Salvēte, sodālēs.
In today’s lesson, I’d like to introduce you to a truely marvellous aspect of Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta, the Index Vocābulōrum.
Most Latin textbooks have a Latin to English (or German or Mandarin etc) dictionary at the end of the book, where you can look up words you have forgotten. For example, here is the dictionary from Book I of The Cambridge Latin Course. The Latin words are listed alphabetically with an English definition. If the word appears in a chapter vocabulary list, the number of the chapter is printed beside the word. If there is no number, then the word appears - with an English definition - in the margin somewhere in the book.
from The Cambridge Latin Course Book I, page 236
Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta does things differently and - in my opinion - better. Instead of a dictionary, it has an Index Vocābulōrum (an Index of Words). Let’s begin with the Latin explanation : Numerī crassī (bold numbers) significant (signify) capitula (the chapters), numerī tenuēs (‘thin’ numbers) [signify] versūs (the lines).
from Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta, page 313
Imagine it’s Lesson 35 and you’ve been told to continue reading Capitulum Tertium. You read Ubi est Iūlius? Cur Iūlius nōn venit? Most of the words you remember. You recognise ubi and venit, but completely blank on their meaning. What can you do?
First you look up ubi in the Index Vocābulōrum. The entry reads ubi I.12. You turn to Capitulum Prīmum, versus 12. You read Ubi est Rōma? Rōma est in Italiā. Yes, you think. I remember now.
Next you look up venit. For reasons that will become clearer as the course moves on, the entry reads venīre, vēnisse (close enough) 3.21. You turn to Capitulum Tertium, versus 21. You read Aemilia venit. Well, that doesn’t help. Until you notice it also says Aemilia venit. in the margin, next to a picture of Aemilia arriving.
You are now ready to return to your reading. Ubi est Iūlius? Cur Iūlius nōn venit?
Satis est. We will return to reading Capitulum Tertium in Lesson 35.