Lesson Twenty Three : Cuius servus est Davus? /  by Anthony Gibbins

Salvēte, sodālēs.

From Handy Latin Tables Pars Prima, page 8.

Just one new thing in today’s lesson - the word cuius (whose). And only two lines of Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta to read, lines 35-36.

Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta : Capitulum Secundum : lines 35-36. To be fair to the publisher, after Capitulum Secundum extracts will not be given - you will need a copy of the textbook of your own.

Let’s practise the use of cuius with two more questions. Determine the answer to each one for yourself, before you reveal it. Please don’t take my very straightforward questions about human enslavement as any kind of comfort with this cruel and unjust practice.

  • Mēdus servus Iūliī est.

  • Dēlia ancilla Aemiliae est.

Satis est. Until next time.

Lesson Twenty Two : Human Enslavement /  by Anthony Gibbins

Salvēte, sodāles.

Capitulum Secundum, lines 25-34 introduces the vocabulary of human enslavement. This is not the space to discuss the complexities (or simplicities) of this cruel and unjust practice, so I’ll say only this : The Romans had a culture in which they felt comfortable forcefully enslaving other human beings and applying the violence that went along with that.

Here are the new words: servus (enslaved man), ancilla (enslaved woman), dominus (male enslaver, master) and domina (female enslaver, mistress).

As you read, you will notice two new word endings, -ōrum and -ārum. (eg: servōrum, līberõrum, ancillārum). Try to determine the meaning of these new endings for yourself. You can check your understanding below.

Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta : Capitulum Secundum : lines 25-34. To be fair to the publisher, after Capitulum Secundum extracts will not be given - you will need a copy of the textbook of your own.

  • servōrum : of the enslaved men

    ilberōrum : of the children

    ancillårum : of the enslaved women

Before you go, you may have noticed that the number two appeared in the reading as both duo and duae. Again, this is connected to our word families and their genders. The margin provides a convenient summary. You would also say duo fluviī and duae īnsulae.

from Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta, page 14.

Satis est. Hope to see you again soon.

Lesson Twenty One : Who is Marcus? /  by Anthony Gibbins

Salvēte, sodālēs.

Capitulum Secundum, lines 15-24 introduces four new words, quis, quae, quī and līberī.

Quis, quae and quī all mean ‘who’ and can be found on page 8 of Handy Latin Tables Pars Prīma, along with the other question words introduced in Chapters 1-5.

from Handy Latin Tables Pars Prīma, page 8.

Why are there three words meaning ‘who’? Quis is for males : Quis est Mārcus? Quis est pater Mārcī? Quae is for females : Quae est Iūlia? Quae est māter Mārcī? Quī is for asking about more than one person, as long as at least one of them is male : Quī sunt Iūlia et Mārcus? Quī sunt līberī Aemiliae? (Note: Quae can also be used for asking about a group that is entirely female, but you won’t see that just yet).

Speaking of līberī, Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta does something extremely useful here, which it will do more and more frequently as you progress through the book: It defines the word līberī for you IN LATIN! On lines 21-22 it says Līberī sunt fīliī fīliaeque. (As this is only the second time you’ve met -que, I’ll remind you that this means the same as Līberī sunt fīliī et fīliae.)

Enough from me, enjoy lines 15-24.

Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta : Capitulum Secundum : lines 15-24. To be fair to the publisher, after Capitulum Secundum extracts will not be given - you will need a copy of the textbook of your own.

Satis est! See you soon.

Lesson Twenty : Family Relations /  by Anthony Gibbins

Salvēte, sodalēs.

Today we will learn how to describe the relationship between family members in Latin. First, some new vocabulary. The text has a helpful family tree in the margin that includes the words for father, mother, son and daughter.

from Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta, page 13

Now, how might we say ‘Julius is the father of Marcus and Quintus.’ or ‘Aemelia is the mother of Marcus, Quintus and Julia.’? As always, Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta will show us how it is done. Read Capitulum Secundum, lines 8-14. Afterwards, you can check your understanding below.

Oh, one more thing! Mēdusque means the same thing as et Mēdus.

Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta : Capitulum Secundum : lines 8-14. To be fair to the publisher, after Capitulum Secundum extracts will not be given - you will need a copy of the textbook of your own.

  • of Aemilia : Aemiliae

    of Julius : Iūliī

    of Julia : Iūliae

    of Marcus : Mārcī

    of Quintus : Quīntī

Note : You may have noticed that these possessive endings are the same as the plural endings we met in Capitulum Prīmum. If that seems confusing, just remember that it wasn’t to a Roman. After all, in conversation, we can all tell the difference between cats, cat’s and cats’ even though we can’t see the apostrophe.

Satis est. See you again shortly.

Lesson Nineteen : Capitulum Secundum /  by Anthony Gibbins

Capitulum Secundum begins by introducing the familia Rōmāna, whom we first encountered in Lesson Four, along with the words vir (man), fēmina (woman), puer (boy) and puella (girl).

Two enslaved women and two enslaved men from Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata. Figures by Playmobil.

Parents and their children from Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata. Figures by Playmobil.

In the margin, the text helpfully demonstrates the plural forms of vir and puer, using the numbers ūnus and duo to help make the point. You will notice that -r nouns become plural with an -ī just like -us nouns do (Examples: Tiberis et Nīlus duo fluviī sunt. Unus et duo sunt numerī Romānī. Dāvus et Mēdus sunt virī. Quīntus et Mārcus parvī puerī sunt.)

from Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta, page 13

Now read Capitulum Secundum, lines 1-7.

Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta : Capitulum Secundum : lines 1-7. To be fair to the publisher, after Capitulum Secundum extracts will not be given - you will need a copy of the textbook of your own.

from Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta, page 13

Satis est. See you soon.

Lesson Eighteen : More Spoken Latin /  by Anthony Gibbins

Salvēte, Sodālēs.

In today’s lesson I will speak to you about the Latin language and where it is found. I’m not convinced of the Latinity (Latin usage) of my opening question - Ubi est Lingua Latina? - but we have to work with what we have. Perhaps the Romans would have said something more along the lines of Where is the Latin language found? but I don’t think it’s a huge issue.

Once again - congratulations for completing Capitulum Prīmum.

Satis est. I’ll see you back here soon to begin Capitulum Secundum.

Lesson Seventeen : Capitulum Prīmum Completed /  by Anthony Gibbins

Salvēte, sodāles.

In this lesson you will read the final three paragraphs of Lingua Latīna per Sē Illustrāta, Capitulum Prīmum. Rather than spoil anything for you up front, you will have the the opportunity to check your understanding of the three new words introduced - vocābulum, sex and syllaba - after you have completed the reading and tried puzzling them out for yourself. If you forget the names of any of the letters or numbers, or the meanings of mīlle, prīma, secunda or tertia, you should revisit Lesson Sixteen. Enjoy!

Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata : Capitulum Primum : lines 71-82. To be fair to the publisher, after Capitulum Secundum extracts will not be given - you will need a copy of the textbook of your own.

  • vocābulum : word

    sex : six

    syllaba : syllable

In vocābulō īnsula sex litterae et trēs syllabae sunt: syllaba prīma īn-, secunda -su-, tertia -la. In vocābulō nōn sunt trēs litterae et ūna syllaba. from Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta, Capitulum Prīmum

Well, you have reached the end of Capitulum Prīmum! Bene factum (Well done)! I encourage you to return to it often and reread.

Satis est. Return soon for some more spoken Latin.

Lesson Sixteen : Lingua Latina Per Se /  by Anthony Gibbins

Salvēte, sodālēs.

In what remains of Capitulum Prīmum we begin reading about the lingua Latīna (Latin language) in Latin! The expression per sē basically means ‘through itself’.

We are first introduced to four numerī Romānī (Roman numbers) and three litterae Latīnae (Latin letters), the Latin names of which are conveniently provided in the margin.

from Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata, page 9

Over the page, there is a further littera Latīna - D - and two litterae Graecae (Greek letters), and again they are conveniently listed in the margin along with their Latin names.

from Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata, page 10

Knowing this, read Capitulum Prīmum, lines 62-70. As you are reading, you will need to determine the meanings of prīma, secunda and tertia for yourself. If you wish, you can click below to check your understanding.

Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata : Capitulum Primum : lines 62-70. To be fair to the publisher, after Capitulum Secundum extracts will not be given - you will need a copy of the textbook of your own.

  • prīma : first

    secunda : second

    tertia : third

    (You may have noticed that the first three chapters are labeled CAPITULUM PRĪMUM, CAPITULUM SECUNDUM and CAPITULUM TERTIUM.)

Satis est. Come back soon.

Lesson Fifteen : Spoken Latin /  by Anthony Gibbins

Salvēte, sodālēs.

Reading Latin is fun, but there is nothing quite like hearing spoken Latin and being able to understand it. Today I will speak to you about the Imperium Rōmānum in a way that you can follow and understand. I will speak slowly and repeat myself for clarity. My accent isn’t wonderful and I can spot at least one error (just once, I say in imperium Rōmānum instead of in imperiō Rōmānō), but don’t let that ruin your experience. Enjoy being able to understand spoken Latin and take satisfaction from your progress.

Next lesson we will continue with Capitulum Prīmum, reading about litterae and numerī.

Satis est. See you back here tomorrow.

Lesson Fourteen : Sidequest /  by Anthony Gibbins

Salvēte, sodālēs.

Note: Like all good sidequests, you might decide to completely ignore this lesson. It doesn’t teach you anything new, although it does give you additional opportunities to practise what you know.

The content in Capitulum Primum lends itself to discussing many lands, not just the Imperium Rōmānum. Below you will find a fantasy map of the imaginary Imperium Cōtānum. I encourage you to read the map and text together and enjoy your ability to understand all that you are reading.

Imagine the tales that one might tell about the Imperium Cōtānum…

Cōta in Ligātiā est. Ligātia in Eltōpiā est. Pēlia et Ligātia et Scāvia in Eltōpiā sunt. Edla et Crespia in Astrōnā sunt. Tiria quoque in Astrōnā est. Nixa and Fresca sunt in Brāxā.

Rāvius est fluvius magnus. Rāvius fluvius magnus in Ligātiā est. Līpus est fluvius parvus in Legātiā. Rāvius et Līpus sunt fluviī in Legātiā. Tius fluvius parvus in Scāviā est. Geltus est fluvius magnus in Frescā. Rāvius et Geltus flaviī magnī sunt. Līpus et Tius fluviī parvī sunt.

Scāpha īnsula parva est. Scāpha et Sūma sunt insulae parvae. Dielga nōn īnsula parva, sed īnsula magna est. Dielga et Pūlga sunt īnsulae magnae.

Delium oppidum est. Aldium et Kia oppida sunt. Montium quoque oppidum est. Celna et Viltum sunt oppida magna. Aldium et Kia sunt oppida parva.

Ubi est imperium Cōtānum? Imperium Cōtānum est in Astrōnā et in Eltōpiā. Crespia et Tiria prōvinciae Cōtānae sunt. Elda nōn est prōvincia Cōtāna: Elda in imperiō Cōtānō nōn est. Nixa et Fresca nōn sunt in imperiō Cōtānō. sed Pēlia et Ligātia et Scāvia sunt prōvinciae Cōtānae.

In imperiō Cōtānō multae sunt prōvinciae. Magnum est imperium Cōtānum.

Now it’s your turn. Take a look at the map below and describe its features in Latin. You might like to write a description, or speak it aloud. Consider drawing your own imaginary map and creating a description of that.

Can you describe the features of the Imperium Nēdōnum? I’ll start you off : Crestus est īnsula parva.

Satis est. See you again soon.

Lesson Thirteen : Imperium Rōmānum /  by Anthony Gibbins

Salvēte, sodālēs.

Up until now, I haven’t commented on the name of Capitulum Prīmum, which is Imperium Rōmānum. It may surprise you to know that imperium in ancient Rome was a type of authority, and only gradually came to mean ‘empire’.

