New Latin Grammar | Page 8

forms almost down to the Augustan age;
after that, cum, vultus, vulnus, vult, etc. So optumus, maxumus, lubet, lubÄ«dÅ, etc.
down to about the same era; later, optimus, maximus, libet, libÄ«dÅ, etc.
2. In some words the orthography varies at one and the same period of the language.
Examples are exspectÅ, expectÅ; exsistÅ, existÅ; epistula, epistola; adulÄ“scÄ“ns,
adolēscēns; paulus, paullus; cottīdiē, cotīdiē; and, particularly, prepositional
compounds, which often made a concession to the etymology in the spelling; as,--
ad-gerÅ or aggerÅ; ad-serÅ or asserÅ; ad-liciÅ or alliciÅ; in-lÄtus or illÄtus; ad-rogÄns
or arrogÄns; sub-moveÅ or summoveÅ; and many others.
3. Compounds of jaciÅ were usually written Ä“iciÅ, dÄ“iciÅ, adiciÅ, obiciÅ, etc., but
were probably pronounced as though written adjiciÅ, objiciÅ, etc.
4. Adjectives and nouns in -quus, -quum; -vus, -vum; -uus, -uum preserved the earlier
forms in -quos, -quom; -vos, -vom; -uos, -uom, down through the Ciceronian age; as,
antīquos, antīquom; saevos; perpetuos; equos; servos. Similarly verbs in the 3d
plural present indicative exhibit the terminations -quont, -quontur; -vont, -vontur; -uont,
-uontur, for the same period; as, relinquont, loquontur; vīvont, metuont.
The older spelling, while generally followed in editions of Plautus and Terence, has not
yet been adopted in our prose texts.
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PART II.
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INFLECTIONS.
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10. The Parts of Speech in Latin are the same as in English, viz. Nouns, Adjectives,
Pronouns, Verbs, Adverbs, Prepositions, Conjunctions, and Interjections; but the Latin
has no article.

11. Of these eight parts of speech the first four are capable of Inflection, i.e. of
undergoing change of form to express modifications of meaning. In case of Nouns,
Adjectives, and Pronouns, this process is called Declension; in case of verbs,
Conjugation.
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CHAPTER I.
--_Declension._
A. NOUNS.
12. A Noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or _quality_; as, Caesar, _Caesar_;
RÅma, _Rome_; penna, _feather_; virtÅ«s, courage.
1. Nouns are either Proper or Common. Proper nouns are permanent names of persons or
places; as, Caesar, RÅma. Other nouns are Common: as, penna, virtÅ«s.
2. Nouns are also distinguished as Concrete or Abstract.
a) Concrete nouns are those which designate individual objects; as, mÅns, _mountain_;
pēs, _foot_; diēs, _day_; mēns, mind.
Under concrete nouns are included, also, collective nouns; as, legiÅ, _legion_; comitÄtus,
retinue.
b) Abstract nouns designate qualities; as, cÅnstantia, _steadfastness_; paupertÄs,
poverty.
GENDER OF NOUNS.
13. There are three Genders,--Masculine, Feminine, and Neuter. Gender in Latin is either
natural or grammatical.
Natural Gender.
14. The gender of nouns is natural when it is based upon sex. Natural gender is confined
entirely to names of persons; and these are--
1. Masculine, if they denote males; as,--
nauta, _sailor_; agricola, farmer.
2. Feminine, if they denote females; as,--
mÄter, _mother_; rÄ“gÄ«na, queen.
Grammatical Gender.
15. Grammatical gender is determined not by sex, but by the general signification of the
word, or the ending of its Nominative Singular. By grammatical gender, nouns denoting
things or qualities are often Masculine or Feminine, simply by virtue of their signification
or the ending of the Nominative Singular. The following are the general principles for
determining grammatical gender:--
_A. Gender determined by Signification._
1. Names of Rivers, Winds, and Months are Masculine; as,--
Sēquana, _Seine_; Eurus, _east wind_; Aprīlis, April.
2. Names of Trees, and such names of Towns and Islands as end in -us, are Feminine;
as,--

quercus, _oak_; Corinthus, _Corinth_; Rhodus, Rhodes.
Other names of towns and islands follow the gender of their endings (see B, below); as,--
DelphÄ«, n.; Leuctra, n.; TÄ«bur, n.; CarthÄgÅ, f.
3. Indeclinable nouns, also infinitives and phrases, are Neuter; as,--
nihil, _nothing_; nefÄs, _wrong_; amÄre, to love.
NOTE.--Exceptions to the above principles sometimes occur; as, Allia (the river), f.
_B. Gender determined by Ending of Nominative Singular._
The gender of other nouns is determined by the ending of the Nominative Singular.[11]
NOTE 1.--_Common Gender._ Certain nouns are sometimes Masculine, sometimes
Feminine. Thus, sacerdÅs may mean either priest or priestess, and is Masculine or
Feminine accordingly. So also cīvis, _citizen_; parēns, _parent_; etc. The gender of
such nouns is said to be common.
NOTE 2.--Names of animals usually have grammatical gender, according to the ending
of the Nominative Singular, but the one form may designate either the male or female; as,
Änser, m., goose or gander. So vulpÄ“s, f., _fox_; aquÄ«la, f., eagle.
NUMBER.
16. The Latin has two Numbers,--the Singular and Plural. The Singular denotes one
object, the Plural, more than one.
CASES.
17. There are six Cases in Latin:--
Nominative, Case of Subject; Genitive, Objective with of, or Possessive; Dative,
Objective with to or _for_; Accusative, Case of Direct Object; Vocative, Case of Address;
Ablative, Objective with by, from, in, with.
1. LOCATIVE. Vestiges of another case, the Locative