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Title: New Latin Grammar

Author: Charles E. Bennett

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NEW LATIN GRAMMAR

BY

CHARLES E. BENNETT

Goldwin Smith Professor of Latin in Cornell University

COPYRIGHT, 1895; 1908; 1918 BY CHARLES E. BENNETT

PREFACE.

The present work is a revision of that published in 1908. No radical alterations have been introduced, although a number of minor changes will be noted. I have added an Introduction on the origin and development of the Latin language, which it is hoped will prove interesting and instructive to the more ambitious pupil. At the end of the book will be found an Index to the Sources of the Illustrative Examples cited in the Syntax.

C.E.B.

ITHACA, NEW YORK,
May 4, 1918

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

The present book is a revision of my Latin Grammar originally published in 1895. Wherever greater accuracy or precision of statement seemed possible, I have endeavored to secure this. The rules for syllable division have been changed and made to conform to the prevailing practice of the Romans themselves. In the Perfect Subjunctive Active, the endings -īs, -īmus, -ītis are now marked long. The theory of vowel length before the suffixes -gnus, -gna, -gnum, and also before j, has been discarded. In the Syntax I have recognized a special category of Ablative of Association, and have abandoned the original doctrine as to the force of tenses in the Prohibitive.

Apart from the foregoing, only minor and unessential modifications have been introduced. In its main lines the work remains unchanged.

ITHACA, NEW YORK,
October 16, 1907.

FROM THE PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

The object of this book is to present the essential facts of Latin grammar in a direct and simple manner, and within the smallest compass consistent with scholarly standards. While intended primarily for the secondary school, it has not neglected the needs of the college student, and aims to furnish such grammatical information as is ordinarily required in undergraduate courses.

The experience of foreign educators in recent years has tended to restrict the size of school-grammars of Latin, and has demanded an incorporation of the main principles of the language in compact manuals of 250 pages. Within the past decade, several grammars of this scope have appeared abroad which have amply met the most exacting demands.

The publication in this country of a grammar of similar plan and scope seems fully justified at the present time, as all recent editions of classic texts summarize in introductions the special idioms of grammar and style peculiar to individual authors. This makes it feasible to dispense with the enumeration of many minutiae of usage which would otherwise demand consideration in a student's grammar.

In the chapter on Prosody, I have designedly omitted all special treatment of the lyric metres of Horace and Catullus, as well as of the measures of the comic poets. Our standard editions of these authors all give such thorough consideration to versification that repetition in a separate place seems superfluous.

ITHACA, NEW YORK,
December 15, 1894.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PART I.

SOUNDS, ACCENT, QUANTITY, ETC.

PART II.

INFLECTIONS.

PART III.

PARTICLES.

PART IV.

WORD FORMATION.

PART V.

SYNTAX.

PART VI.

PROSODY.

SUPPLEMENTS TO THE GRAMMAR.

INTRODUCTION.

THE LATIN LANGUAGE.

1. The Indo-European Family of Languages.—Latin belongs to one group of a large family of languages, known as Indo-European.^[1] This Indo-European family of languages embraces the following groups:

ASIATIC MEMBERS OF THE INDO-EUROPEAN FAMILY.

a. The Sanskrit, spoken in ancient India. Of this there were several stages, the oldest of which is the Vedic, or language of the Vedic Hymns. These Hymns are the oldest literary productions known to us among all the branches of the Indo-European family. A conservative estimate places them as far back as 1500 B.C. Some scholars have even set them more than a thousand years earlier than this, i.e. anterior to 2500 B.C.

The Sanskrit, in modified form, has always continued to be spoken in India, and is represented to-day by a large number of dialects descended from the ancient Sanskrit, and spoken by millions of people.

b. The Iranian, spoken in ancient Persia, and closely related to the Sanskrit. There were two main branches of the Iranian group, viz. the Old Persian and the Avestan. The Old Persian was the official language of the court, and appears in a number of so-called cuneiform^[2] inscriptions, the earliest of which date from the time of Darius I (sixth century B.C.). The other branch of the Iranian, the Avestan,^[3] is the language of the Avesta or sacred books of the Parsees, the followers of Zoroaster, founder of the religion of the fire-worshippers. Portions of these sacred books may have been composed as early as 1000 B.C.

