Lesson Forty-Three : Quis mē accūsat?

Salvēte, sodālēs.

In the nest few lessons, expect to see a lot more of people telling other people what to do. And asking a lot of questions about Julius’s missing money.

But first, let’s look at the vocābula nova for today’s lesson. The first vocābulum novum is verbum. And verbum, we are told in the margin, means the same thing as vocābulum. So, we can say something fun like ‘Verbum’ est verbum nōvum (‘Word’ is a new word). Along with verbum, we learn nūllum, which the margin tells us means nōn ūnum. When Julius asks Medus where his coins are, we get this sentence : Mēdus nūllum verbum respondet. Another way of saying that would be Mēdus tacet. The final two vocābula nova - or verba nova if you prefer - are the verbs accūsat and habet. Try to deduce their meaning for yourself.

from the Legonium website.

Now, READ lines 44-58. I’ve deliberately left it at a bit of a cliff-hanger.

• Click here to check your understanding of accūsat and habet.

  accūsat : accuses

  habet : has

Satis est. See you real soon.

Lesson Forty-Two : Life, the Universe and Everything

Salvēte, sodālēs.

We have reached the beginning of Capitulum Quartum, Scaena Secunda. In Scaenā Secundā sunt quattuor persōnae: Iūlius, Aemilia, Mēdus et Dāvus.

At the end of Scaena Prīma, as you no doubt recall, Julius is concerned because tantum decem nummī in sacculō suō sunt (there only ten coins in his purse), instead of the centum (one hundred) he expected. He ordered Medus to call Davus, which Medus did. The last two sentences were Dāvus venit. Iam duo servī adsunt.

Today’s reading is fairly long, and quite complex. It contains only two new words, both verbs - salūtat (greets) - which is illustrated in the margin, and tacet (is silent).

from Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta, page 27.

There is, however, a wide range of vocabulary that will need to be recalled (remember the Index Verbōrum), as well as the use of quī (Lesson 37), possessive adjectives (Lesson 40), and people addressing others (Lesson 41) and telling them what to do (Lesson 41).

One last thing : You will recall that when we address somebody whose name ends in -us, we change it slightly. Mēdus est vir Graecus. ‘Salvē, Mēde!’ As you will see in today’s reading, this not only affects names, but also other words ending in -us. Iūlius est dominus Rōmānus. ‘Salvē, domine Rōmāne!’

Now READ lines 29-43.

If you have any questions, please feel free to write them in the comments below and I will answer them as soon as possible.

Satis est. See you tomorrow.

Lesson Forty-One : Dāve! Venī!

Salvēte, sodālēs.

Today’s reading is only short, but two big concepts are introduced, so we’ll take our time.

Let’s begin with Dāve. Dāve is the form of Dāvus we would use if we were addressing Dāvus. Perhaps we are saying ‘Salvē, Dāve.’ Perhaps we are just saying his name to get his attention. ‘Dāve, ubi est tuus sacculus?’

The rules for using somebody’s name to address them in Latin are simple and there are three of them:

Rule One : If their name ends in -us (Dāvus, Mēdus, Quīntus, Mārcus) we address them as Dāve, Mēde, Quīnte, Mārce.

Rule Two : If their name ends in -ius (Iūlius, Cornēlius) we address them as Iūlī and Cornēlī.

Rule Three : If their name ends in any other way (Aemilia, Iūlia, Caesar, Cato) it remains unchanged, and we address them as Aemilia, Iūlia, Caesar, Cato.

Here is a picture of Iūlius calling Mēdus, using the form of his name appropriate for address:

Iūlius Mēdum vocat : ‘Mēde!’ from Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta, page 29.

Now let’s move onto venī. Venī is a form of the verb venit, which me met in Capitulum Tertium. Similarly, vocā, which you’ll also see in today’s reading, is a form of vocat.

But how are venī and vocā used in Latin? See if you can puzzle that out for yourself during today’s reading. If not, I’ll explain it afterward. READ lines 23-28 now.

