FR Conc
FR Conc
FR Conc
SYNTAX
Language
Revised Fall 2013
38.1 Latin Nouns: Endings
Common Endings
-s / —a -m
Sg. -i/-s -i — / -e
N: -m / — N: -m / —
-i / -es -s
Pl. -um -is / -bus -is / -bus
N: -a N: -a
Introduction 1
ii
Introduction
Several arts have speech in some way as their object. This is clear from the
various names they were given in Greek. Rhetoric, in Greek the ‘rhetorical
art’, took its name from the act of speaking, erō. Logic, the ‘logical art’,
was derived from logos, speech itself. And grammar, the ‘grammatical art’,
got its name from grammata, letters, as if by this art one knows how to
read and write.
Still some difference between these arts is readily apparent. Logic is
only interested in speech insofar as it helps us to come to some truth about
things by ordering our thoughts. The logician therefore points out errors
in argument and faults in definition, by which his thoughts are formed.
The rhetorician always has persuasion as his purpose. For this reason his
concern with words and arguments is never separated from the power that
they have to move us to act in one way rather than another, to pass a
new law or to spare the defendant. He therefore concentrates his effort on
exercise of his speaking abilities.
Grammar, however, takes its name from letters, even though its object
clearly exists in spoken language, where the grammarian finds various things
to correct. Still, the name suggests that this art considers aspects of speech
that remain even in written language. The most obvious of these from
written language itself are the sounds proper to each language. Close to
this are the various patterns used for the various forms of the ‘same’ word: ‘I
am, you are, he is’ or ‘we, our, us’. These two parts of grammar, concerned
merely with sounds or with the formation of words, are called phonology
and morphology, respectively.
Yet another aspect of speech is more commonly associated with gram-
mar, one concerned primarily with the order between or among words in a
1
Introduction
sentence. For this reason, the Greeks named this order sun-taxis or syntax,
a putting together, in Latin compositio. As in any ‘composition’, syntax
attends to putting together parts that ‘fit’ each other and thereby ‘fit into’
the whole, which in this case is a sentence.
The purpose of this volume is to discuss and illustrate the principles
used in Latin composition, especially as needed in reading the language.
Since most of those using this volume will be English speakers, reference to
the principles of that language will be discussed for a variety of reasons.
Now syntax, the principal part of grammar, knows the principles by
which the proper composition of sentences comes about. But sentences
exhibit many levels of composition, as do natural bodies. Thus, even the
simplest bodies, the elements, are composed of ‘sub-atomic’ parts, as well
as of some matter and an essence or form, so the first order of composition
in language produces what is called the simple sentence. The first part
of this book, nineteen sections, addresses the principles used in this order
of composition.
Now in the composition of natural bodies, the elements sometimes come
together in mere mixtures, as salt and water mix in salt water, and some-
times in new substances, as hydrogen and oxygen make up water and again
an acid and a base make up a salt. Likewise, in grammar simple sentences
sometimes unite in a manner that maintains the ‘substantial’ independence
of each sentence in a ‘compound sentence’, such as ‘Jack went up the hill
and Jill fetched a pail of water.’ One short section, the twentieth, concerns
the compound sentence.
At other times simple sentences are joined such that the independence
of one or both is compromised: ‘Jack went up the hill, while Jill fetched a
pail of water,’ or ‘Jill saw that Jack went up the hill,’ and again ‘Jill saw
Jack go up the hill.’ Such a sentence is called a ‘complex sentence’, the
subject of sections twenty-one through twenty-seven.
In this text, marginal notes refer students to further reading in three
reputable Latin grammars: Allen and Greenough’s New Latin Grammar
(notated as ‘A’), Woodcock’s A New Latin Syntax (notated as ‘W’), and
Henle’s Latin Grammar (notated as ‘H’).
2
I THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
Even the simple sentence, the first complete order of syntax or composition,
allows for various ‘levels’ of attention. Some attention to the whole sentence
itself is necesary. This allows for distinction of the ‘kinds’ of sentence, inso-
far the whole is characterized by one kind of word or another and according
to the means of composition. Such distinctions are made in part A, sections
one and two.
