Ludi Novi Romani/MMDCCLXV/Certamen Latinum

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=== March 8th - Day 8 of the Ludi Novi Romani – Question 6 of the Certamen Latinum ===
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'''I. INTRODUCTION 6 - Simple Latin Sentences'''
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We have so far discussed the dictionary forms of the Latin nouns and verbs. We tried out how to decline nouns, and how to conjugate verbs in the Present Tense. Today we start making use of our knowledge, and we will create our first Latin sentences! We get real! That's what we all waited for - now, we'll taste speaking and writing in Latin.
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In order to start this, please review everything we learned about conjugations and declensions, following these links:
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http://novaroma.org/nr/Declension
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http://novaroma.org/nr/Conjugation
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Today we try out writing some simple Latin sentences. But how to start this? Let's clarify four simple rules about Latin sentences.
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'''1. Word order'''
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How does Latin use the words in sentences? Does it place them in a particular word order to express grammatical function, such as subject and object? Not at all: we all know by now that Latin expresses grammatical functions by changing the word endings. That’s what we called declension or conjugation. So in what order to put, then, the words we decline and conjugate, in a sentence?
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Good news for you! There is absolutely no obligatory word order in Latin! You can place the words in any particular order. It means that you can not screw up the word order of a Latin sentence - but you must be informed that any change in the word order indicates a slightly different emphasis in the sentence. Normal, non-emphatic Latin sentences tend to display a "Subject - Indirect Object - Object - Adverbial - Verb" word order. But it's not our level of knowledge, and we will not engage in this depth of Latin grammar. So, for now, write in the order as you like. It can't be wrong.
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'''2. Word endings - using the cases of the declensions'''
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That's a bit more difficult. Latin is a heavily inflected language, which means that Latin indicates grammatical function such as "subject" and "object", by changing the ending of the words. English uses word order to express who is the subject (the performer, who does something) or the object (which is what the action is being done to, for example, "reading a book", where "book" is the object). In English, the object is always placed after the verb, word order determines whether a word is an object or not. Latin, however, uses the accusative word ending to express the object of the sentence. Latin differentiates subject from object (or any grammatical function) by word ending. You must use -
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:- the nominative form for expressing subject ("CICERO writes a letter."),
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:- the accusative ending to express an object (Cicero writes A LETTER."),
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:- the genitive for possession ("It's CICERO'S letter."),
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:- the dative for indirect object ("Cicero writes a letter TO BRUTUS.")
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:- and the ablative for various adverbials ("Cicero writes a letter BY HAND/ON PAPYRUS/FOR FUN/etc.").
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We learned for the first question of the Certamen Latinum how to determine which declension a noun belongs to. Now it's time to make use of this knowledge and to use the declined forms of nouns in sentences.
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'''3. Word endings - using the personal endings of the conjugations'''
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We saw in yesterday's exercise that unlike English, Latin uses verb endings to express the person and number of the verb, and its tense or mood. You must identify who performs the action described by the verb of the sentence: I, you, he/she/it, we, you (plural) or they. Once it's determined, you will use the proper personal endings, respectively to the conjugation which the verb belongs to.
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'''4. Articles'''
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There are no articles in Latin! Yahoooo!... There is no definite (the) or indefinite article (a, an) either. When you write in Latin, you simply forget about them. No rules to be memorized, no problems when to use them or when not to. Long live the freedom from articles! :)
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Learn more about how to write a Latin sentence here:
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http://novaroma.org/nr/Latin_sentence
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'''II. QUESTION 6'''
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Translate the following simple sentences to Latin. The Latin words needed to these translations are given below in their dictionary forms. Use them.
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Follow the guidelines here:
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http://novaroma.org/nr/Declension
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http://novaroma.org/nr/Conjugation
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http://novaroma.org/nr/Latin_sentence
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Be careful, and read ALL information on the pages!
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:"Brutus and Cassius defend the freedom and the traditions of the state of Rome." (7 pts)
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::Brutus, -i, m (Brutus)
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::Cassius, -i, m (Cassius)
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::defendo, -ere, -fendi, -fensum (defend)