• Click here to check your understanding of venī and vocā.

  The verbs venī and vocā (ending in a single vowel) are used to give instructions to somebody. After Julius tells Medus to call Davus, Medus calls Davus. And after Medus tells Davus to come, Davus comes.

This brings us to the end of Capitulum Quartum, Scaena Prīma. We'll be seeing more examples of both of these big concepts throughout Capitulum Quartum, Scaenae Secunda Tertiaque.

Satis est. See you soon.

Lesson Forty : meus, tuus, suus, eius

Salvēte, sodālēs.

In todays lesson I want to draw your attention to four words that are used when discussing possession; meus (my), tuus (your), suus (it’s complicated) and eius (his, her(s) or its).

Let’s begin with the most straightforward, meus and tuus. This is a good time to remember that adjectives change their endings to match the nouns that they are describing. Read the eight sentences below, paying special attention to the possessive adjectives meus and tuus.

Mea fīlia est in Italiā. Aemilia meam fīliam videt. My daughter is in Italy. Aemilia sees my daughter.

Meus fīlius est in Italiā. Aemilia meum fīlium videt. My son is in Italy. Aemilia sees my son.

Tua fīlia est in Italiā. Aemilia tuam fīliam videt. Your daughter is in Italy. Aemilia sees your daughter.

Tuus fīlius est in Italiā. Aemilia tuum fīlium videt. Your son is in Italy. Aemilia sees your son.

Suus is also a possessive adjective. If Aemilia sees suam fīliam she is seeing her daughter. If Julius sees suam fīliam he is seeing his daughter. If Aemilia AND Julius see suam fīliam they are seeing their daughter. Suus always links possession back to the subject of the sentence, whoever (or whatever) that might be.

Fīlia Aemiliae est in Italiā. Aemilia suam fīliam videt. Aemilia’s daughter is in Italy. Aemilia sees her daughter.

Fīlius Aemiliae est in Italiā. Aemilia suum fīlium videt. Aemilia’s son is in Italy. Aemilia sees her son.

Last in today’s discussion is eius (his, her, its). Eius is NOT an adjective, but a pronoun, so its ending won’t change to match the noun it is describing. Unlike suus, eius does not link possession back to the subject, but refers to another person (or thing).

Fīlia Syrae est in Italiā. Aemilia fīliam eius videt. Syra’s daughter is in Italy. Aemilia sees her daughter.

Fīlius Syrae est in Italiā. Aemilia fīlium eius videt. Syra’s son is in Italy. Aemilia sees her son.

In today’s short reading, you will see the very first appearance of suum. You’ll also see some new verbs; adest, abest, adsunt and absunt. As long as you can remember the meaning of hīc, you’ll be able to understand these new verbs from the note in the margin.

• Click here if you forget the meaning of hīc.

  hīc : here

from Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta, page 27 (Arrows indicate opposite meanings, equals signs the same meanings).

Now READ lines 18-22.

Satis est. See you back here soon.

Lesson Thirty-Nine : Capitulum Quartum

Salvete, sodalēs.

Welcome to Capitulum Quartum. The title of this chapter is Dominus et Servī and in this chapter we will see interactions occurring between Julius and Aemilia (Iūlius est dominus et Aemilia est domina) and Medus and Davus (Mēdus Dāvusque duo servī sunt).

Capitulum Quartum is set out like a three act play. In Scaena Prima sunt trēs persōnae; lūlius, Aemilia et Mēdus.