Attention to the parts themselves, from which sentences are composed,
can focus on the role these parts play in the sentence or on the character
they have in themselves. Considered according to the roles they play in
sentences, a word—though sometimes a phrase, and even a subordinate
clause in a complex sentences—is called a ‘part of a sentence’. These parts
are discussed in part B, sections three and four. Considered according to the
character they have in themselves, these parts are called ‘parts of speech’,
which are considered in part C, sections five through nineteen.
One must keep in mind, however, that even when considered according
to their intrinisic character, words are always ordered to sentences and
have no utterly independent use. Thus, this distinction between part of a
sentence and part of speech considers a word’s relation to the sentence more
and less immediately. Attention to a word as part of a sentence is attention
to its proximate order to the sentence. Attention to it as a part of speech
is attention to its remote order to sentences.
Kinds of Sentence
A sentence ‘says something about something.’ This definition of a sentence
allows us to distinguish two fundamental parts of the sentence, the subject
3
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
and the predicate. The subject is that about which one says something. In
this sense the subject is ‘under’ (sub-) the predicate. The predicate is what
is said (or predicated) about something, from the Latin prae- (about) dico
(to speak). The sentence says something about something by joining the
subject and the predicate. This is called ‘predicating’.
Since the predicate does what is most essential to the sentence, that is,
it ‘says something’ about another, the subject, sentences are distinguished
according to the kind of word that serves as the principal part of the pred-
icate.
1.1 By Apposition
A 319b Some nominal sentences join subject and predicate by merely placing or
‘positioning’ (apposition) the predicate next to the subject, such as ‘All
aboard!’ or ‘Lovely day!’ These are called appositional sentences. There
is no copula or linking verb. Apposition is sufficient to cause predication.
Such sentences are more common in Latin than in English. Yet in
English they are still often used in emphatic statement. This is sometimes
done by a reversal of the usual order of subject and predicate: ‘Lousy shot!’
Newspaper headlines are often appositional sentences: ‘War Immi-
nent,’ ‘Stocks Up.’
Appositional sentences can have any of the kinds of predicate mentioned
above, as these examples show:
4
2. The Verbal Sentence
5
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
Many transitive verbs also have intransitive uses. ‘He walks Sundays.’
Note, however, that sometimes a transitive sense is often presented without
an explicit object when it proposes some frequent or habitual action. ‘That
dog bites.’ An object is clearly implied or understood.
Any transitive verb must be completed by an object. Thus all transitive
verbs require some kind of completion or ‘complement’. The exception of
frequent or habitual action just mentioned must be kept in mind.
6
3. Subject
Parts of Sentence
Various grammatical terms describe the role or ‘part’ that a word or phrase
plays in a sentence. Here the word or phrase is considered according to a
particular role that it plays in a sentence or in a kind of sentence. Hence,
different ‘parts of speech’ or different forms of one ‘part of speech’ may be
the same part of a sentence.
Thus, a noun, an adjective, or an adverb may serve as the principal part
of the predicate in a nominal sentence, ‘Socrates was short. But he was a
philosopher. He also was in the Peloponnesian War.’ Again, a noun is
usually the subject of a sentence: ‘Jack went up the hill.’ But an infinitive
or a gerund, even one that takes an object, can serve as subject: ‘Fetching
water was less pleasant.’
Since the sentence has two principal parts, the subject and the predicate,
the parts of a sentence are considered in relation to the one or the other.
Some parts of the sentence serve immediately as the subject or the predicate.
Other parts ‘enlarge’ the subject or predicate. Though such enlargements
cannot be a subject or predicate themselves, they in some way assist the
word or words that immediately have these roles. Yet enlargement itself
can occur in many ways: apposition, modification, completion, extension.
3 Subject
The subject of a sentence is what the sentence is about. It is most often
a noun or a composition of nouns: ‘Jack jumped.’ ‘Jack and Jill went up
the hill.’
But often it is an adjective used as a noun (substantively): ‘The poor are
many.’ Yet, in Latin as in English, the infinitive or a gerund can also serve
as a subject: ‘To jump would be dangerous.’ ‘Jumping is good exercise.’
7
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
8
3. Subject
3.22 Modification
As with apposition, the word or phrase that modifies is (usually) placed next
to the word it modifies. But, unlike enlargement by apposition, enlargement
by modification makes a new whole of the modified and the modifying:
‘the white book’; ‘my uncle Joe’ (modification) as opposed to ‘my uncle,
Joe’ (apposition).