Modern Persian is a living representative of the old Iranian speech. It has naturally been much modified by time, particularly through the introduction of many words from the Arabic.

c. The Armenian, spoken in Armenia, the district near the Black Sea and Caucasus Mountains. This is closely related to the Iranian, and was formerly classified under that group. It is now recognized as entitled to independent rank. The earliest literary productions of the Armenian language date from the fourth and fifth centuries of the Christian era. To this period belong the translation of the Scriptures and the old Armenian Chronicle. The Armenian is still a living language, though spoken in widely separated districts, owing to the scattered locations in which the Armenians are found to-day.

d. The Tokharian. This language, only recently discovered and identified as Indo-European, was spoken in the districts east of the Caspian Sea (modern Turkestan). While in some respects closely related to the three Asiatic branches of the Indo-European family already considered, in others it shows close relationship to the European members of the family. The literature of the Tokharian, so far as it has been brought to light, consists mainly of translations from the Sanskrit sacred writings, and dates from the seventh century of our era.

EUROPEAN MEMBERS OF THE INDO-EUROPEAN FAMILY.

e. The Greek. The Greeks had apparently long been settled in Greece and Asia Minor as far back as 1500 B.C. Probably they arrived in these districts much earlier. The earliest literary productions are the Iliad and the Odyssey of Homer, which very likely go back to the ninth century B.C. From the sixth century B.C. on, Greek literature is continuous. Modern Greek, when we consider its distance in time from antiquity, is remarkably similar to the classical Greek of the fourth and fifth centuries B.C.

f. The Italic Group. The Italic Group embraces the Umbrian, spoken in the northern part of the Italian peninsula (in ancient Umbria); the Latin, spoken in the central part (in Latium); the Oscan, spoken in the southern part (in Samnium, Campania, Lucania, etc.). Besides these, there were a number of minor dialects, such as the Marsian, Volscian, etc. Of all these (barring the Latin), there are no remains except a few scanty inscriptions. Latin literature begins shortly after 250 B.C. in the works of Livius Andronicus, Naevius, and Plautus, although a few brief inscriptions are found belonging to a much earlier period.

g. The Celtic. In the earliest historical times of which we have any record, the Celts occupied extensive portions of northern Italy, as well as certain areas in central Europe; but after the second century B.C., they are found only in Gaul and the British Isles. Among the chief languages belonging to the Celtic group are the Gallic, spoken in ancient Gaul; the Breton, still spoken in the modern French province of Brittany; the Irish, which is still extensively spoken in Ireland among the common people, the Welsh; and the Gaelic of the Scotch Highlanders.

h. The Teutonic. The Teutonic group is very extensive. Its earliest representative is the Gothic, preserved for us in the translation of the scriptures by the Gothic Bishop Ulfilas (about 375 A.D.). Other languages belonging to this group are the Old Norse, once spoken in Scandinavia, and from which are descended the modern Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish; German; Dutch; Anglo-Saxon, from which is descended the modern English.

i. The Balto-Slavic. The languages of this group belong to eastern Europe. The Baltic division of the group embraces the Lithuanian and Lettic, spoken to-day by the people living on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. The earliest literary productions of these languages date from the sixteenth century. The Slavic division comprises a large number of languages, the most important of which are the Russian, the Bulgarian, the Serbian, the Bohemian, the Polish. All of these were late in developing a literature, the earliest to do so being the Old Bulgarian, in which we find a translation of the Bible dating from the ninth century.

j. The Albanian, spoken in Albania and parts of Greece, Italy, and Sicily. This is most nearly related to the Balto-Slavic group, and is characterized by the very large proportion of words borrowed from Latin, Turkish, Greek, and Slavic. Its literature does not begin till the seventeenth century.

2. Home of the Indo-European Family.—Despite the many outward differences of the various languages of the foregoing groups, a careful examination of their structure and vocabulary demonstrates their intimate relationship and proves overwhelmingly their descent from a common parent. We must believe, therefore, that at one time there existed a homogeneous clan or tribe of people speaking a language from which all the above enumerated languages are descended. The precise location of the home of this ancient tribe cannot be determined. For a long time it was assumed that it was in central Asia north of the Himalaya Mountains, but this view has long been rejected as untenable. It arose from the exaggerated importance attached for a long while to Sanskrit. The great antiquity of the earliest literary remains of the Sanskrit (the Vedic Hymns) suggested that the inhabitants of India were geographically close to the original seat of the Indo-European Family. Hence the home was sought in the elevated plateau to the north. To-day it is thought that central or southeastern Europe is much more likely to have been the cradle of the Indo-European parent-speech, though anything like a logical demonstration of so difficult a problem can hardly be expected.