Capitulum Quartum also sees the return of the 'of form' of nouns, which were introduced in Capitulum Secundum but didn't appear in Capitulum Tertium at all. (If you need a refresh, reread Lesson Twenty). We've seen sentences like lūlia est fīlia lūllī et Aemiliae. and Aemilia est domina multārum ancillārum and Numerus servōrum est centum. In today’s reading we see Sacculus lūliī nōn parvus est. Speaking of Julius's purse, there is a picture in the margin. Pecūnia is also labelled.

from Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta, page 26

Also in the margin are the numerī I-X and a picture labeled nummus.

from Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta, page 26

Cētera nōva vocābula (other new words) that you’ll meet in today’s reading are eius, habet, tantum, numerat and rūrsus. As always, try to deduce their meaning from the text. If necessary, I'll define them after the reading. If you meet any words that you’ve forgotten, use the Index Verbōrum as explained in Lesson Thirty-Four.

Now, READ Capitulum Quartum, lines 1-17.

• Click here to check your understanding of nōva vocābula.

  eius : his, her(s) or its - in this instance it refers to Julius

  habet - has

  tantum - only

  numerat - counts or is counting

  rūrsus - again

Satis est. We will continue with Capitulum Quartum next lesson.

Lesson Thirty-Eight : Quem and Quam

Salvēte, sodālēs.

People stopped saying whom in the 1820’s. I don’t mean, of course, that nobody ever says whom any more, just that that was when it began falling out of fashion. Before the 1820’s, who and whom were as common as he and him, I and me, they and them. And just like those other pairs, who was the subject and whom the object.

Last lesson we saw that quī and quae are the masculine and feminine forms of who. Similarly, quem and quam are the masculine and feminine forms of whom.

Let’s look at some sample sentences.

Quis est vir quem Quīntus vocat. Vir quem Quīntus vocat est Iūlius . Who is the man whom Quintus is calling? The man whom Quintus is calling is Julius.

Quae est fēmina quam Iūlia vocat? Fēmina quam Iūlia vocat est Aemilia. Who is the woman whom Julia is calling? The woman whom Julia is calling is Aemilia.

Quis est puer quem Quīntus videt? Puer quem Quīntus videt est Mārcus. Who is the boy whom Quintus sees? The boy whom Quintus sees is Marcus.

Quae est puella quam Marcus audit? Puella quam Marcus audit est Iūlia. Who is the girl whom Marcus hears? The girl whom Marcus hears is Julia.

Like whom, quem and quam can also start a question at the beginning of a sentence. In today’s reading you will see;

Quem vocat Quīntus? Quīntus Iūlium vocat. Whom does Quintus call? Quintus calls Julius.

Now READ lines 72-82. Congratulations. You have reached the end of Capitulum Tertium.

The final sentence of Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta, Capitulum Tertium, page 23.

Lesson Thirty-Seven : Quī and Quae

Salvēte, sodālēs.

First, a four sample sentences from Capitulum Tertium:

Quis est puer qui rīdet? Puer quī rīdet est Mārcus. Who is the boy who laughs? The boy who laughs is Marcus.

Quae est puella quae plōrat? Puella quae plōrat est Iūlia. Who is the girl who cries? The girl who cries is Julia.

The underlined words in the sentences above are called relative pronouns, and are translated as who. Instead of trying to explain relative pronouns, I’ll just provide a few more examples and hopefully that will make it clear. I will say, however, that quī is used if the who refers to a male (or any masculine noun) and that quae is used if the who refers to a female (or any feminine noun).

Quis est vir quī dormit. Vir quī dormit est Iūlius . Who is the man who is sleeping? The man who is sleeping is Julius.

Quae est fēmina quae venit? Fēmina quae venit est Aemilia. Who is the woman who is arriving? The woman who is arriving is Aemilia.

Quis est puer quī Iūliam pulsat? Puer quī Iūliam pulsat est Mārcus. Who is the boy who is hitting Julia? The boy who is hitting Julia is Marcus.

Quae est puella quae Aemiliam vocat? Puella quae Aemiliam vocat est Iūlia. Who is the girl who is calling Aemilia? The girl who is calling Aemilia is Julia.

Now READ lines 69-71 (a very short section indeed). If you want to read ahead and complete the chapter, go ahead. But I’ll still be back next lesson to explain quem and quam for those who need it.