Similarly, a prōvincia began life as a realm of responsibility (it could be for water supply to Rome, for example), and only gradually came to mean ‘province’ after magistrates where given geographical regions as their prōvinciae. You may already know that the French region of Provence takes its name from its earlier role as a prōvincia Rōmāna.

All of which I mention as a preamble to today’s reading, lines 55-61 of Capitulum Prīmum.

Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata : Capitulum Primum : lines 55-61. To be fair to the publisher, after Capitulum Secundum extracts will not be given - you will need a copy of the textbook of your own.

Note: Way back in Lesson Six, we saw that nouns change their endings when following the word in; Italia became in Italiā and Eurōpa became in Eurōpå. This is true of all -a nouns. Here we learn that -um nouns (and the adjectives describing them) also change their endings after in, but to -ō. In imperiō Rōmānō multae sunt prōvinciae.

Well, this brings us to the end of the geographical outline contained in Capitulō Prīmō. Capitulum Prīmum continues, however, with an introduction to litterae (letters) and numerī (numbers). We’ll get to that in a few lessons time. For now, I recommend rereading the sections on geography as often as you are able.

Satis est. See you next time.

Lesson Twelve : A Little About Questions /  by Anthony Gibbins

Salvēte, sodālēs.

On page 8 of Handy Latin Tables Pars Prima there is a list of the question words that you will meet in Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata, Chapters 1-5. These question words include most of the big 5 - who, what, why, (not) when and where - along with a few others. So far you have met only ubi (where). As in Ubi est Rōma? Ubi sunt Sparta et Delphī? In today’s reading you will also meet quid (what). As in Quid est Sparta? Sparta oppidum Graecum est. Finally, you will learn the Latin root of the English word ‘ocean’.

from Handy Latin Tables Pars Prima, page 8.Only ubi and quid are relevant to you at the moment.

You have also seen that the addition of -ne to the end of the first word of a sentence indicates that the sentence is a yes/no question. Esnte Rōma in Italiā? Suntne Sparta et Delphī in Germāniā? (The answers to which are yes and no).

Sometimes, however, we like to ask a yes/no question indicating that we think the answer should be NO. To make this clear, we begin the sentence with the word num. Find the two uses of num in this example:

Līvia: Where are the Nile and the Tiber? Ubi sunt Nīlus et Tiberis?

Scīpio: The Nile and the Tiber are in Africa. Nīlus et Tiberis in Africā sunt.

Līvia: Is the Tiber in Africa? (Making it clear that she is expecting a NO answer.) Num Tiberis in Africā est?

Scīpio: The Tiber is not in Africa but in Europe. Tiberis nōn in Africā sed in Eurōpā est.

Līvia: Is the Tiber a big river? (Making it clear that she is expecting a NO answer.) Num Tiberis fluvius magnus est?

Scīpio: The Tiber is not a big river. Tiberis fluvius magnus nōn est.

Līvia: What is the Tiber? Quid est Tiberis?

Scīpio: The Tiber is a small river in Italy. Tiberis est parvus fluvius in Italiā.

With all this in mind, I hope you enjoy reading lines 49-54 of Capitulum Primum.

Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata : Capitulum Primum : lines 49-54. To be fair to the publisher, after Capitulum Secundum extracts will not be given - you will need a copy of the textbook of your own.

Satis est. See you back here again tomorrow.

Lesson Eleven : Paucī Fluviī et Multae Īnsulae /  by Anthony Gibbins

Salvēte, Sodālēs.

Paucī and multī are two adjectives that appear for the first time in this lesson’s reading. You may notice by the endings, that these words only appear in the story in the plūrālis. Once you determine the meaning of these words, you’ll understand why. Note: In the margin, paucī and multī are separated by a double headed arrow. This means they are opposites.

Now, enjoy the reading. As always, the less you think about words in any other language than Latin, the better.

from Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata (page 6)

Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata : Capitulum Primum : lines 38-48. To be fair to the publisher, after Capitulum Secundum extracts will not be given - you will need a copy of the textbook of your own.

