can be used with no changes to the nouns.

Quid est hoc?

Elephantus est.

Estne crocodīlus?

Nōn est crocodīlus.

Elephantus est.

Exercise

Practise creating your own dialogue using the ‘scaffold’ below with some nouns related to food and drink.

Quid est hoc?

__________ est.

Estne __________ ?

Nōn est __________.

__________ est.

• aqua: water
• cervisia: beer
• bāca: berry
• olīva: olive
• būtȳrum: butter
• cāseus: cheese
• mālum: apple
• ōvum: egg
• pirum: pear
• vīnum: wine

16.02.27: Level 1; First Latin Lessons (4); genitive case: 1st declension; singular and plural

I: Agricola est amīcus nautae.⁠ Nauta est amīcus poētae. Poēta est amīcus fīliārum tuārum.⁠ Fīliae tuae poētam amant.

II: Poēta incola Americae est. Sed Italia est patria poētae. Poēta fīliam habet. America est patria fīliae poētae. Poēta Italiam amat. Fīlia poētae Americam amat.

III: Incolae īnsulārum sunt agricolae et nautae. Vīta agricolārum vīta bona est. Poētae saepe vītam agricolārum laudant. Vītam nautārum interdum laudāmus. Nautae multās terrās vident. Sed vīta nautārum perīculōsa est.

IV: Nauta amīcus agricolae est. Soror mea epistulam puellae habet. Hibernia patria nautae est. Soror parvārum puellārum epistulās scrībit. Incolae īnsulae nautae sunt. Incolae multārum īnsulārum agricolae sunt.

(1) vocabulary

• amīcus: friend (male)
• bona: good
• incola: inhabitant
• interdum: sometimes
• laudant: (they) praise
• nauta: sailor
• perīculōsa: dangerous
• poēta: poet
• vident: (they) see
• vīta: life

(2) The genitive case has a number of uses, one of which expresses possession, the equivalent of English:

The sailor’s friend; an inhabitant of America; the farmers’ life; the inhabitants of the islands

• amīcus nautae | a friend of the sailor [ = the sailor’s friend]
• incola Americae | an inhabitant of America
• vīta agricolārum | The life ¦ of the farmers [ = the farmers’ life]
• incolae īnsulārum | inhabitants of the islands

This text deals with the genitive case of 1^st declension nouns:

1^st declension: nouns end in -a

Nominative singular: puella

[i] Genitive singular: puellae

Nominative plural: puellae

[ii] Genitive plural: puellārum

(4)

[i] genitive case singular: -ae

Agricola est amīcus ¦ nautae.⁠ 

• The farmer is the friend ¦ of the sailor [ = the sailor’s friend]

Soror mea epistulam ¦ puellae ¦ habet.

• My sister has ¦ the girl’s ¦ letter.

America est patria ¦ [i] fīliae ¦ [ii] poētae.

• America is the homeland ¦ [i] of the daughter ¦ [ii] of the poet [ = of the poet’s daughter]

[ii] genitive case plural: -ārum

Vīta ¦ agricolārum ¦ vīta bona est.

• The life ¦ of the farmers [ = the farmers’ life] ¦ is a good life.

The same endings apply to 1^st / 2^nd declension adjectives:

Soror ¦ parvae puellae ¦ epistulās scrībit.

• The sister ¦ of the little girl [ = the little girl’s sister] ¦ writes letters.

Soror ¦ parvārum puellārum ¦ epistulās scrībit.

• The sister ¦ of the little girls [ = the little girls’ sister] ¦ writes letters.

Poēta est amīcus ¦ fīliae tuae.⁠ 

• The poet is a friend ¦ of your daughter [ = your daughter’s friend]

Poēta est amīcus ¦ fīliārum tuārum.⁠ 

• The poet is a friend ¦ of your daughters [ = your daughters’ friend]

Incolae ¦ multārum īnsulārum ¦ agricolae sunt.

• The inhabitants ¦ of many islands ¦ are farmers.

LINKS

01.03.24: genitive case singular and plural of 1st declension nouns

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/04/10324-genitive-case-singular-and-plural.html

all posts:

https://adckl.blogspot.com/search/label/genitive%20case

____________________

I: The farmer is the sailor's friend. The sailor is the poet's friend. The poet is your daughters' friend. Your daughters love the poet.

II: The poet is an inhabitant of America. But Italy is the poet's homeland. The poet has a daughter. America is the homeland of the poet's daughter. The poet loves Italy. The poet's daughter loves America.

III: The inhabitants of the islands are farmers and sailors. The farmers' life is a good life. Poets often praise the farmers' life. We sometimes praise the sailors' life. Sailors see many lands. But the sailors' life is dangerous.

