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Chapter VI
Latona et Niobe (Pars Prima)

 

Introduction

Here is another story of a mortal trying to compete with the gods. You can probably guess how this one will turn out, too.

Allow extra time to translate this story since in vocabulary and sentence structure it is the most complicated and longest you have had so far. Do not try to complete this chapter in two or three days as the commentary and exercises are complicated. There is a lot here. Let it soak in a bit.  

Learning Numbers

Your textbook lists the first twelve numbers in Latin. Please make vocabulary cards of these. In addition, answer the question "How many English derivatives can you make from these words?" (An English word derived from a Latin word is a derivative of the Latin. ) You should list at least five English words each for numbers I-X. Send your answer to the Magistra.

Listed below are the rest of the numbers to XX.

13	tredecim
14	quattuordecim
15	quindecim
16	sedecim
17	septendecim
18	duodeviginti
19	undeviginti
20	viginti

Note that 18 in Latin literally means "two from twenty" and 19 is "one from twenty." Make vocabulary cards of these, too.  

Story Reading and Pronunciation

Niobe is accented on the first syllable, Ni-o-be. Phoebus is two syllables. -oe- is a diphthong, pronounced between "o" and "e." It is like a German umlaut "u" if you know what that is. Most people just say "Phee-bus." Manto is a proper name. There are a lot of genitives and datives in the story. While reading a sentence slowly outloud in Latin, try to identify in your mind which word is the subject of the sentence, which is the direct object, and what words are the objects of prepostions. The verb does not always come last, especially if it is a form of sum.  

Verba

There are many nouns in this chapter, still mostly First Declension. There are also some Second Declension nouns, oculus, Phoebus, liberi, and puer, which are masculine, plus donum and templum which are neuter. Second Declension noun endings, like First Declension, have a basic pattern. We will look at these closer when we get to Structure Section 37 on the opposing page of the textbook.

All but one of the verbs is from the First Conjugation. sto is special because it is one of only two First Conjugation verbs that are irregular in its Four Principal Parts: sto, stare, steti, statum. The other irregular verb in First Conjugation is do, dare, dedi, datum. praesto, praestare, praestiti, praestitum is pre-, "before," plus sto, or "to stand before." Add all three of these verbs to your vocabulary cards if you have not already done so.

Adjectives are now given in their traditional three forms, masculine, feminine, and neuter, beatus, -a, -um or beatus, beata, beatum. You should go back and change all of your adjective vocabulary cards to these forms.

cur is an interrogative adverb. ecce is an exclamation! ecce homo! is a famous quotation about Christ. ibi means "there;" ubi means "where." solum as an adverb means "alone." It can also be an adjective and mean "sole" or "only," when used with neuter nouns in the singular accusative or nominative cases. templum solum, "the only temple."  

Structure  

37.	Second Declension contains two types of nouns, masculine and neuter. Second Declension nouns that end in -us in the nominative singular are always masculine. If they end in -um in the nominative singular, they are always neuter.

How can you tell if a noun is Second Declension? Easy, look at the genitive form. The genitive singular will always be a long -i. Even when a noun does not end in -us or -um, if its genitive form is a long -i, then it is Second Declension. Examples: servus, servi; puer, pueri; ager, agri; templum, templi. Remember, however, that the case endings always go on the genitive form, not the nominative, i.e. servorum, puerorum, agrorum, templorum.

If you look back at the Verba list, you will see that Second Declension nouns are listed as follows: oculus, -i or donum, -i.Whenever you see that, you have a Second Declension noun.

Now look at the list (or paradigm) for Second Declension nouns on page 47. We have already talked about the Nominative and Genitive singular. Dative and Ablative singular are the same, -o, amico. Accusative singular will always end in -um for Second Declension nouns.

In the plural endings nominative depends upon the word's gender. Masculine has a long -i for the ending. Do not confuse it with the genitive singular which is the same. You have to go by context of the sentence. If the noun is nominative plural, the verb will also be plural. Word order may help here. Genitives, which function like adjectives, usually follow the noun they modify. Example: equi viri currunt, "the horses of the man run."

Neuter plural nominatives have a short -a for an ending. Almost all neuter nominative plurals end in a short -a, no matter what declension they are. Another fact about neuter Latin nouns you need to know is that the nominative and accusative endings are always the same. templa can be used as a subject, templa pulchra sunt, "the temples are pretty," or, as a direct object, templa specto, "I see the temples." How do you know the difference? Check the rest of the words in the sentence and see how they work.

Second declension genitive plurals are like first declension except the key vowel is an -o-, -orum. Dative and Ablative plurals are the same as First Declension, -is, with a long mark on the vowel.

Now would be a good time for you to go back to Section 21 in Chapter III, and review First Declension endings. When I first took Latin, I wrote out at least five First Declension nouns and five Second Declension nouns from memory just for practice. I would suggest that you do it now because you will need the practice for Exercise II.  

38.	I can not do any better to explain how adjectives and nouns work. Read this carefully. It is very good.
39.	Cardinal numbers count. Ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc.) order.
40.	Add scriba, "scribe," to their list of masculine First Declension nouns. A full declension of a First Declension masculine noun with a Second Declension adjective is as follows. Please put in appropriate long marks.   Singular Nom. poeta clarus Gen. poetae clari Dat. poetae claro Acc. poetam clarum Abl. poeta claro

Plural Nom. poetae clari Gen. poetarum clarorum Dat. poetis claris Acc. poetas claros Abl. poetis claris

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Chapter VI | Chapter VII | Chapter VIII | Chapter IX | Chapter X | Magistra