  • multī : many, a lot of

    paucī : few, not a lot of, not many

How are you finding the lessons so far? If you have time to write a comment - anything at all - I’d appreciate hearing your thoughts.

Satis est. See you again soon.

Lesson Ten : Parvī Dī /  by Anthony Gibbins

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.

Lesson Nine : A Tale of Four Rivers, Five Islands and Four Towns /  by Anthony Gibbins

Salvēte, sodālēs.

If you have completed Lesson Eight, then you’ll find Lesson Nine somewhat familiar, with a few extra challenges thrown in. I’d like you to do the following, all at once. Then, once you are fairly confident, check your understanding.

  1. Read through Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata, lines 22-37

  2. Determine the relationship between īnsula and īnsulae. (The -ae in īnsulae is pronounced like the -igh in high or the -y in my.)

  3. Determine the relationship between oppidum and oppida.

  4. Determine the meaning of magnus and parvus. Hint: The double headed arrow between parvus and magnus in the margin tells us that these two words are opposites.

  5. Note that the endings of parvus and magnus are always changing. We will discuss WHY in the next lesson.

Before you start, here is a list of the islands and towns mentioned in the text. Islands; Corsica, Sardinia, Sicilia, Britannia and Melita. And towns; Brundisium, Tūsculum, Sparta and Delphī. Note: Rōma is too large to be considered an oppidum. Instead, it is an urbs, a word you will meet in Chapter Thirteen.

Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata : Capitulum Primum : lines 22-37. To be fair to the publisher, after Capitulum Secundum extracts will not be given - you will need a copy of the textbook of your own.

  • Īnsula is singulāris (island).

    īnsulae is plūrālis (islands).

What is the relationship between īnsula and īnsulae?

  • Oppidum is singulāris (town).

    Oppida is plūrālis (towns).

What is the relationship between oppidum and oppida?

  • Magnus and parvus are adjectives. Magnus means ‘big’ and parvus means ‘small’.

What are the meanings of magnus and parvus?

How did you do? Remember to return soon to learn WHY the ends of magnus and parvus keep changing. And to see some Parvi Di - Little Gods.

Satis est. See you shortly.

Lesson Eight : A Tale of Four Rivers /  by Anthony Gibbins

Salvēte, sodālēs.

Today’s lesson will be a short one. Begin by locating these four rivers on the map on page 6; Nīlus, Rhēnus, Dānuvius et Tiberis.

from Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata (page 6)

Now I want you to read Capitulum Primum lines 19-21. As you read, try to determine the relationship between fluvius and fluviī. Once you think you have it, click below to test your understanding. (The ī with the macron (line) over it is pronounced like a normal i but dragged out a little longer. The same is true of the ē in Rhēnus and the ā in in Germānia and in Italiā.

Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata : Capitulum Primum : lines 19-21. To be fair to the publisher, after Capitulum Secundum extracts will not be given - you will need a copy of the textbook of your own.

  • Fluvius is singular (river).

    Fluviī is plural (rivers).

    From now on, I will be using the Latin for singular and plural (singulåris et plūrālis).

What is the relationship between fluvius and fluviī?

Now it’s time for you to practise. Choose any river and say to yourself, for example, Rhēnus fluvius est. Then choose any two rivers and say to yourself, for example, Nīlus et Tiberis sunt fluviī. Try it with different rivers and different word orders. Enjoy.

Satis est. Until next time.

Lesson Seven : Estne Gallia in Eurōpa? Ubi est Italia? /  by Anthony Gibbins

Salvēte, sodālēs.

Read the reminder of the first page of Capitulum Primum (First Chapter) (lines 11-18). Looking at the punctuation, you will see that we have a mixture of questions and statements. Read it through a couple of times, paying special attention to two new features - estne and ubi. Can you determine what they mean?

Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata : Capitulum Primum : lines 11-18 To be fair to the publisher, after Capitulum Secundum extracts will not be given - you will need a copy of the textbook of your own.

  • Estne is the word est with -ne added to the end. The addition of -ne to the first word of a sentence indicates that the sentence is a yes-or-no question. You may notice that the verb - est - has been moved to the question’s start. That is quite common for questions.

    ubi means where.