As to the size and extent of the original tribe whence the Indo-European languages have sprung, we can only speculate. It probably was not large, and very likely formed a compact racial and linguistic unit for centuries, possibly for thousands of years.

The time at which Indo-European unity ceased and the various individual languages began their separate existence, is likewise shrouded in obscurity. When we consider that the separate existence of the Sanskrit may antedate 2500 B.C., it may well be believed that people speaking the Indo-European parent-speech belonged to a period as far back as 5000 B.C., or possibly earlier.

3. Stages in the Development of the Latin Language.—The earliest remains of the Latin language are found in certain very archaic inscriptions. The oldest of these belong to the sixth and seventh centuries B.C. Roman literature does not begin till several centuries later, viz. shortly after the middle of the third century B.C. We may recognize the following clearly marked periods of the language and literature:

a. The Preliterary Period, from the earliest times down to 240 B.C., when Livius Andronicus brought out his first play. For this period our knowledge of Latin depends almost exclusively upon the scanty inscriptions that have survived from this remote time. Few of these are of any length.

b. The Archaic Period, from Livius Andronicus (240 B.C.) to Cicero (81 B.C.). Even in this age the language had already become highly developed as a medium of expression. In the hands of certain gifted writers it had even become a vehicle of power and beauty. In its simplicity, however, it naturally marks a contrast with the more finished diction of later days. To this period belong:

c. The Golden Age, from Cicero (81 B.C.) to the death of Augustus (14 A.D.). In this period the language, especially in the hands of Cicero, reaches a high degree of stylistic perfection. Its vocabulary, however, has not yet attained its greatest fullness and range. Traces of the diction of the Archaic Period are often noticed, especially in the poets, who naturally sought their effects by reverting to the speech of olden times. Literature reached its culmination in this epoch, especially in the great poets of the Augustan Age. The following writers belong here:

d. The Silver Latinity, from the death of Augustus (14 A.D.) to the death of Marcus Aurelius (180 A.D.), This period is marked by a certain reaction against the excessive precision of the previous age. It had become the practice to pay too much attention to standardized forms of expression, and to leave too little play to the individual writer. In the healthy reaction against this formalism, greater freedom of expression now manifests itself. We note also the introduction of idioms from the colloquial language, along with many poetical words and usages. The following authors deserve mention:

e. The Archaizing Period. This period is characterized by a conscious imitation of the Archaic Period of the second and first centuries B.C.; it overlaps the preceding period, and is of importance from a linguistic rather than from a literary point of view. Of writers who manifest the archaizing tendency most conspicuously may be mentioned Fronto, from whose hand we have a collection of letters addressed to the Emperors Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius; also Aulus Gellius, author of the "Attic Nights." Both of these writers flourished in the second half of the second century A.D.

f. The Period of the Decline, from 180 to the close of literary activity in the sixth century A.D. This period is characterized by rapid and radical alterations in the language. The features of the conversational idiom of the lower strata of society invade the literature, while in the remote provinces, such as Gaul, Spain, Africa, the language suffers from the incorporation of local peculiarities. Representative writers of this period are:

4. Subsequent History of the Latin Language.—After the sixth century A.D. Latin divides into two entirely different streams. One of these is the literary language maintained in courts, in the Church, and among scholars. This was no longer the language of people in general, and as time went on, became more and more artificial. The other stream is the colloquial idiom of the common people, which developed ultimately in the provinces into the modern so-called Romance idioms. These are the Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Provençal (spoken in Provence, i.e. southeastern France), the Rhaeto-Romance (spoken in the Canton of the Grisons in Switzerland), and the Roumanian, spoken in modern Roumania and adjacent districts. All these Romance languages bear the same relation to the Latin as the different groups of the Indo-European family of languages bear to the parent speech.

PART I.

SOUNDS, ACCENT, QUANTITY.

THE ALPHABET.

1. The Latin Alphabet is the same as the English, except that the Latin has no w.

1. K occurs only in Kalendae and a few other words; y and z were introduced from the Greek about 50 B.C., and occur only in foreign words—chiefly Greek.