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::et (and)
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::libertas, -atis, f (freedom)
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::mos, moris, m (tradition, custom)
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::civitas, -atis, f (state, citizenry)
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::Roma, -ae, f (Rome)
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:"Cassius is writing letters to Brutus and Curio about the events in the senate." (7 pts)
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::Curio, -onis, m (Curio)
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::scribo, -ere, scripsi, scriptum (write)
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::epistula, -ae, f (letter, mail)
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::Cicero, -onis, m (Cicero)
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::de + ablative (about)
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::eventus, -ús, m (event)
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::in + ablative (in)
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::senatus, -ús, m (senate)
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:"Caesar salutes Pompey, but Pompey does not salute Caesar, because anger is invading Pompey’s heart." (10 pts)
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::Caesar, -aris, m (Caesar)
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::saluto, -are, -avi, -atum (salute)
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::Pompeius, -i, m (Pompey)
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::sed (but)
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::non (not; no)
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::quia (because)
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::ira, -ae, f  (anger, ire)
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::invado, -ere, -vasi, -vasum (invade)
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::cor, cordis n (heart)
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::* Comment: "does/do not" in Latin is expressed by "non + verb in conjugated form", in this case it's literally "Pompey salutes not Cicero".
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:"The men say to Caesar: 'You attack the senate only because you wish to destroy the state'." (8 pts)
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::vir, viri, m (man)
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::dico, -ere, dixi, dictum (say)
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::oppugno, -are, -avi, -atum (attack)
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::solum (only)
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::cupio, -ere, -ivi, -itum (wish)
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::deleo, -ere, -evi, -etum (destroy, delete)
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:"Today, on women’s day, we salute girls and ladies by flowers." (7 pts)
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::hodie (today)
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::femina, -ae, f (woman)
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::dies, -ei, m/f (day)
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::puella, -ae, f (girls)
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::mulier, -eris, f (lady, adult woman)
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::flos, floris, m (flower)
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::* Comment: both “on” (time) and "by" (means) are expressed here by using the ablative without preposition.
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'''III. AN EXAMPLE HOW TO DO IT:'''
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:"Caesar is defending Rome from the Gauls." (would be 4 pts)
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::Caesar, -aris, m (Caesar)
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::defendo, -ere, -endi, -ensum (defend)
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::Roma, -ae, f (Rome)
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::a + ablative (from)
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::Gallus, -i, m (Gaul person, Gaulish)
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- after analyzing this English sentence, we find that "is defending" is the predicate of the sentence, and as we learned from the previous exercises, Latin Present Tense includes both English Present Progressive (is defending) and Present Simple (defends). Thus, "he is defending" is equal to "he defends", Present singular third person. We examine the dictionary form of "''defendo''": we see it's third conjugation because infinitive ending "''-ere''" indicates belonging to the third conjugation. In the table of conjugations on the website, we find that the third conjugation singular 3rd person ending is "''-it''". So "he defends"/"he is defending" becomes "''defendit''" '''(1 pt)'''.
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<br>- We find that the subject is "Caesar". We need the nominative then, and we see in the declension table that it's simply "''Caesar''", no change is needed in the word ending '''(1 pt)'''.
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<br>- We find the object, which is "Rome". The genitive ending of the dictionary form "''-ae''" shows it's first declension, where singular accusatives end in "''-am''". So "Rome" becomes "''Romam''" '''(1 pt)'''.
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<br>- We see that "from" in Latin is "''a'' + ablative". Then we must put "''Gallus''" into plural ablative and place it after the preposition "''a''". From the table of declensions, after we have realized it's second declension as the genitive "''-i''" indicates, we chose the ending "''-is''", and the final form will be "''a Gallis''" '''(1 pt)'''.
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<br>- We put the sentence together, in any optional word order, but keeping in mind that normal, un-emphatic Latin word order is Subject - Indirect Object - Object - Adverbial - Verb:
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:"Caesar Romam a Gallis defendit."
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====Answers 6====
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Revision as of 21:56, 8 March 2012