Satis est. See you soon.

Lesson Thirty-Six : Nothing New

Salvēte, sodālēs.

Today’s reading contains absolutely nothings new, just a continuation of the story with words and grammar that you have already met. Still, the margin does suggest that you focus on a few things;

• Keep your eye on the way that Latin uses an -um ending to indicate an object.

• Note that eumque means the same thing as et eum.

• Note that eum (him) can relate to different people, depending on the context.

Also, a reminder that the story contains parents striking children as punishment.

READ Capitulum Tertium, lines 49-68.

Satis est. See you again.

Lesson Thirty-Five : Iam nōn dormit pater.

Salvēte, sodālēs.

Now that you know (see lesson Thirty-Four) what to do when you meet a word you’ve forgotten the meaning of, let’s complete our Capitulum Tertium, Scaena Secunda reading.

The nōva vocābula introduced in lines 35-48 are dormit, hīc, audit, neque, eum and verberat. Tuxtax is more of a sound-effect than a word proper.

Of these, I think hīc is probably the most difficult to deduce the meaning of. Dormit is clearly illustrated, audit is somewhat clear from context and ‘audio equipment’, while neque is defined in the margin (et nōn), as is verberat (pulsat et pulsat). Eum is very similar to eam in line 27.

from Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta, page 21

Now READ lines 35-48. As you read, be mindful of nouns that are identified as the object by their end changing to an -m. We have Iūlium (line 36), Iūlium (line 41), Quīntum (line 42), Quīntum (line 43), eum (line 43), fīlium (line 45) and eum (line 45). The pronouns mē (me) and tē (you) are also objects, despite not having an -m as their ending.

• Check your understanding of new words here.

  hīc : here, in this place

  dormit : sleeps, is sleeping

  audit : hears

  neque : et nōn

  verberat : pulsat et pulsat

  eum : him, it

Satis est. Please feel free to seek clarification at any time in the comments.

Lesson Thirty-Four : Index Vocābulōrum

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.

Lesson Thirty-Three : Interrogat et Respondet

Salvēte, sodālēs.

Welcome to Capitulum Tertium, Scaena Secunda. Scaena, you may remember, means scene. Out of interest, scaena is also the word for a stage, and the root of the word scenery, but I mention that only in passing. You’ll notice an additional persōna (character) in this scene; Aemilia, who arrives - Aemilia venit. - at the end of Scaena Prīma.

Aemilia venit. from Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta, page 20 (detail)

We are reading 13 lines this lesson (lines 22-34), but these 13 lines contain 10 nōva vocābula. This is a lot for such a short section of text. Prepare yourself by examining the notes in the margin. I make some comments about the nōva vocābula in the next paragraph, but you may wish to skip that until after you’ve done the reading.

from Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta, page 20

You may wish to skip this paragraph until after the reading. The double arrow between interrogat and respondet tells us that they are opposites. It’s not always safe to assume that words that look like English words mean the same thing, but here it more or less is. Cur…? and quia are a question and its logical response. Try to puzzle out their meaning for yourself, but I’ll define them below. The : between eam and Iūliam tells us that they mean the same thing in this context. In short, eam is a pronoun, and here it means her (meaning Julia). Capitulum Tertium is called Puer Improbus, and refers to Mārcus. What kind of boy hits his sister? The double arrow tells us that probus is the opposite of improbus. The pronouns mē and tē are introduced without comment, as is the exclamation Fu! Can you determine their meaning for yourself?

Now, READ lines 22-34.

• Click here if you'd like to check the meaning of the nōva vocābula.

  interrogat : asks

  respondet : responds

  cur? : Why?

  quia : because

  eam : she (or sometimes it - it depends)

  improbus : bad, poor, inferior, wicked, reprobate, abandoned, vile, base, impious, shameless, unjust, dishonest, bold, fierce, outrageous, impudent (just a few suggestions from my dictionary)

  probus : the opposite of improbus

  mē : me

  tē : you (when you’re the object)

  fu! : Something you say when you are annoyed or disgusted.