2. With the Romans, who regularly employed only capitals, I served both as vowel and consonant; so also V. For us, however, it is more convenient to distinguish the vowel and consonant sounds, and to write i and u for the former, j and v for the latter. Yet some scholars prefer to employ i and u in the function of consonants as well as vowels.

CLASSIFICATION OF SOUNDS.

2. 1. The Vowels are a, e, i, o, u, y. The other letters are Consonants. The Diphthongs are ae, oe, ei, au, eu, ui.

2. Consonants are further subdivided into Mutes, Liquids, Nasals, and Spirants.

3. The Mutes are p, t, c, k, q; b, d, g; ph, th, ch. Of these,—

a) p, t, c, k, q are voiceless,^[4] i.e. sounded without voice or vibration of the vocal cords.

b) b, d, g are voiced,^[5] i.e. sounded with vibration of the vocal cords.

c) ph, th, ch are aspirates. These are confined almost exclusively to words derived from the Greek, and were equivalent to p + h, t + h, c + h, i.e. to the corresponding voiceless mutes with a following breath, as in Eng. loop-hole, hot-house, block-house.

4. The Mutes admit of classification also as

5. The Liquids are l, r. These sounds were voiced.

6. The Nasals are m, n. These were voiced. Besides its ordinary sound, n, when followed by a guttural mute also had another sound,—that of ng in sing,—the so-called n adulterīnum; as,—

anceps, double, pronounced angceps.

7. The Spirants (sometimes called Fricatives) are f, s, h. These were voiceless.

8. The Semivowels are j and v. These were voiced.

9. Double Consonants are x and z. Of these, x was equivalent to cs, while the equivalence of z is uncertain. See § 3, 3.

10. The following table will indicate the relations of the consonant sounds:—

a. The Double Consonants, x and z, being compound sounds, do not admit of classification in the above table.

SOUNDS OF THE LETTERS.

3. The following pronunciation (often called Roman) is substantially that employed by the Romans at the height of their civilization; i.e., roughly, from 50 B.C. to 50 A.D.

1. Vowels.

2. Diphthongs.

3. Consonants.

b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, qu are pronounced as in English, except that bs, bt are pronounced ps, pt.

c is always pronounced as k.

t is always a plain t, never with the sound of sh as in Eng. oration.

g always as in get; when ngu precedes a vowel, gu has the sound of gw, as in anguis, languidus.

j has the sound of y as in yet.

r was probably slightly trilled with the tip of the tongue.

s always voiceless as in sin; in suādeō, suāvis, suēscō, and in compounds and derivatives of these words, su has the sound of sw.

v like w.

x always like ks; never like Eng. gz or z.

z uncertain in sound; possibly like Eng. zd, possibly like z. The latter sound is recommended.

The aspirates ph, ch, th were pronounced very nearly like our stressed Eng. p, c, t—so nearly so, that, for practical purposes, the latter sounds suffice.

Doubled letters, like ll, mm, tt, etc., should be so pronounced that both members of the combination are distinctly articulated.

SYLLABLES.

4. There are as many syllables in a Latin word as there are separate vowels and diphthongs.

In the division of words into syllables,—

1. A single consonant is joined to the following vowel; as, vo-lat, ge-rit, pe-rit, a-dest.

2. Doubled consonants, like tt, ss, etc., are always separated; as, vit-ta, mis-sus.

3. Other combinations of two or more consonants are regularly separated, and the first consonant of the combination is joined with the preceding vowel; as, ma-gis-trī, dig-nus, mōn-strum, sis-te-re.

4. An exception to Rule 3 occurs when the two consonants consist of a mute followed by l or r (pl, cl, tl; pr, cr, tr, etc.). In such cases both consonants are regularly joined to the following vowel; as, a-grī, vo-lu-cris, pa-tris, mā-tris. Yet if the l or r introduces the second part of a compound, the two consonants are separated; as, ab-rumpō, ad-lātus.

5. The double consonant x is joined to the preceding vowel; as, ax-is, tēx-ī.

QUANTITY.

5. A. Quantity of Vowels.

A vowel is long or short according to the length of time required for its pronunciation. No absolute rule can be given for determining the quantity of Latin vowels. This knowledge must be gained, in large measure, by experience; but the following principles are of aid:—

1. A vowel is long,^[6]—

a) before nf or ns; as, īnfāns, īnferior, cōnsūmō, cēnseō, īnsum.

b) when the result of contraction; as, nīlum for nihilum.