Contents

Preface of the Certamen Latinum

We are the landless nation of the New Romans, the Res Publica Nova Romana, celebrating the 14th Birthday of Nova Roma , the Concordialia on 1st March, and the ludi Novi Romani in the upcoming 14 days, honoring our 14 years. Our common national language is the Latin. Our patriotic, Roman duty is to learn this language, or at least, to get familiar with some expressions and important facts regarding our wonderful and eternal Latin language. It doesn’t matter if you fail learning our language, it doesn’t matter if you can’t. The only thing that matters it’s that you try, that you give some time and effort to honor your Roman identity. Because national identity, first and foremost, lives in the language. We, the Nova Romans, created Nova Roma to restore the Roman national and cultural identity, and its living community: the Roman Res Publica. It’s a huge and important personal step forward to get informed about Latin. Maybe you will never have time or energy to learn it, but it’s your duty to make some efforts, if not learning it, but at least informing you about it in a small extent. If you do only that, you did well already.

By participating in this Latin Contest, Certamen Latinum, you will be guided through the basics of the Latin language. You will get a clue how Latin works, how it looks like “from inside”. We will start from the very bottom and we will arrive to understand some basic Latin sentences. At, the end, every participant will feel that Latin is not so hard as you thought, and maybe you will want to continue learning on your own.

Attention: this Certamen Latinum is designed for beginners, those who are advanced speakers of Latin are gently asked not to participate since it would not be fair competition.

You can follow the Certamen Latin on our ludus webpage, too:

http://novaroma.org/nr/Ludi_Novi_Romani/MMDCCLXV/Certamen_Latinum

Rules of the Certamen Latinum

One question a day will be posted, participants must send their answers to the e-mail address <cnaeus_cornelius AT yahoo DOT com> within 48 hours of posting. Please do *not* post answers to the list!

The correct answers of the previous days and interim results will be announced together with the posting of the next questions.


Questions and Answers for the Certamen Latinum


March 3rd - Day 3 of the Ludi Novi Romani – Question 1 of the Certamen Latinum


I. INTRODUCTION 1 - Dictionary Forms of Nouns

Latin is a heavily inflected language, which means that Latin indicates grammatical information by changing the ending of the words. Nouns are grouped into 5 declensions (noun inflection groups), verbs can be classified into 4 conjugations (verb inflection groups). If we change a noun’s ending to express its grammatical role, we say we “decline” it. If we change a verb’s ending to express the person or the time (tense), we say we “conjugate” it. To determine which declension or conjugation group a verb belongs to, you have to look into a Latin dictionary.

Today we will examine the dictionary forms of nouns only.

In the case of nouns, for example, “friend”, you will find:

amicus, -i, m.

This is 3 pieces of information:

(1) amicus;

(2) -i;

(3) m.

(1) This means that the word “friend” in nominative (subject) case is “amicus”. Learn more about what nominative case means here, on our website:

http://novaroma.org/nr/Nominative

(2) The abbreviated form “-i” means that the word “friend” in genitive (possessive) case is “amici” (something of friend, or friend’s something), thus the original ending “-us” changes to “-i”. Learn more about what nominative case means here, on our website:

http://novaroma.org/nr/Genitive

Well, this is the most important point. This ending “–i” determines that “amicus” belongs to the “second declension”, whose identifier is the genitive “–i”. As we have mentioned, there are 5 declensions, and each one of these has a unique, declension-specific genitive ending. It’s important because the genitive ending determines the other inflections as well. The five types of genitive ending and the five declensions determined by the different genitive endings are:

-ae = 1st declension, e.g.: Roma, -ae, f (Rome)
-i = 2nd declension, eg.: amicus, -i, m (friend)
-is = 3rd declension, e.g.: rex, regis, m (king)
-ús = 4th declension, eg.: senatus, -ús, m (senate)
-ei = 5th declension, eg. fides, -ei, f (loyalty)

(3) The “m.” means that it is a masculine noun. In Latin, all nouns have three genders, they are masculine, (abbreviated as “m”), feminine (abbreviated as “f”), and neuter (abbreviated as “n”). English has a similar phenomenon when we use “he”, “she” or “it”. The new thing in this is that Latin uses these genders for things or abstract concepts, too, like in the exemples above, “loyalty” (fides, -ei, f) is feminine in Latin, the “senate” (senatus, -ús, m) is masculine, “Rome” (Roma, -ae, f) is, again, feminine.

Learn more about understanding dictionary forms of Latin nouns here, on our website:

http://novaroma.org/nr/Declension


II. QUESTION 1

Find a Latin dictionary. Attention! If you use an online dictionary, be aware that most of the online dictionaries are incomplete and do not give the full, correct dictionary forms of the Latin words. If you can use only online resources, please use the following Google Books digitalized Latin dictionary:

http://books.google.com/books?id=k1ZFAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false

Look into the dictionary and determine which declensions the following 10 nouns belong to (10 x 1 pts).

Solve the abbreviations and spell out, write out the full forms of their possessive form (genitive) (10 x 0.5 pts) and their gender (10 x 0.1 pts).

imperium
dictator
victoria
auctoritas
spes
virtus
cognomen
senatus
centurio
domus

III. AN EXAMPLE HOW TO DO IT:

praetor;

- after looking into a dictionary, you will find its dictionary form is “praetor, -oris, m”, so you will give the following data:

praetor, 3rd declension (1pt); praetoris (0.5pt), masculine (0.1pt)
  • Comments: It’s 3rd declension, because in the abbreviated genitive form given as “–oris” for "praetoris", the genitive ending “-is” determines that it must belong to the 3rd declension.

