Salvēte, sodālēs.
In the previous lesson, you met two adjectives - magnus (big) and parvus (small). You may have noticed that the ends of these adjectives changed regularly. There is a perfectly good reason for this : adjectives change their endings to match the nouns they are describing. Let’s look at the noun and adjective pairs that you saw last lesson in lines 22-37; fluvius magnus, fluvius parvus, fluviī parvī, fluviī magnī, īnsula magna, īnsula parva, īnsulae parvae, īnsulae magnae, oppidum magnum, oppidum parvum, oppida magna, oppida parva. Note how the ends of the adjectives (magnus et parvus) change to match the noun they are describing.
Let’s learn two more adjectives; Graecus (Greek) and Rõmānus (Roman). Below are some of my Parvi Di (Little Gods), and a few sentences about them. Be sure to pay attention to the endings of the adjectives as they change.
The Greek deities are Ἀθηνᾶ (Athenα), Ἀφροδίτη (Aphrodite) and Ἄρης (Ares).
The Greek deities are Ἥρα (Hera), Ποσειδῶν (Poseidon) and Διόνυσος (Dionysos).
Minerva est dea Rōmāna. Venus quoque dea Rōmāna est. Iūnō et Minerva et Venus deae Rōmānae sunt.
Ἀθηνᾶ dea Graeca est. Ἀφροδίτη quoque est dea Graeca. Ἀθηνᾶ et Ἀφροδίτη et Ἥρα sunt deae Graecae.
Mars est deus Rōmānus. Neptūnus quoque deus Rōmānus est. Mars et Neptūnus et Bacchus deī (dī) Rōmānī sunt.
Ἄρης deus Graecus est. Ποσειδῶν quoque est deus Graecus. Ἄρης et Ποσειδῶν et Διόνυσος sunt deī (dī) Graecī.
Now let’s do the same with the -um noun monstrum, which I’m using in the narrow sense of ‘mythical beast’ or ‘monster’.
The Cyclops and the Minotaur (in Greek in Latin).
Κύκλωψ (Cyclōps) nōn est monstrum Rōmānum sed monstrum Graecum. Μινώταυρος (Mīnōtaurus) quoque monstrum Graecum est. Κύκλωψ (Cyclōps) et Μινώταυρος (Mīnōtaurus) nōn monstra Rōmāna sed monstra Graeca sunt.
Estne Mīnōtaurus in Italiā? Mīnōtaurus nōn est in Italiā. Mīnōtaurus nōn monstrum Rōmānum sed monstrum Graecum est. Ubi est Mīnōtaurus? Mīnōtaurus est in Crētā. Crēta est magna īnsula. Crēta est īnsula Graeca. Estne Cyclōps quoque in Crētā? Cyclōps nōn in Crētā sed in Siciliā est. Estne Sicilia īnsula parva? Īnsula parva Sicilia nōn est. Sicilia quoque īnsula magna est. Sicilia et Crēta īnsulae magnae sunt. Mīnōtaurus et Cyclōps sunt monstra Graeca.
Satis est. Come back soon to read the read the next 11 lines of Capitulum Primum.