2. A vowel is short,—

a) before nt, nd; as, amant, amandus. A few exceptions occur in compounds whose first member has a long vowel; as, nōndum (nōn dum).

b) before another vowel, or h; as, meus, trahō. Some exceptions occur, chiefly in proper names derived from the Greek; as, Aenēās.

B. Quantity of Syllables.

Syllables are distinguished as long or short according to the length of time required for their pronunciation.

1. A syllable is long,^[7]—

a) if it contains a long vowel; as, māter, rēgnum, dīus.

b) if it contains a diphthong; as, causae, foedus.

c) if it contains a short vowel followed by x, z, or any two consonants (except a mute with l or r); as, axis, gaza, restō.

2. A syllable is short, if it contains a short vowel followed by a vowel or by a single consonant; as, mea, amat.

3. Sometimes a syllable varies in quantity, viz. when its vowel is short and is followed by a mute with l or r, i.e. by pl, cl, tl; pr, cr, tr, etc.; as, ăgrī, volŭcris.^[8] Such syllables are called common. In prose they were regularly short, but in verse they might be treated as long at the option of the poet.

NOTE.—These distinctions of long and short are not arbitrary and artificial, but are purely natural. Thus, a syllable containing a short vowel followed by two consonants, as ng, is long, because such a syllable requires more time for its pronunciation; while a syllable containing a short vowel followed by one consonant is short, because it takes less time to pronounce it. In case of the common syllables, the mute and the liquid blend so easily as to produce a combination which takes no more time than a single consonant. Yet by separating the two elements (as ag-rī) the poets were able to use such syllables as long.

ACCENT.

6. 1. Words of two syllables are accented upon the first; as, tégit, mō´rem.

2. Words of more than two syllables are accented upon the penult (next to the last) if that is a long syllable, otherwise upon the antepenult (second from the last); as, amā´vī, amántis, míserum.

3. When the enclitics -que, -ne, -ve, -ce, -met, -dum are appended to words, if the syllable preceding the enclitic is long (either originally or as a result of adding the enclitic) it is accented; as, miserō´que, hominísque. But if the syllable still remains short after the enclitic has been added, it is not accented unless the word originally took the accent on the antepenult. Thus, pórtaque; but míseráque.

4. Sometimes the final -e of -ne and -ce disappears, but without affecting the accent; as, tantō´n, istī´c, illū´c.

5. In utră´que, each, and plēră´que, most, -que is not properly an enclitic; yet these words accent the penult, owing to the influence of their other cases,—utérque, utrúmque, plērúmque.

VOWEL CHANGES.^[9]

7.. 1. In Compounds,

a) ĕ before a single consonant becomes ĭ; as,—

colligō

for con-legō.

b) ă before a single consonant becomes ĭ: as,—

adigō

for ad-agō.

c) ă before two consonants becomes ē; as,—

expers

for ex-pars.

d) ae becomes ī; as,—

conquīrō

for con-quaerō.

e) au becomes ū, sometimes ō; as,—

conclūdō	for con-claudō;
explōdō	for ex-plaudō.

2. Contraction. Concurrent vowels were frequently contracted into one long vowel. The first of the two vowels regularly prevailed; as,—

3. Parasitic Vowels. In the environment of liquids and nasals a parasitic vowel sometimes develops; as,—

So perīculum, saeculum.

4. Syncope. Sometimes a vowel drops out by syncope; as,—

CONSONANT CHANGES^[10]

8. 1. Rhotacism. An original s between vowels became r; as,—

2. dt, tt, ts each give s or ss; as,—

3. Final consonants were often omitted; as,—

4. Assimilation of Consonants. Consonants are often assimilated to a following sound. Thus: accurrō (adc-); aggerō (adg-); asserō (ads-); allātus (adl-); apportō (adp-); attulī (adt-); arrīdeō (adr-); afferō (adf-); occurrō (obc-); suppōnō (subp-); offerō (obf-); corruō (comr-); collātus (coml-); etc.

5. Partial Assimilation. Sometimes the assimilation is only partial. Thus:—

a) b before s or t becomes p; as,—

scrīpsī (scrīb-sī), scrīptum (scrīb-tum).

b) g before s or t becomes c; as,—

āctus (āg-tus).

c) m before a dental or guttural becomes n; as,—

eundem (eum-dem); prīnceps (prīm-ceps).

PECULIARITIES OF ORTHOGRAPHY.