Answers 1

imperium, 2nd declension; imperii, neuter
dictator, 3rd declension; dictatoris, masculine
victoria, 1st declension; victoriae, feminine
auctoritas, 3rd declension; auctoritatis, feminine
spes, 5th declension, spei; feminine
virtus, 3rd declension; virtutis, feminine
cognomen, 3rd declension; cognominis, neuter
senatus, 4th declension; senatús, masculine
centurio, 3rd declension; centurionis, masculine
domus, 4nd declension; domús, feminine


March 4th - Day 4 of the Ludi Novi Romani – Question 2 of the Certamen Latinum


I. INTRODUCTION 2 - Dictionary Forms of Verbs

Previously we discussed the dictionary form of the Latin nouns. We have learned that the dictionary forms of the nouns include the genitive (possessive) form of the noun, and its ending determines the entire inflection of the noun, the declension of the noun.

Today we study the dictionary forms of the verbs. How can we decide what conjugation (verb inflection group) a verb belongs to?

In the case of the verb “have”, you will find:

habeo –ére, -bui, -bitum

This is 4 pieces of information:

(1) habeo; it is the first person singular of the verb “have”. It means “I have”.

(2) –ere; it’s an abbreviation of “habere”, the infinite of the verb. It means “to have”.

(3) –bui; it’s an abbreviation of “habui”, the perfect tense of the verb. It means “I have had” or “I had”.

(4) –bitum; abbreviation of “habitum”, it’s the supine (or the past participle).

This verb’s infinitive, “habére” (to have), indicated in the dictionary form as “–ére” shows that this verb belongs to the 2nd conjugations, as all verbs that have the infinitive ending “-ére” belong to the 2nd conjugation. The second dictionary element, the infinitive, determines which conjugation the verb belongs to. The four types of infinitive endings and the four conjugations determined by the different genitive endings are:

-are = 1st conjugation; e.g.: amo, -are, -avi, -atum (I love)
-ére = 2nd conjugation; e.g.: habeo, -ere, -bui, -bitum (I have)
-ere = 3rd conjugation; e.g.: dico, -ere, dixi, dictum (I say)
-ire = 4th conjugation; e.g.: audio, -ire, -ivi, -itum (I hear)

Note that “–ere”, which is short vowel, is different from “–ére”, which is long vowel.

You will find more information about the dictionary forms of verbs here, on our website: http://www.novaroma.org/nr/Conjugation

II. QUESTION 2

Use the Latin dictionary that we used last time, or, if you have to use an online Latin dictionary, use this one:

http://books.google.com/books?id=k1ZFAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false

Look into the dictionary and determine which conjugations the following 10 verbs belong to (10 x 1 pts).

Solve the abbreviations and spell out, write out the full forms of their infinitive form (10 x 0.5 pts) and their perfect tense form (10 x 0.5 pts), and their supine/past participle (10 x 0.5 pts).

deleo
creo
sentio
video
mitto
scio
rogo
cupio

III. AN EXAMPLE HOW TO DO IT:

ago;

- after looking into a dictionary, you will find its dictionary form is “ago, -ere, egi, actum”, so you will give the following data:

ago, 3rd conjugation (1pt); agere (0.5pt), egi (0.5pt), actum (0.5pt)
  • Comments: it’s 3rd conjugation because the infinitive (second dictionary form) “–ere” ending shows it. If it were “–ére” with long vowel “é”, it would have been 2nd conjugation.

Answers 2

deleo, 2nd conjugation; delere, delevi, deletum
creo, 1st conjugation; creare, creavi, creatum
sentio, 4th conjugation; sentire, sensi, sensum
video, 2nd conjugation; videre, vidi, visum
mitto, 3rd conjugation; mittere, misi, missum
scio, 4th conjugation; scire, scivi, scitum
rogo, 1st conjugation; rogare, rogavi, rogatum
cupio, 3rd conjugation; cupere, cupivi, cupitum


March 5th - Day 5 of the Ludi Novi Romani – Question 3 of the Certamen Latinum


I. INTRODUCTION 3 - Declining Nouns in the Nominative, Accusative and Genitive Cases

The day before yesterday we discussed the dictionary form of the Latin nouns. Yesterday we talked about the dictionary form of the verbs. These are essential things to understand before you start using Latin words. Now you are armed to start using Latin words in sentences.