9
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
4 Predicate
4.1 Quantity of Predicate
The predicate may be simple or complex.
10
4. Predicate
Certain verbs (see 10.2) can be completed with an adverbial genitive. A 350-8
H 706-16
For example, the verb egeo, egere can be completed by an adverbial genitive
W 73
used with verbs of filling and their opposites.
Less commonly the dative case is used to complete a verb as its direct A367-8
H738-741
object. This is most common when a prefix is added to a transitive verb so
W62
that the compound is used in a metaphorical sense.
Sequor te. ‘I follow you.’ But: Obsequor tibi. ‘I obey you.’ A 410
H 785
W 41(8), 43(7)
11
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
The ablative case can complete a verb as its direct object if the meaning
of the verb agrees with one of the sense of the ablative.
Sometimes in Latin, deponent verbs (Cf. 14.44) take an ‘object’ in the
accusative. But often they use an instrumental ablative. The instrumental
ablative here represents the object as the instrument by which the sub-
ject affects itself. Two important deponent verbs employ this construction:
fruor, frui, to enjoy, and utor, uti, to use:
[Deus] non ergo fruitur nobis, sed utitur. ‘God therefore does
not enjoy us but uses us.’
The active forms of some verbs are completed by the ablative of sep-
aration rather than the accusative. In such cases separation is implied in
the meaning of the verb, such as egeo:
Lux non eget aliarum rerum nitore. Light does not need the
brightness of other things.
12
4. Predicate
13
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
4.6 Extensions
An ‘extension’ develops the predicate’s finite verb, though it is not needed
to make a complete predicate: Vergilius de floribus scribit. Vergil is writing
about flowers. But Vergilius scribit. Vergil is writing.
4.61 Adverb
H 466 An adverb first modifies a verb, though some adverbs modify adjectives
or other adverbs. (Some, such as ‘very’ in English, no longer modify verbs:
‘verily’ → ‘very’.)
N.B. One must attend to whether the adverb modifies the verb ‘abso-
lutely’, or in relation to another part of the sentence, such as the subject or
the object. ‘He runs well.’ (Abs.) ‘He runs short distances well.’ (Relative
to obj.) ‘Only teachers know.’ (Relative to subj.) ‘Teachers only know.’
(Abs.) ‘Teachers only know what they teach.’ (Relative to obj.)
Parts of Speech
A word can be considered according to the force that it has in a particular
sentence, as the part of a sentence. It can also be considered according
to the force it has insofar as it is one kind of word rather than another,
wherever it may appear in the sentence. In this sense we refer to a word as
a part of speech.
The distinct force in each part of speech is particularly clear when one
compares distinct parts using the same sound. A ‘man’ clearly refers to
some thing, ‘to man’ is to supply such things, as ‘manning a ship’, or to
be ‘manly’, as in ‘manning it out’ or ‘manning it up’. Again, when one
‘dresses’, he puts on his ‘dress’.
14
4. Predicate
In each case the verb suggests some kind of action, even when this
is merely imaginary, as when ‘he just stands there’. The noun, however,
suggests some ‘thing’ or ‘substance’, though this can be rather far removed
from the most obvious ‘things’: ‘whiteness’, ‘justice’, ‘action’, ‘quickness’,
‘idea’, ‘emptyness’.
15
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
some condition to that action or even as the object of the act of speaking:
‘I hit Jim,’ ‘I began counting with Jim,’ ‘Jim, watch out!’
Case is one of three grammatical properties found in nouns, pronouns,
and Latin adjectives. The following discussion of noun syntax considers the
various differences of case found in Latin nouns.
The other properties of nouns are gender and number. The differences
of gender are masculine, feminine, and neuter (‘neither’). Number may be
singular or plural, though once distinct ‘dual’ forms were common in the
language from which Latin has descended. Three noun using dual forms in
a few cases survive in Latin: duo, ambo, octo; ‘two’, ‘both’, ‘eight’ (‘two
fours’).
5 Vocative
A 340 The vocative case is used to draw someone’s attention. Thus, Saint Thomas
H 678-9
Aquinas says, ‘Per vocativum provocatur sive excitatur animus audientis
ad attendendum.’ (‘Through the vocative the mind of the one hearing is
provoked or excited to pay attention.’)