9. Many words have variable orthography.

1. Sometimes the different forms belong to different periods of the language. Thus, quom, voltus, volnus, volt, etc., were the prevailing forms almost down to the Augustan age; after that, cum, vultus, vulnus, vult, etc. So optumus, maxumus, lubet, lubīdō, etc. down to about the same era; later, optimus, maximus, libet, libīdō, etc.

2. In some words the orthography varies at one and the same period of the language. Examples are exspectō, expectō; exsistō, existō; epistula, epistola; adulēscēns, adolēscēns; paulus, paullus; cottīdiē, cotīdiē; and, particularly, prepositional compounds, which often made a concession to the etymology in the spelling; as,—

3. Compounds of jaciō were usually written ēiciō, dēiciō, adiciō, obiciō, etc., but were probably pronounced as though written adjiciō, objiciō, etc.

4. Adjectives and nouns in -quus, -quum; -vus, -vum; -uus, -uum preserved the earlier forms in -quos, -quom; -vos, -vom; -uos, -uom, down through the Ciceronian age; as, antīquos, antīquom; saevos; perpetuos; equos; servos. Similarly verbs in the 3d plural present indicative exhibit the terminations -quont, -quontur; -vont, -vontur; -uont, -uontur, for the same period; as, relinquont, loquontur; vīvont, metuont.

The older spelling, while generally followed in editions of Plautus and Terence, has not yet been adopted in our prose texts.

PART II.

INFLECTIONS.

10. The Parts of Speech in Latin are the same as in English, viz. Nouns, Adjectives, Pronouns, Verbs, Adverbs, Prepositions, Conjunctions, and Interjections; but the Latin has no article.

11. Of these eight parts of speech the first four are capable of Inflection, i.e. of undergoing change of form to express modifications of meaning. In case of Nouns, Adjectives, and Pronouns, this process is called Declension; in case of verbs, Conjugation.

CHAPTER I.—Declension.

A. NOUNS.

12. A Noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or quality; as, Caesar, Caesar; Rōma, Rome; penna, feather; virtūs, courage.

1. Nouns are either Proper or Common. Proper nouns are permanent names of persons or places; as, Caesar, Rōma. Other nouns are Common: as, penna, virtūs.

2. Nouns are also distinguished as Concrete or Abstract.

a) Concrete nouns are those which designate individual objects; as, mōns, mountain; pēs, foot; diēs, day; mēns, mind.

Under concrete nouns are included, also, collective nouns; as, legiō, legion; comitātus, retinue.

b) Abstract nouns designate qualities; as, cōnstantia, steadfastness; paupertās, poverty.

GENDER OF NOUNS.

13. There are three Genders,—Masculine, Feminine, and Neuter. Gender in Latin is either natural or grammatical.

Natural Gender.

14. The gender of nouns is natural when it is based upon sex. Natural gender is confined entirely to names of persons; and these are—

1. Masculine, if they denote males; as,—

2. Feminine, if they denote females; as,—

Grammatical Gender.

15. Grammatical gender is determined not by sex, but by the general signification of the word, or the ending of its Nominative Singular. By grammatical gender, nouns denoting things or qualities are often Masculine or Feminine, simply by virtue of their signification or the ending of the Nominative Singular. The following are the general principles for determining grammatical gender:—

A. Gender determined by Signification.

1. Names of Rivers, Winds, and Months are Masculine; as,—

2. Names of Trees, and such names of Towns and Islands as end in -us, are Feminine; as,—

Other names of towns and islands follow the gender of their endings (see B, below); as,—

3. Indeclinable nouns, also infinitives and phrases, are Neuter; as,—

NOTE.—Exceptions to the above principles sometimes occur; as, Allia (the river), f.

B. Gender determined by Ending of Nominative Singular.

The gender of other nouns is determined by the ending of the Nominative Singular.^[11]

NOTE 1.—Common Gender. Certain nouns are sometimes Masculine, sometimes Feminine. Thus, sacerdōs may mean either priest or priestess, and is Masculine or Feminine accordingly. So also cīvis, citizen; parēns, parent; etc. The gender of such nouns is said to be common.

NOTE 2.—Names of animals usually have grammatical gender, according to the ending of the Nominative Singular, but the one form may designate either the male or female; as, ānser, m., goose or gander. So vulpēs, f., fox; aquīla, f., eagle.

NUMBER.