How does Latin use the words in sentences? Does it place them in a particular word order to express grammatical function, such as subject and object? Nope. That's the big difference between Latin and English. English uses word order to express who is the subject (the performer, who does something) or the object (which is what the action is being done to, for example, "reading a book", where "book" is the object). In English, the object is always placed after the verb, word order determines whether a word is an object or not. Latin, however, uses word ending to express grammatical function, such as the object. Latin differentiates subject from object by word ending, i.e. by inflections which is called declension. We learned for the first question of the Certamen Latinum how to determine which declension a noun belongs to. Now it's time to make use of this knowledge. We will decline some words creating subjects, objects, or possessive forms from them. Please review the information about how to determine which declension a noun belongs to, following this link:

http://novaroma.org/nr/Declension

Today we learn how to change the endings of the Latin nouns pertaining to different declensions.

In Latin, the subject form of a noun is called the 'nominative case'. Learn more here:

http://novaroma.org/nr/Nominative

The object form of a noun is called the 'accusative case' in Latin. Check this out, on our website:

http://novaroma.org/nr/Accusative

The Latin possessive form of a noun is called 'genitive case'. We learned about it when studying the dictionary forms of nouns. We know why the genitive is so important: the genitive ending differentiates what declension a noun belongs to. Therefore the genitive of each noun is given in the dictionary, and when somebody learns Latin nouns, he learns the genitive of the noun together with the first dictionary form, the nominative, because without knowing the genitive of the word, you could not know which declination it belongs to, and thus you could not decline the word, which means you could not use the word in a sentence. Learn more about genitive here:

http://novaroma.org/nr/Genitive

The inflection (declension) of nouns is done by cutting off the declension specific genitive ending (-ae, -i, -is, -ús, -ei) and replacing them with the various case endings that you'll find on our website, following the links given above.

II. QUESTION 3

Put the following nouns into the *singular* and *plural* *nominative*, *accusative* and *genitive* cases (10 x 6pts), using our website as your guide to how to decline the nouns. Use these same links I have given above:
http://novaroma.org/nr/Nominative
http://novaroma.org/nr/Accusative
http://novaroma.org/nr/Genitive

Be careful, and read ALL information on the pages!

fides, -ei, f = faith, credibility
televisio, -onis, f = television
magistratus, -ús, m = magistrate, magistracy
dea, -ae, f = goddess
pons, pontis, m = bridge
pax, pacis, f = peace
forum, -i, n = square, forum
filius, -ií, m = son
corpus, -oris, n = body
aeroplanum, -i, n = airplane

III. AN EXAMPLE HOW TO DO IT:

res, -ei, f = thing;

- after analyzing this dictionary form, you see that its genitive abbreviated is "-ei", which means that its genitive form written out is: "rei". The genitive ending "-ei" marks the Fifth Declension. It means you have to cut off this "-ei" ending, and the remaining "r-" will be the invariable stem to which you will add the case endings. Therefore you go to the website, and search for the respective nominative plural, accusative and genitive forms that are needed. You will find them and you can give the following forms:

SINGULAR
nominative = res (1 pt)
accusative = rem (1 pt)
genitive = rei (1 pt)
PLURAL
nominative = res (1 pt)
accusative = res (1 pt)
genitive = rerum (1 pt)

Answers 3

fides, -ei, f = faith, credibility

SINGULAR
nominative = fides
accusative = fidem
genitive = fidei
PLURAL
nominative = fides
accusative = fides
genitive = fiderum

televisio, -onis, f = television

SINGULAR
nominative = televisio
accusative = televisionem
genitive = televisionis
PLURAL
nominative = televisiones
accusative = televisiones
genitive = televisionum

magistratus, -ús, m = magistrate, magistracy

SINGULAR
nominative = magistratus
accusative = magistratum
genitive = magistratus
PLURAL
nominative = magistratus
accusative = magistratus
genitive = magistratuum

dea, -ae, f = goddess

SINGULAR
nominative = dea
accusative = deam
genitive = deae
PLURAL
nominative = deae
accusative = deas
genitive = dearum

pons, pontis, m = bridge

SINGULAR
nominative = pons
accusative = pontem
genitive = pontis
PLURAL
nominative = pontes
accusative = pontes
genitive = pontium

pax, pacis, f = peace

SINGULAR
nominative = pax
accusative = pacem
genitive = pacis
PLURAL
nominative = paces
accusative = paces
genitive = pacum