6 Nominative
The nominative case represents something as able to perform an action: Ca-
nis latrat. ‘The dog is barking.’ Sometimes the predicate does not ‘demand’
so much of its nominative subject: Canis dormit. ‘The dog is sleeping.’ Ca-
nis mortuus est. ‘The dog died.’ Further, sometimes the nominative case is
used to name something other than the sentences subject because of some
identity with the subject of predication. Homo est animal. ‘Man is an
animal.’ Homo malus non ridet. ‘The evil man does not smile.’
6.1 As Subject
A 339 The principal noun of a sentence’s subject is almost always in the nomina-
H 677
tive case: Canis in agro est. ‘The dog is in the field.’
A 281
6.2 As Predicate Nominative
H 473 Nominal sentences that identify predicate nouns with the subject put such
16
7. Accusative
7 Accusative
The accusative case represents the thing signified as the term of some move- W 1-19
ment or action: Vergilius libellum scribebat. ‘Vergil was writing a little
book.’ Again, Currit in aedificium. ‘He is running into the building.’
17
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
the object and the action in reality, while the phrase ‘cognate accusative’
attends to the relation between the words used to signify them.
18
7. Accusative
19
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
8 Ablative
W 38-55 The ‘ablative’ case is an amalgamation of three cases that were once dis-
tinct: the ablative itself (8.1), the instrumental (8.2), and the locative (8.3.)
This presumably occurred because its original manner of signifying things,
namely, to signify them as an origin or source, was so much like the manner
which the other cases signified things that they became ‘confused’ or ‘put
together’ in use. At length only the ablative form remained, or rather the
various forms that remained were conceived as belonging only to one case,
the ablative.
20
8. Ablative
21
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
22
8. Ablative
Una cum his legatis. . . venit. ‘He came together with these
legates.’
23
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
24
8. Ablative
A 404
H 781-4
W 45
25
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
[Deus] non. . . fruitur nobis, sed utitur. ‘God. . . does not enjoy
us but uses us.
Cum. . . homine in deo frueris, deo, potius quam homine, frueris.
‘When you enjoy a man in God, your enjoy God more than the
man.’
26
9. Dative
9 Dative
The dative case most generally represents something (usually a person) W 56-8
as that to whose advantage something is done. As a consequence, it also
represents something as that to whose disadvantage something is done.
27
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
28
9. Dative
is given or the indirect object of a similar action: Dat mihi librum, ‘he gives
me a book.’ Mitto tibi epistulam, ‘I am sending you a letter.’
Sequor te, ‘I follow you,’ but Obsequor tibi, ‘I comply with you.’
cui me studia communia coniunxerant. . . ‘to whom common
pursuits had joined me. . . ’
But eam epistulam cum hac epistula coniunxi ‘I have joined that
letter to his one.’
A 383-5
H 742-3
W 58
29
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
30
10. Genitive
10 Genitive
The genitive signifies something as an origin or principle, not however of an W 69-72
activity but of some substance or thing. The genitive is therefore most often
used with the force of an adjective, modifying another noun. Sometimes,
however, the notion represented by the genitive leads to adverbial uses.
31
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
A noun in any case, even the genitive, can be modified by the genitive.
A 347-8
H 684
W 72(3), 74-5
32
10. Genitive
33
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
same thing: the virtue that is justice, the city that is London, the crime
that is embezzlement.
Latin examples: praemium laudis, ‘the reward of praise’; nomen amici-
tiae, ‘the noun friendship’.
Note, however, that although Latin speakers used the genitive of defini-
tion, they never described cities this way: urbs Roma not urbs Romae.
A 356
H 720-22
W 73(3)
34
11. Pronoun
11 Pronoun
All pronouns share in the nature of the noun. This is clear from the fact
that they possess (even in English) the properties associated with nouns:
gender, number, case. Thus they can play any rôle in a sentence that a
noun can play.
Nonetheless, the pronoun does not have ‘all’ the force found in the noun.
The pronoun does not represent what is signified as possessing a determi-
nate nature or quality. Rather, it represents something as a ‘thing’ or a
‘substance’ without attending to such determination.