Satis est. See you soon.

Lesson Thirty-Two : Quintus Marcum videt.

Salvēte, sodālēs.

In the previous lesson we talked a little about objects, and I want to expand on that now. The rule is that -a nouns (Iūlia, Aemilia, īnsula) and -us/-r nouns (Marcus, fluvius, puer) all change their endings to an -m when they are the object of a sentence. While -um nouns (oppidum), which already end in an -m, just stay the same.

Changing a word to make it the object might seem strange to English speakers, but just remember that we do it with pronouns all the time. Just try saying ‘I see he in the garden’, ‘Me is happy’ or ‘Them are going walking’. English speakers instinctively use the object form when - and only when - it is appropriate. Latin speakers do this too, but for every single noun and pronoun.

In English we often change a pronoun to show it is the object.

We saw this in action last lesson with the sentence Mārcus Iūliam pulsat. We will see more of it today, beginning in line 11 with Quīntus Mārcum videt. Mārcus nōn videt Quīntum. and a very useful illustration.

from Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta, page 19

With this in mind, and mindful of the new words introduced last lesson, you should now READ lines 11-21 of Capitulum Tertium. This will bring you to the end of Scaena Prīma. One last illustration will help you to understand the new verbs vocat and venit.

from Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta, page 20

Satis est. See you again soon.

Lesson Thirty-One : Family Violence

Salvēte, sodālēs.

Capitulum Tertium is - in my opinion - problematic. After two chapters in which the only verb was est and its plural sunt, this chapter introduces twelve new verbs. The book’s author - Hans H. Ørberg, has skilfully selected a range of verbs that do not take an object - cry, arrive, sleep - and a range that do take an object - see, hear, call, hit and hit repeatedly. It’s the hitting that potentially causes a problem, as it’s hard to know how comfortable or uncomfortable the material - siblings striking each other, then parents striking children - is going to make readers. I advise to precede cautiously.

from Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta, page 19

If you understand what is meant by a verb taking an object, then jump to the next paragraph. If not, I’ll explain it here. The verb eats can be used with or without an object. We can say Quintus eats. or Quintus eats an apple. In the second sentence, an apple is the object. Some verbs - like sleep and arrive - can’t take an object. You can’t sleep something or arrive something. Others, like hit, certainly can. In the illustration above, Marcus hits Julia.

Titulus Capitulī Tertiī est ‘Puer Improbus’. The puer in question is Mārcus, and once you see what kind of boy he is, you’ll know what improbus means. He is one of the three persōnae (characters) introduced in Scaena Prīma (The First Scene) of a three scene play.

rom Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta, page 19

Today we will read Capitulum Tertium, lines 1-10. The meaning of the new verbs cantat, plōrat and rīdet are cleverly shown through the sounds they make - Lalla, Uhuhu and Hahahae respectively. Pulsat is defined through the illustration in the margin (see above). The adjectives laeta and īrātus require a little more deduction, the adverb iam requires the most of all.

READ Capitulum Tertium, lines 1-10 now. After reading, you can check your understanding of the new words below.

• You can check your understanding of select words here.

  laetus -a - um : happy

  īrātus - a - um : angry

  iam : now

  st/ssst : sh/shhh (be quiet)

Satis est. See you back here tomorrow.

Lesson Thirty : Bellum Civile (Civil War)

Salvēte, sodãlēs.

Whenever I teach Capitulum Tertium (Third Chapter) in a classroom environment, I begin with a group reading exercise. I hand out a vocabulary sheet, and a comic book full of Marvel Superheroes and ask the students to read it as best as they can. I thought we’d do the same thing here. (If this doesn’t appeal, you can skip straight to Lesson Thirty-One without missing anything crucial.) Let’s begin with character names.