forum, -i, n = square, forum

SINGULAR
nominative = forum
accusative = forum
genitive = fori
PLURAL
nominative = fora
accusative = fora
genitive = fororum

filius, -ií, m = son

SINGULAR
nominative = filius
accusative = filium
genitive = filii
PLURAL
nominative = filii
accusative = filios
genitive = filiorum

corpus, -oris, n = body

SINGULAR
nominative = corpus
accusative = corpus
genitive = corporis
PLURAL
nominative = corpora
accusative = corpora
genitive = corporum

aeroplanum, -i, n = airplane

SINGULAR
nominative = aeroplanum
accusative = aeroplanum
genitive = aeroplani
PLURAL
nominative = aeroplana
accusative = aeroplana
genitive = aeroplanorum


March 6th - Day 6 of the Ludi Novi Romani – Question 4 of the Certamen Latinum


I. INTRODUCTION 4 - Declining Nouns in the Dative and Ablative Cases

We have so far discussed the dictionary forms of the Latin nouns and verbs. Yesterday we tried out how to decline nouns in the nominative, accusative and genitive cases, both in singular and plural. We continue our tasting the declensions with declining nouns today in the remaining two cases, dative, and ablative.

Please review the information about how to determine which declension a noun belongs to, following this link:

http://novaroma.org/nr/Declension

We continue learning how to change the endings of the Latin nouns pertaining to different declensions, in the dative and ablative cases.

The indirect object expresses the recipient of an action, like in the following sentence: I give a book to Hortensius - where "to Hortensius" is the indirect object. In Latin, the indirect object form of a noun is called the 'dative case'. Learn more here:

http://novaroma.org/nr/Dative

The adverbial form of a noun is called the 'ablative case' in Latin. The ablative can express manner and instrument (by, with), time and place (in, on, at), cause (for, to) and similar adverbials. Check this out, on our website:

http://novaroma.org/nr/Ablative

The inflection (declension) of nouns is done by cutting off the declension specific genitive ending (-ae, -i, -is, -ús, -ei) and replacing them with the various case endings that you'll find on our website, following the links given above.

II. QUESTION 4

Put the following nouns into the *singular* and *plural* *dative* and *ablative* cases (10 x 4pts), using our website as your guide to how to decline the nouns. Use these same links I have given above:
http://novaroma.org/nr/Dative
http://novaroma.org/nr/Ablative

Be careful, and read ALL information on the pages!

fides, -ei, f = faith, credibility
televisio, -onis, f = television
magistratus, -ús, m = magistrate, magistracy
dea, -ae, f = goddess
pons, pontis, m = bridge
pax, pacis, f = peace
forum, -i, n = square, forum
filius, -ií, m = son
corpus, -oris, n = body
aeroplanum, -i, n = airplane

III. AN EXAMPLE HOW TO DO IT:

res, -ei, f = thing;

- after analyzing this dictionary form, you see that its genitive abbreviated is "-ei", which means that its genitive form written out is: "rei". The genitive ending "-ei" marks the Fifth Declension. It means you have to cut off this "-ei" ending, and the remaining "r-" will be the invariable stem to which you will add the case endings. Therefore you go to the website, and search for the respective dative and ablative forms that are needed. You will find them and you can give the following forms:

SINGULAR
dative = rei (1 pt)
ablative = re (1 pt)
PLURAL
dative = rebus (1 pt)
ablative = rebus (1 pt)

Answers 4

March 7th - Day 7 of the Ludi Novi Romani – Question 5 of the Certamen Latinum


I. INTRODUCTION 5 - Conjugating Verbs in the Present Tense

We have so far discussed the dictionary forms of the Latin nouns and verbs. We tried out how to decline nouns. Today we get a bit more familiar with verbs, and we will try those "formidable" conjugations.

Please review the information about how to determine which conjugation a verb belongs to, following this link:

http://novaroma.org/nr/Conjugation

Today we will practice the Present Tense. This tense is equivalent of the English Present Progressive (I am reading) and Present Simple (I read).

Unlike English, Latin uses verb endings to express the person and number of the verb, and its tense or mood. These endings are in general the same for all conjugation groups, but there is some variation respectively to the stem vowel, which means that while, e.g. the singular third person ending is "-t" in all conjugations, in the 1st conjugation it's realized as "-at", because it's the A-Stem conjugation, in the 2nd conjugation it's "-et", (as they are the E-Stem) etc.