IV: The sailor is the farmer's friend. My sister has the girl's letter. Ireland is the sailor's homeland. The little girls' sister writes letters. The island's inhabitants are sailors. The inhabitants of many islands are farmers.

14.02.27: Level 4; literature; Mediaeval; Tacuinum Sānitātis (6): the benefits of garlic

Alleum │ Garlic

Using the previous text as a guide, and the vocabulary which has been given in previous posts on this topic, try to answer the questions about the benefits or otherwise of garlic. The text together with its translation is attached.

Alleum 

Complēctiō calida in 4° sicca in 3°

Ēlēctiō meliōrā ex eō est quī modicē acuitātis est

Iuuāmentum contrā uenēna frīgida et morsus scorpiōnum et uīperārum et interficit uermēs

Nocumentum nocet oculīs et cerebrō

Remōtiō nocumentī cum acētō et oleō

Quid generat hūmōrem grossum et acūtum

Conuenit frīgidīs dēcrepitīs et senibus hyēme* et montānīs et septentriōnālibus.

*alternative spelling of hieme

acuitās, acuitātis [3/f]: (Mediaeval); sharpness; intensity

The translation gives this as ‘juiciness’ which is also possible since there is a rare word – aqueitās – which means ‘wateriness’ or ‘moisture’, but the manuscript is clear in its use of acuitātis

acūtus, -a, -um: sharp

cerebrum, -ī [2/n]: brain

grossus, -a, -um: (Mediaeval) thick

hiems, hiemis [3/f]: winter

modicē: moderately < modicus, -a, -um: moderate

montānus, -a, -um: (adjective) mountain; mountainous

morsus, -ūs [4/m]: bite; sting

septentriōnālis, -e: northern

venēnum, -ī [2/n]: poison

vermis, -is [3/m]: worm

____________________

[i] Is garlic [a] cold [b] hot [c] dry [d] wet?

[ii] The best type is moderately __________.

[iii] True or false? You can use garlic to treat poisons.

[iv] Garlic is good if you are bitten by __________ and __________.

[v] What can garlic kill?

[vi] Garlic damages the __________ and the __________.

[vii] Damage can be remedied with __________ and __________.

[viii] The text refers to the humours i.e. bodily fluids, in particular the four "cardinal humours" - blood, yellow bile, black bile and phlegm – believed to control the health and mood of the human body.

What two effects does garlic have on the humour?

[ix] Garlic is advisable:

[a] for what kind of conditions?

[b] for what kind of people?

[c] in what season?

[d] in what regions?

14.02.27: Level 4; literature; Mediaeval; Tacuinum Sānitātis (5): vocabulary

Sparagus

Complēctiō calida et hūmida in prīmō Ēlēctiō recentēs cuius summitātēs dēclīnant ad terram Iuuāmentum addunt in coitū et aperiunt opilatiōnēs Nocumentum nocent uillīs stomachī Remōtiō nocumentī postquam elisātī sunt comedantur cum mūri(ā) aut acētō Quid generant nūtrīmentum bonum Conueniunt frīgidīs et siccīs senibus et dēcrepitīs in vēre et in regiōnibus in quibus reperiuntur.

That little text comprises just over 50 words, despite which a great deal can be learned from it. Not only does it give us an insight into the content of a Mediaeval medical handbook, but, by picking and choosing, we can review common vocabulary. Match the Latin with the English in the word cloud:

1. acētum, -ī  [2/n]
2. addō, -ere, addidī, additus [3]
3. calidus, -a, -um
4. coitus, -ūs [4/m]
5. comedō, -ere, comēdī, comēsus [3]
6. conveniō, -īre, -vēnī. conventus [4]
7. dēclīnō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus [1]
8. dēcrepitus, -a, -um
9. frīgidus, -a, -um
10. hūmidus, -a, -um
11. noceō, -ēre, -uī, nocitus [3]
12. nūtrīmentum, -ī [2/n]
13. recēns, recentis
14. regiō, regiōnis [3/f]
15. reperiō, -īre, repperī, repertus [4]
16. senex, senis [3 m/f]
17. siccus, -a, -um
18. stomachus, -ī [2/m]
19. terra, -ae [1/f]
20. vēr, -is [3/n]

add; be suitable; bend; cold; discover; dry; eat; fresh / recent; harm; hot; joining; land; nourishment; old person; region; spring; stomach; very old; vinegar; wet / moist

14.02.27: Level 4; literature; Mediaeval; Tacuinum Sānitātis (4): reading Mediaeval Manuscripts [2]: superscript letters; u/v; long s

Image Set #4

[i] Abbreviation by superscript letters can simply indicate the ending of the word; we use superscript in ordinal numbers e.g. 1^st 2^nd but is used far more widely in the manuscripts:

ī p^o│ in p[rim]o

iuua^tū  │ iuua[men]tum

nocu^tū │ nocu[men]tum

nocu^ti _│ nocu[men]ti

ſtoⁱ•│sto[machi]; in another section of the manuscript he writes the same superscript i alone for nocumenti i.e. nocⁱ• with identical formation of i

[ii] superscript i: above q, it denotes the superscript letter itself and the vowel u. 