Congratulations. You have read an entire page of Latin. I encourage you to read the page several times. Try NOT to think about English words as you are reading.

Satis est. See you again soon.

Lesson Six : Rōma in Italiā est. /  by Anthony Gibbins

Salvēte sodālēs.

The first three sentences of Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata introduce the Latin word in. Read those sentences now. Rōma in Italiā est. Italia in Eurōpā est. Graecia in Eurōpā est. The textbook hopes that, by reading through these three sentences, you will be able to determine the meaning of in for yourself.

Reread those three sentences now, and decide what YOU think the Latin word in means. Once you have done that, click below to reveal the meaning of the word.

  • The Latin word in means ‘in’.

You should also note that words following in change slightly. The words for ‘Italy’ and ‘Europe’ are written Italia and Eurōpa. But when these words follow in, there is a line placed above the final -a; in Italiā and in Europā. This line is called a macron, and it tells us that when we say these words we should lengthen the sound of that vowel. (Some word always have a macron somewhere in their spelling, such as Rōma and Eurōpa.)

I now want you to read as far as line 10. These lines include another five new words. These are et, sunt, quoque, nōn and sed. Again, the textbook hopes that you will determine the meaning of these words for yourself. Read through these lines until you feel that you have determined their meaning. Once you feel that you understand these words, click below to confirm your understanding.

Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata : Capitulum Primum : lines 1-10. To be fair to the publisher, after Capitulum Secundum extracts will not be given - you will need a copy of the textbook of your own.

  • The meaning of these words are:

    et - and

    sunt - are (this is the plural of est) : Graecia in Eurōpā est. Graecia et Italia in Eurōpā sunt.

    quoque - also

    nōn - not

    sed - but

Now that you confidently know the meaning of these words, reread lines 1-10 a couple more times. Try NOT to think about the English meaning as you read. Congratulations. You are reading Latin.

Satis est. See you again soon.

Lesson Five : īnsula fluvius oppidum /  by Anthony Gibbins

Salvēte, sodālēs.

Open up Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata to page 7, Capitulum Primum.

(A capitulum, by the way, is a ‘chapter’. Primum has a primary meaning of ‘first’, but its meaning can range from ‘the beginning’ to ‘the most important.’ Here it means ‘first’. Capitulum Primum is ‘the First Chapter’.)

from Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata (page 7)

The chapter begins with a lovely illustration, with three features labeled - īnsula, fluvius and oppidum. These words, which identify an island, river and town, have been careful selected by the textbook’s author, Hans H. Ørberg. Each one is an example of a different type of noun.

The four types of nouns met in Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata Chapters 1-8

For completeness, I’ve added nouns that end in -r. We can arrange these four noun types into families. Think of all the nouns that end in -us (fluvius, amīcus, equus, deus) as one type of noun. We will call them -us nouns. These nouns are closely related to the -r nouns (vir, puer). They are so closely related, that we might consider them siblings. -us nouns and -r nouns are masculine*. -um nouns like oppidum belong to the same family as -us and -r nouns, but are not quite so closely related. Lets think of them as cousins. -um nouns are neither feminine nor masculine. The grammatical term for that is ‘neuter’. Lastly, -a nouns (īnsula, amīca, equa, dea) belong to a totally different family. And -a nouns are feminine*.

* Usually. There are exceptions, but we won’t be seeing any for quite a while.

So, what does it mean that -a nouns and -us -r -um nouns belong to two different families? Nothing for now. But I’d like you to remember it for when I bring it up again later. Mostly I’d like you to appreciate that Ørberg has chosen these three words with great care.

Before you go, take a look at the map on page 6 (also below) and create a few Latin sentences of your own using īnsula, fluvius and oppidum. I’ll start: Corsica īnsula est. Nilus est fluvius. Oppidum est Sparta. Enjoy!

Lesson Four : The Rest of the Familia /  by Anthony Gibbins

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.

  1. Iūlius est vir.

  2. Aemilia fēmina est.

  3. Mārcus est puer.

  4. Puer est Quīntus.

  5. 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.