• Praefectus Americānus : Captain America

• Bruce Banner : The scientist who becomes The Hulk

• Vastus : The Hulk

• Vir Arāneus : Spider-Man

• Praefecta Miranda : Captain Marvel

• Vidua Atra : Black Widow

• Anser : Goose (the name of a Captain Marvel’s cat)

The vocabulary sheet contains much of the nova vocābula introduced in Capitulum Tertium. The images really help, but some of the words are not so easily explained. I’ll include a translation of those words after the comic, but don’t worry if you don’t understand everything you read here. We’ll go through the Capitulum Tertium bit by bit, beginning next lesson.

Now click on this link to open the Bellum Civile comic in a new window. Click on the + in the top right corner of any picture to expand it. Now you can read the comic, referring back to the vocabulary sheet to help you. And you can check the meaning of some of the more obscure words below. (Again, do not worry if not everything makes sense. I’ve deliberately thrown you into the deep end here.)

• Click here to check your understanding of select words.

  iam : now

  me : me

  te : you

  eum : him

  fu! : Something you say when disgusted or annoyed.

  hic : here

  cur? : why?

  quia : because

Satis est. See you again soon.

Lesson Twenty Nine : pāgina

Salvēte, sodālēs.

The final lines of Capitulum Secundum contain only one novum vocābulum (new word), pāgina. pāgina is defined through an illustration in the margin.

from Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta, page 16

And now, read Capitulum Secundum, lines 85-92.

Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta : Capitulum Secundum : lines 85-92 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.

Index Capitulōrum from Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta

You have now completed Capitulum Secundum of Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta. Bene factum! Soon we will begin Capitulum Tertium. For this, you will need your own copy of the textbook as the text will no longer be given in the lessons. While I have sought permission from the copyright holder to use their text, I have not (yet?) received it.

Satis est. See you real soon.

Lesson Twenty Eight : Ecce Liber Tuus Latīnus!

Salvēte, sodālēs.

Ecce is a interesting word. It is used to draw somebody’s attention to something. Ecce mea īnsula, for example, means something like Here is my island, See my island, Behold my island and Look, it’s my island. You get the idea.

from Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta, page 16

This picture makes it clear what a liber est, and also introduces two new adjectives, antīquus and novus (the double-headed arrow tells us that they are opposites).

from Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta, page 16

But there’s more. Today’s short reading (lines 80-84) also introduces the word titulus. You can check your understanding of all the new words after the reading. (The Latin for new words, by the way, is nova vocābula.)

Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta : Capitulum Secundum : lines 80-84. 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.

• Nova Vocābula : Click here to check your understanding.

  antīquus : old, ancient

  novus : new, young

  titulus : title

Lastly, just be mindful of the close similarity between the look of librī (books) and līberī (fīliae et filiī).

Satis est. In our next lesson, we will complete our reading of Capitulum Secundum.

Lesson Twenty Seven : Cornelius Enters the Chat

Salvēte, sodālēs.

Today’s lesson introduces a new character, Cornēlius, and two new word - meus and tuus. These words are adjectives, so like all adjectives you will see their endings change to match the nouns they are describing : servus meus, servus tuus, servī meī, ancilla tua, ancilla mea, ancillae meae, familia mea, familiā meā, servōrum meōrum and servōrum tuōrum.

from Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta, page 15

As often, the text encourages you to determine the meanings of meus and tuus by reading the text and seeing them in context. If you forget the meaning of cuius you can refresh your memory by revisiting Lesson Twenty Three, or by rereading line 35 of Capitulum Secundum. As a side-note, I personally enjoy the use of Quid? here to express disbelief. What?

Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta : Capitulum Secundum : lines 62-79. 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.

• Click here to check your understanding of meus and tuus.

  meus : my

  tuus : your

You’ve now completed the introduction to the family. Bene factum! Well done! When we return, we will read - in Latin - a little about the Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta textbook.

Satis est. See you shortly.