In order to conjugate a verb, you simply cut off the infinitive endings -are, -ére, -ere and -ire, and replace them with the personal endings shown on our website, respectively to the conjugation group to which the verb belongs to. Please study carefully how the conjugations work in Present Tense:

http://novaroma.org/nr/Conjugation#Present_Tense

II. QUESTION 5

Determine which conjugation the following verbs belong to, and conjugate them in the Present Tense (6 x 6 pts).

Follow the guidelines here:

http://novaroma.org/nr/Conjugation

Be careful, and read ALL information on the pages!

accipio, -ere, -cepi, -ceptum (accept)
defendo, -ere, -fendi, -fensum (defend)
doceo, -ére, docui, doctum (teach)
impero, -are, -avi, -atum (order)
scio, -ire, -ivi, -itum (know)
rapio, -ere, rapui, raptum (rob)

III. AN EXAMPLE HOW TO DO IT:

cupio, -ere, -ivi, -itum (wish);

- after analyzing this dictionary form, you see that its infinitive (2nd dictionary form) is abbreviated as "-ere", which means that its full infinitive form written out is: "cupere". The infinitive ending "-ere" marks the Third Conjugation, and the first person singular ending "-io" (1st dictionary form) makes it an I-Stem verb of the Third Conjugation. Therefore you go to the website, and search for the Present Tense personal endings respective to this conjugation. You will find them and you can give the following forms:

SINGULAR
cupio (1 pt)
cupis (1 pt)
cupit (1 pt)
PLURAL
cupimus (1 pt)
cupitis (1 pt)
cupiunt (1 pt)

Answers 5


March 8th - Day 8 of the Ludi Novi Romani – Question 6 of the Certamen Latinum


I. INTRODUCTION 6 - Simple Latin Sentences

We have so far discussed the dictionary forms of the Latin nouns and verbs. We tried out how to decline nouns, and how to conjugate verbs in the Present Tense. Today we start making use of our knowledge, and we will create our first Latin sentences! We get real! That's what we all waited for - now, we'll taste speaking and writing in Latin.

In order to start this, please review everything we learned about conjugations and declensions, following these links:

http://novaroma.org/nr/Declension

http://novaroma.org/nr/Conjugation

Today we try out writing some simple Latin sentences. But how to start this? Let's clarify four simple rules about Latin sentences.

1. Word order

How does Latin use the words in sentences? Does it place them in a particular word order to express grammatical function, such as subject and object? Not at all: we all know by now that Latin expresses grammatical functions by changing the word endings. That’s what we called declension or conjugation. So in what order to put, then, the words we decline and conjugate, in a sentence?

Good news for you! There is absolutely no obligatory word order in Latin! You can place the words in any particular order. It means that you can not screw up the word order of a Latin sentence - but you must be informed that any change in the word order indicates a slightly different emphasis in the sentence. Normal, non-emphatic Latin sentences tend to display a "Subject - Indirect Object - Object - Adverbial - Verb" word order. But it's not our level of knowledge, and we will not engage in this depth of Latin grammar. So, for now, write in the order as you like. It can't be wrong.

2. Word endings - using the cases of the declensions

That's a bit more difficult. Latin is a heavily inflected language, which means that Latin indicates grammatical function such as "subject" and "object", by changing the ending of the words. English uses word order to express who is the subject (the performer, who does something) or the object (which is what the action is being done to, for example, "reading a book", where "book" is the object). In English, the object is always placed after the verb, word order determines whether a word is an object or not. Latin, however, uses the accusative word ending to express the object of the sentence. Latin differentiates subject from object (or any grammatical function) by word ending. You must use -

- the nominative form for expressing subject ("CICERO writes a letter."),
- the accusative ending to express an object (Cicero writes A LETTER."),
- the genitive for possession ("It's CICERO'S letter."),
- the dative for indirect object ("Cicero writes a letter TO BRUTUS.")
- and the ablative for various adverbials ("Cicero writes a letter BY HAND/ON PAPYRUS/FOR FUN/etc.").

We learned for the first question of the Certamen Latinum how to determine which declension a noun belongs to. Now it's time to make use of this knowledge and to use the declined forms of nouns in sentences.

3. Word endings - using the personal endings of the conjugations

We saw in yesterday's exercise that unlike English, Latin uses verb endings to express the person and number of the verb, and its tense or mood. You must identify who performs the action described by the verb of the sentence: I, you, he/she/it, we, you (plural) or they. Once it's determined, you will use the proper personal endings, respectively to the conjugation which the verb belongs to.