16. The Latin has two Numbers,—the Singular and Plural. The Singular denotes one object, the Plural, more than one.

CASES.

17. There are six Cases in Latin:—

1. LOCATIVE. Vestiges of another case, the Locative (denoting place where), occur in names of towns and in a few other words.

2. OBLIQUE CASES. The Genitive, Dative, Accusative, and Ablative are called Oblique Cases.

3. STEM AND CASE-ENDINGS. The different cases are formed by appending certain case-endings to a fundamental part called the Stem.^[12] Thus, portam (Accusative Singular) is formed by adding the case-ending -m to the stem porta-. But in most cases the final vowel of the stem has coalesced so closely with the actual case-ending that the latter has become more or less obscured. The apparent case-ending thus resulting is called a termination.

THE FIVE DECLENSIONS.

18. There are five Declensions in Latin, distinguished from each other by the final letter of the Stem, and also by the Termination of the Genitive Singular, as follows:—

Cases alike in Form.

19. 1. The Vocative is regularly like the Nominative, except in the singular of nouns in -us of the Second Declension.

2. The Dative and Ablative Plural are always alike.

3. In Neuters the Accusative and Nominative are always alike, and in the Plural end in -ă.

4. In the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Declensions, the Accusative Plural is regularly like the Nominative.

FIRST DECLENSION.

ā-Stems.

20. Pure Latin nouns of the First Declension regularly end, in the Nominative Singular, in -ă, weakened from -ā, and are of the Feminine Gender. They are declined as follows:—

1. The Latin has no article, and porta may mean either a gate or the gate; and in the Plural, gates or the gates.

Peculiarities of Nouns of the First Declension.

21. 1. EXCEPTIONS IN GENDER. Nouns denoting males are Masculine; as, nauta, sailor; agricola, farmer; also, Hadria, Adriatic Sea.

2. Rare Case-Endings,—

a) An old form of the Genitive Singular in -ās is preserved in the combination pater familiās, father of a family; also in māter familiās, fīlius familiās, fīlia familiās. But the regular form of the Genitive in -ae is also admissible in these expressions; as, pater familiae.

b) In poetry a Genitive in -āī also occurs; as, aulāī.

c) The Locative Singular ends in -ae; as, Rōmae, at Rome.

d) A Genitive Plural in -um instead of -ārum sometimes occurs; as, Dardanidum instead of Dardanidārum. This termination -um is not a contraction of -ārum, but represents an entirely different case-ending.

e) Instead of the regular ending -īs, we usually find -ābus in the Dative and Ablative Plural of dea, goddess, and fīlia, daughter, especially when it is important to distinguish these nouns from the corresponding forms of deus, god, and fīlius, son. A few other words sometimes have the same peculiarity; as, lībertābus (from līberta, freedwoman), equābus (mares), to avoid confusion with lībertīs (from lībertus, freedman) and equīs (from equus, horse).

Greek Nouns.

22. These end in -ē (Feminine); -ās and -ēs (Masculine). In the Plural they are declined like regular Latin nouns of the First Declension. In the Singular they are declined as follows:—

1. But most Greek nouns in -ē become regular Latin nouns in -a, and are declined like porta; as, grammatica, grammar; mūsica, music; rhētorica, rhetoric.

2. Some other peculiarities occur, especially in poetry.

SECOND DECLENSION.

ŏ-Stems.

23. Pure Latin nouns of the Second Declension end in -us, -er, -ir, Masculine; -um, Neuter. Originally -us in the Nominative of the Masculine was -os; and -um of the Neuters -om. So also in the Accusative.

Nouns in -us and -um are declined as follows:—

Nouns in -er and -ir are declined as follows:—

1. Note that in words of the type of puer and vir the final vowel of the stem has disappeared in the Nominative and Vocative Singular.

In the Nominative and Vocative Singular of ager, the stem is further modified by the development of e before r.

2. The following nouns in -er are declined like puer: adulter, adulterer; gener, son-in-law; Līber, Bacchus; socer, father-in-law; vesper, evening; and compounds in -fer and -ger, as signifer, armiger.

Nouns in -vus, -vum, -quus.

24. Nouns ending in the Nominative Singular in -vus, -vum, -quus, exhibited two types of inflection in the classical Latin,—an earlier and a later,—as follows:—

1. The Plural of these nouns is regular, and always uniform.

Peculiarities of Inflection in the Second Declension.