Lesson Twenty Six : Just Read

Salvēte, sodālēs.

Three small things, then the reading…

One. Following on from the previous lesson, the margin tells us that magnus numerus oppidōrum = multa oppida and that magnus numerus fluviōrum = multī fluviī.

Two. A new adjective is introduced - cēterī -ae - a - as in cēterī fluviī, cēterae īnsulae and cētera oppida. (You probably recognise it from etcetera). You can check your understanding of cēterī after the reading.

Three. We’ve seen estne and suntne, but -ne can be put after any first word to turn a sentence into a question. For example, Māgnī sunt fluviī Germaniae. The rivers of Germania are big. Māgnīne sunt fluviī Germaniae? Are the rivers of Germania big?

I hope you enjoy the reading, Capitulum Secundum, lines 48-61.

Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta : Capitulum Secundum : lines 48-61 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.

• Click here to check your understanding of cēterī.

  Cēterī means other. So īnsulae cēterae are (the) other islands. Cetera oppida are (the) other towns.

  Fun Fact: You don’t need to know this just now, but cētera on its own means other things. So etcetera (et cētera) literally means and other things.

Satis est. See you soon.

Lesson Twenty Five : Numbers are Weird

Salvēte, sodālēs.

Numbers are a bit weird. While adjectives like Graecus and parvus change their endings to match the nouns they are describing, numbers don’t always get it quite right. Here are how the numbers ūnus, duo and trēs change their endings with -a, -us/-r and -um nouns. When a number’s ending is not a perfect match, I’ll underline it and mark it with a 🏛.

ūna īnsula parva : one small island

duae īnsulae parvae : two small islands

trēs īnsulae parvae : three small islands 🏛

ūnus fluvius parvus : one small river or ūnus puer parvus : one small boy

duo fluviī parvī : two small rivers or duo puerī parvī : two small boys 🏛

trēs fluviī parvī : three small rivers or trēs puerī parvī : three small boys 🏛

ūnum oppidum parvum : one small town

duo oppida parva : two small towns 🏛

tria oppida parva : three small towns 🏛 (It almost matches, but be mindful of that extra -i-.)

All of this is outlined in Handy Latin Tables Pars Prima pages 8-12 (although it uses liber (book) instead of puer. (You may notice that liber looses an -e- when it becomes plural : liber becomes librī. Just ignore that for now).

from Handy Latin Tables Pars Prima pages 8-12

Speaking of numbers, the next few lines introduce an interesting idiom : Numerus servōrum est centum. If we think of servōrum here as meaning ‘of enslaved men’, then the meaning of this sentence should become clear. If somebody asks us Quot servī sunt? we can either answer Centum servī sunt. or Numerus servōrum est centum. Centum, you may remember, means one hundred (C).

From here the text declares Centum est magnus numerus. and Numerus servōrum est magnus. In the margin we are told that magnus numerus servōrum = multī servī. The opposite is also true : parvus numerus servōrum = paucī servī. It may be enough to make your head spin, but it will hopefully prepare you for today’s reading, Capitulum Secundum, lines 42-47.

Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta : Capitulum Secundum : lines 42-47. 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 tomorrow.

Lesson Twenty Four : Quot?

Salvēte, sodālēs.

Read the following question and the response to determine the meaning of the question word quot.

Quot līberī sunt in familiā Aemiliae et Iuliī? In familiā Aemiliae Iuliīque sunt trēs līberī, duo filiī et ūna fīlia.

from Lingua Latīna Per Sē illustrāta page 13

• Click here to check your understanding of quot.

  Quot means ‘how many’.

And that’s all you need to know to read Capitulum Secundum, lines 37-41. If you need to jog your memory on the meanings of multī and paucī, reread Lesson Eleven.

Oh, and centum means one hundred (C). Readers often gasp at the idea of centum servī.

Lingua Latīna Per Sē Illustrāta : Capitulum Secundum : lines 37-41. 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. Until next time.