Jenney’s First Year Latin - PowerPoint Presentation

Jenney’s First Year LatinLesson 1 Lesson 1 Vocabulary Latin Nouns – Characteristics 1 st Declension Nouns Nominative Case – Subject & Predicate Nominative

Lesson 1 Vocabulary

agricola, agricolae, m. farmer

aqua, aquae, f . water

fēmina, fēminae, f. woman

fortūna, fortūnae , f . fortune, chance

Gallia, Galliae, f . Gaul (roughly modern France)

īnsula, īnsulae , f . island

Ītalia, Ītaliae , f . Italy

lingua, linguae, f . language, tongue

littera, litterae , f . letter (of alphabet)

litterae, litterārum , f . pl. letter (epistle), letters

memoria, memoriae , f . memory

nātūra, nāturae , f . nature

poēta, poētae, m. poet

prōvincia, prōvinciae , f . province

puella, puellae, f. girl

silva, silvae , f . forest

vīta, vītae , f . life

est is; there is

sunt are; there are

Latin NounsCharacteristics & First Declension

Latin Nouns – CharacteristicsLike English, a Latin noun indicates a person, place, thing, or idea. All Latin nouns belong to a family, called a declension. Declension : group of nouns sharing a similar ending pattern. There are 5 declensions , named 1 st , 2 nd , 3 rd , 4 th , and 5 th .

Three CharacteristicsEvery Latin noun has three characteristics : Case : indicates the use or grammatical function of the noun [what’s it doing?] Number : indicates singular (1) or plural (>1) [how many?] Gender : masculine, feminine, neuter

Characteristic 1: CaseCase indicates use (grammatical function) of a noun in a sentence English shows case by word order; Latin by word ending – these are called case endings There are 6 cases in Latin: Nominative Genitive Dative Accusative Ablative Vocative

Characteristic 2: NumberNumber answers the question how many English shows number by changing the ending too in most cases (e.g. boy vs. boy s ) There are two numbers: Singular : 1 Plural : >1

Characteristic 3: GenderThere are three genders : masculine , feminine , neuter In English, gender of a noun is determined by sex words naming males are masculine words naming females are feminine words naming things are neuter

Characteristic 3: GenderGender of Latin nouns can usually be determined like in English, but there are exceptions: many words expressing things, abstract qualities, inanimate objects, etc. are masc. or fem., not neut. You simply need to memorize the gender of a noun when learning its dictionary form

Dictionary Entry of Latin Nouns4 parts of a noun’s dictionary entry: puella , puellae , f . : girl 1 2 3 4 Nominative Singular Genitive Singular Gender Definition

Dictionary Entry of Latin Nouns puella , puellae , f . : girl 1 2 3 4 Nominative Singular Genitive Singular: Ending tells you a noun’s declension Dropping the ending gives you the noun’s stem Gender Definition

First Declension NounsGenitive SG ending AE indicates the noun belongs to the 1 st declension 1 st decl. nouns are (usually) easily recognized by the characteristic vowel A 1 st declension nouns are overwhelmingly feminine in gender BUT there are some masculine 1 st decl. nouns too (e.g. agricola, - ae , m .: farmer; poēta, - ae , m .: poet)

First Declension Nouns1st decl. nouns have the following case endings: Singular Plural Nominative a ae Genitive ae ārum Dative ae īs Accusative am ās Ablative ā īs

First Declension Nouns Declining a noun = creating all of its forms to show changes in case & number case & number of a noun do change (endings) gender & declension of a noun do not change; they are fixed To decline a noun : Find the stem (go to Gen. SG & drop ending) Add the case endings to the stem

Translating the CasesSince different cases represent different uses of a noun, we translate them using different words. Case Translate… Nominative __________ Genitive of __________ Dative to/for __________ Accusative __________ Ablative BWIOAF __________

Translating the Cases The ablative case is the catch-all preposition case. It can be translated using by , with , from , in , on , or at (usually the preposition will be nearby) Case Translate… Nominative __________ Genitive of __________ Dative to/for __________ Accusative __________ Ablative BWIOAF __________

Translating the CasesLatin does NOT have words for the definite article (the) or the indefinite article (a/an) You must supply either “a/an” or “the” Which do you choose when translating? Whichever one makes more sense in context

The Nominative Case

Nominative CaseThere are TWO uses of the nominative case: Subject subject is the doer of the action or state of being in a sentence ex.: Agricola in agrō est. The farmer is in the field.

Nominative CaseThere are TWO uses of the nominative case: 2. Predicate Nominative a noun (or adjective) used with a linking verb to define or describe the subject ex.: Ītalia est patria . Italy is a country .