Qⁱd │ quid

[iii] superscript bȝ: [ȝ] this sign is very often used to represent the dative and ablative plural endings of the third, fourth and fifth declension i.e. bus

ī regio^bȝ │ in regio[ni]bus

As mentioned above, scribes do not always adhere to the rules; the same /bȝ/ is also found in the manuscript but not as superscript, and, elsewhere, it can have different meanings.

ſeībȝ │ se[n]ibus

[iv] As we still do today, a dot (period) can be placed after the word to indicate truncation. In this manuscript, the writer places most of these below the superscript letters. 

Image Set #5

[v] Classical Latin had no /v/ sound as in very; in inscriptions V = u (CIRCVS MAXIMVS [kirkoos maksimoos]

The sound can be:

[1] as a separate vowel either short or long (the latter in edited texts marked by a macron: ū): sum, tū

[2] as a semi-vocalic sound similar to English w before another vowel: uideō [wideo], amāuī [amawi]

Ecclesiastical Latin distinguishes these two both in writing and in pronunciation, the semi-vocalic of [2] being pronounced as Modern English v  i.e. [1] sum [soom]; [2] videō [video]

In most edited texts (including textbooks) for Classical Latin that distinction is maintained in writing i.e. sum / videō, but the original pronunciation of [2] as w is retained. Some textbooks, however, e.g. Jones and Sidwell’s Reading Latin, retain u for both.

In the manuscript there is no distinction in:

Iuua^tū • │ Iuua-; cōuēiūt │ conueniunt

Using our most common means of distinguishing between these two iuvamentum and conveniunt would appear in a dictionary or textbook, but the scribe did not distinguish them and the transcription should reflect what he wrote. He does, however, write v at the beginning of vere.

This variation of /v/ and /u/ is evident in the first folio of Shakespeare’s works (1623), the initial letter of the word regardless written as /v/, in all other instances written as /u/ regardless of pronunciation.

From Macbeth (Act I, scenes 1 and 2):

[i] Valours; Victorie; Villainies: reflect the pronunciation of /v/, but:

the Victorie felt on vs [us]

Vpon the Heath; vpon the Foe [upon]

to our generall vse [use]

[ii] Below are examples where /u/ represents both sounds:

thunder / houer through the fog and filthy air [hover]

I must report / ouer-charg’d [over]

braue [brave]; deſerues [deserves]; lauiſ [lavish]; leaue [leave]; Reuolt [revolt];

A bit of “gentle” Shakespeare shows both these letters in action:

“Till he vnseam’d [unseamed] him from the Naue [Nave] toth’ Chops, And fix’d his head vpon [upon] our Battlements” │ Until he split him from belly to jaw and stuck his head upon our castle walls.

Image Set #6

Look out for the long s: ſ, not to be confused with f:

ſic │ sic[cis]

ſunt │ sunt

ſeībȝ │ se[n]ib[u]s

Both the long s and the ‘round’ s we have now are used in the manuscripts. You can learn the “rules” from a vegetable. Long s is not used:

[i] for upper case letters: Sparagus (but small case ſunt)

[ii] at the end of the word: Sparagus, ſūmitates │ su[m]mitates

It needs to be emphasised that, despite there being common abbreviations which can be identified by “a few simple rules”, there are some very peculiar forms with meanings that are not always consistent. Below is my attempt to transcribe this text using the abbreviations as they are used in the manuscript; I can’t vouch 100% for its accuracy but the group is entitled “Latin for Learners” – and I’m learning about this too! Any comments or amendments are welcome.

Sparagus Complc̄ cal + hm¯ ī p^o• Elec̄ recentes cuiꝰ  ſūmitates declināt ad terrā  Iuua^tū • addūt in coitu, et aperiūt opilatioēs¯ Nocu^tū • nocēt uillis ſtoⁱ•  Remō nocu^ti • poſtꝗ̃ eliſati ſunt comedātur cū muri aut aceto Quⁱd gnant nutrimentū bonū Cōuēiūt frīs et ſic ſeībȝ + decrepitis in vere et ī regio^bȝ • in quibus reꝑiūtur.