Salvēte, sodālēs.
The time has come to introduce the remainder of the husehold and two more Latin words; puer and puella.
Parents and their children from Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata. Figures by Playmobil.
Puer, like vir, is a noun that ends in -r but is closely related to those nouns that end in -us (more on this next lesson). A puer is a young human male. A puella is a young human female. See how you go reading the following sentences. If you have any trouble, ask for help in the comment section.
Iūlius est vir.
Aemilia fēmina est.
Mārcus est puer.
Puer est Quīntus.
Iūlia est puella.
A little on Roman family names. Mārcus and Quīntus are both praenomina. Their full names would be Mārcus Iūlius and Quīntus Iūlius. Their father, who is called Iūlius in the book, would also have a praenomen. The famous Iūlius Caesar, for example, was Gaius Iūlius Caesar. Gaius was his praenomen, Iūlius his nomen and Caesar his cognomen. Every girl born into the family is given the feminine form of the family’s nomen - hence Iūlia. Aemilia’s father must have been named Aemilius.
Before you go, repeat the exercise from yesterday. Think of a puella and puer you know, and put them into a Latin sentence. I’ll go with the Simpsons - Lisa est puella. Bartus puer est.
Satis est. See you soon.