4. Articles

There are no articles in Latin! Yahoooo!... There is no definite (the) or indefinite article (a, an) either. When you write in Latin, you simply forget about them. No rules to be memorized, no problems when to use them or when not to. Long live the freedom from articles! :)

Learn more about how to write a Latin sentence here:

http://novaroma.org/nr/Latin_sentence

II. QUESTION 6

Translate the following simple sentences to Latin. The Latin words needed to these translations are given below in their dictionary forms. Use them.

Follow the guidelines here:

http://novaroma.org/nr/Declension http://novaroma.org/nr/Conjugation http://novaroma.org/nr/Latin_sentence

Be careful, and read ALL information on the pages!


"Brutus and Cassius defend the freedom and the traditions of the state of Rome." (7 pts)
Brutus, -i, m (Brutus)
Cassius, -i, m (Cassius)
defendo, -ere, -fendi, -fensum (defend)
et (and)
libertas, -atis, f (freedom)
mos, moris, m (tradition, custom)
civitas, -atis, f (state, citizenry)
Roma, -ae, f (Rome)
"Cassius is writing letters to Brutus and Curio about the events in the senate." (7 pts)
Curio, -onis, m (Curio)
scribo, -ere, scripsi, scriptum (write)
epistula, -ae, f (letter, mail)
Cicero, -onis, m (Cicero)
de + ablative (about)
eventus, -ús, m (event)
in + ablative (in)
senatus, -ús, m (senate)
"Caesar salutes Pompey, but Pompey does not salute Caesar, because anger is invading Pompey’s heart." (10 pts)
Caesar, -aris, m (Caesar)
saluto, -are, -avi, -atum (salute)
Pompeius, -i, m (Pompey)
sed (but)
non (not; no)
quia (because)
ira, -ae, f (anger, ire)
invado, -ere, -vasi, -vasum (invade)
cor, cordis n (heart)
  • Comment: "does/do not" in Latin is expressed by "non + verb in conjugated form", in this case it's literally "Pompey salutes not Cicero".
"The men say to Caesar: 'You attack the senate only because you wish to destroy the state'." (8 pts)
vir, viri, m (man)
dico, -ere, dixi, dictum (say)
oppugno, -are, -avi, -atum (attack)
solum (only)
cupio, -ere, -ivi, -itum (wish)
deleo, -ere, -evi, -etum (destroy, delete)
"Today, on women’s day, we salute girls and ladies by flowers." (7 pts)
hodie (today)
femina, -ae, f (woman)
dies, -ei, m/f (day)
puella, -ae, f (girls)
mulier, -eris, f (lady, adult woman)
flos, floris, m (flower)
  • Comment: both “on” (time) and "by" (means) are expressed here by using the ablative without preposition.


III. AN EXAMPLE HOW TO DO IT:

"Caesar is defending Rome from the Gauls." (would be 4 pts)
Caesar, -aris, m (Caesar)
defendo, -ere, -endi, -ensum (defend)
Roma, -ae, f (Rome)
a + ablative (from)
Gallus, -i, m (Gaul person, Gaulish)

- after analyzing this English sentence, we find that "is defending" is the predicate of the sentence, and as we learned from the previous exercises, Latin Present Tense includes both English Present Progressive (is defending) and Present Simple (defends). Thus, "he is defending" is equal to "he defends", Present singular third person. We examine the dictionary form of "defendo": we see it's third conjugation because infinitive ending "-ere" indicates belonging to the third conjugation. In the table of conjugations on the website, we find that the third conjugation singular 3rd person ending is "-it". So "he defends"/"he is defending" becomes "defendit" (1 pt).
- We find that the subject is "Caesar". We need the nominative then, and we see in the declension table that it's simply "Caesar", no change is needed in the word ending (1 pt).
- We find the object, which is "Rome". The genitive ending of the dictionary form "-ae" shows it's first declension, where singular accusatives end in "-am". So "Rome" becomes "Romam" (1 pt).
- We see that "from" in Latin is "a + ablative". Then we must put "Gallus" into plural ablative and place it after the preposition "a". From the table of declensions, after we have realized it's second declension as the genitive "-i" indicates, we chose the ending "-is", and the final form will be "a Gallis" (1 pt).
- We put the sentence together, in any optional word order, but keeping in mind that normal, un-emphatic Latin word order is Subject - Indirect Object - Object - Adverbial - Verb:

"Caesar Romam a Gallis defendit."

Answers 6



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