25. 1. Proper names in -ius regularly form the Genitive Singular in -ī (instead of -iī), and the Vocative Singular in -ī (for -ie); as Vergílī, of Virgil, or O Virgil (instead of Vergiliī, Vergilie). In such words the accent stands upon the penult, even though that be short. Nouns in -ajus, -ejus form the Gen. in -aī, -eī, as Pompejus, Pompeī.

2. Nouns in -ius and -ium, until after the beginning of the reign of Augustus (31 B.C.), regularly formed the Genitive Singular in -i (instead of -iī); as,—

These Genitives accent the penult, even when it is short.

3. Fīlius forms the Vocative Singular in -ī (for -ie); viz. fīlī, O son!

4. Deus, god, lacks the Vocative Singular. The Plural is inflected as follows:—

5. The Locative Singular ends in -ī; as, Corinthī, at Corinth.

6. The Genitive Plural has -um, instead of -ōrum,—

a) in words denoting money and measure; as, talentum, of talents; modium, of pecks; sēstertium, of sesterces.

b) in duumvir, triumvir, decemvir; as, duumvirum.

c) sometimes in other words; as, līberum, of the children; socium, of the allies.

Exceptions to Gender in the Second Declension.

26. 1. The following nouns in -us are Feminine by exception:—

a) Names of towns, islands, trees—according to the general rule laid down in § 15, 2; also some names of countries; as Aegyptus, Egypt.

b) Five special words,—

alvus, belly;

carbasus, flax;

colus, distaff;

humus, ground;

vannus, winnowing-fan.

c) A few Greek Feminines; as,—

atomus, atom;

diphthongus, diphthong.

2. The following nouns in -us are Neuter:—

Greek Nouns of the Second Declension.

27. These end in -os, -ōs, Masculine or Feminine; and -on, Neuter. They are mainly proper names, and are declined as follows:—

1. Nouns in -os sometimes form the Accusative Singular in -um instead of -on; as, Dēlum, Delos.

2. The Plural of Greek nouns, when it occurs, is usually regular.

3. For other rare forms of Greek nouns the lexicon may be consulted.

THIRD DECLENSION.

28. Nouns of the Third Declension end in -a, -e, -ī, -ō, -y, -c, -l, -n, -r, -s, -t, -x. The Third Declension includes several distinct classes of Stems,—

I. Consonant-Stems.

29. 1. In these the stem appears in its unaltered form in all the oblique cases, so that the actual case-endings may be clearly recognized.

2. Consonant-Stems fall into several natural subdivisions, according as the stem ends in a Mute, Liquid, Nasal, or Spirant.

A. Mute-Stems.

30. Mute-Stems may end,—

1. In a Labial (p); as, prīncep-s.

2. In a Guttural (g or c); as, rēmex (rēmeg-s); dux (duc-s).

3. In a Dental (d or t); as, lapis (lapid-s); mīles (mīlet-s).

1. STEMS IN A LABIAL MUTE (p).

31. Prīnceps, m., chief.

2. STEMS IN A GUTTURAL MUTE (g, c).

32. In these the termination -s of the Nominative Singular unites with the guttural, thus producing -x.

3. STEMS IN A DENTAL MUTE (d, t).

33. In these the final d or t of the stem disappears in the Nominative Singular before the ending -s.

B. Liquid Stems.

34. These end in -l or -r.

1. Masculine and Feminine stems ending in a liquid form the Nominative and Vocative Singular without termination.

2. The termination is also lacking in the Nominative, Accusative and Vocative Singular of all neuters of the Third Declension.

C. Nasal Stems.

35. These end in -n,^[13] which often disappears in the Nom. Sing.

D. s-Stems.

36.

1. Note that the final s of the stem becomes r (between vowels) in the oblique cases. In many words (honor, color, and the like) the r of the oblique cases has, by analogy, crept into the Nominative, displacing the earlier s, though the forms honōs, colōs, etc., also occur, particularly in early Latin and in poetry.

II. ĭ-Stems.

A. Masculine and Feminine ĭ-Stems.

37. These regularly end in -is in the Nominative Singular, and always have -ium in the Genitive Plural. Originally the Accusative Singular ended in -im, the Ablative Singular in -ī, and the Accusative Plural in -īs; but these endings have been largely displaced by -em, -e, and -ēs, the endings of Consonant-Stems.

38.