35
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
11.05 Antecedent
H 479 Since pronouns do not signify ‘what’ or ‘who’ the signified is, they always
demand some ‘prior’ knowledge of the thing or person signified. This may
occur through sensation, as when introducing one person to another: ‘This
is Socrates, the well-known Athenian philosopher.’ In written language
the signified is more often made known by a noun stated earlier: ‘Socrates
did take hemlock. But he didn’t commit suicide.’ Such a noun is called
the antecedent. The pronoun must agree with the antecedent in gender
and number. Its case however is generally taken from its rôle in its own
sentence.
Note that the antecedent may be a fact signified by an entire clause.
Further, the ‘antecedent’ may come after the pronoun. Here is an example
of both: ‘The problem is this: He still hasn’t come.’
11.051 Explicit
More often the antecendent is present explicitly, as a distinct word or clause
in the sentence.
11.052 Implicit
In Latin as well as English, it is not unusual for the antecedent to be felt
implicitly in the pronoun. For example: ‘to whom it may concern’ for ‘to
him whom it may concern’.
36
11. Pronoun
37
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
11.4 Indefinite
The indefinite pronoun designates a person(s) or thing(s) without clear
distinction from others: ‘Someone stole something.’
11.5 Demonstrative
The demonstrative pronouns first signify something with some spatial ref-
erence: ‘this’ (near me), ‘that’ (near you). With use, the spatial reference
becomes weaker. Eventually, the pronouns are sometimes used with the
same force that the definite pronoun has. Likewise they are sometimes
used without opposition to refer to the same thing.
38
11. Pronoun
39
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
12 Adjective
An adjective is another part of speech that shares in the force of the
noun. Like the noun, the adjective represents what it signifies as possessed
of a determinate nature or quality: ‘white’, ‘hot’, ‘triangular’, ‘human’,
‘wooden’. But the adjective falls short of the noun’s force insofar as the
noun represents what it signifies as a thing or substance standing by itself,
while the adjective represents what it signifies as inhering in or ‘thrown
against’ (jactum ad ) another. Often this merely ‘replicates’ the order in
things, ‘a white house’. Sometimes, however, the very same nature can be
represented in both ways, ‘a manly man’.
Since the adjective represents what it signifies as inhering in another,
it must always ‘modify’ some noun. Sometimes such modification is only
implicit, ‘The poor will always be with you.’
40
12. Adjective
to state that something is rather so. Altius est. ‘He is taller.’ → ‘He is
rather tall.’
12.32 Superlatives
The superlative adjective represents something as the most such and is A 291-293
H 856-59
completed by a genitive construction: horum omnium fortissimi, ‘the very
bravest of all these’. But used alone, the superlative may suggest only
eminence: fortissimi, ‘most brave, very brave’.
41
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
13 Preposition
A 220 The preposition is not one of the two principal parts of speech, that is, the
H 925-1004
noun or the verb, nor is it even one of the secondary parts. This is to say it
is not a part of speech properly speaking, but an ancillary part of speech.
This means that it exists precisely to support another word. Thus the
preposition seems to affect the manner in which another word, its object,
is represented (rather than representing something itself). The preposition
and its object, including any adjectives, are called a prepositional phrase.
In its first uses, the preposition seems to ‘complete’ a verb so that it has
enough transitive force to ‘affect’ an object. ‘I am going,’ but ‘I am going to
the market.’ Later, the preposition develops sufficient breadth in its usage
such that it merely indicates some relation of something (immediately or
through an action signified by the verb) to something else: ‘I am walking
in the street.’ ‘I am crowned with laurel.’
In Latin, prepositions can take or ‘govern’ only two cases, the accusative
or the ablative. Prepositional phrases using the accusative represent the
object of the preposition as the term of a movement or action, or merely
the term of a relation. Prepositional phrases using the ablative represent
the object of the preposition as related to an action or to a thing as some
sort of principle.
There are three prepositions that can take either case, albeit with a
different force. Many prepositions take either the one case or the other.
All prepositions that take the ablative do so according to only one sense of
the ablative: original, instrumental, or locative. [An exception in Christian
Latin is the use of in with Semetic force. Cf. 8.5.]
42
13. Preposition
13.42 Adjectival
A prepositional phrase is used adjectivally when it functions as an adjec-
tive would: Avis in caelo volat. ‘The bird in the sky is flying.’
43
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
The verb also contains several verbal ‘nouns’ (15): the infinitive, the
gerund, and, in Latin, the ‘supine’. Though nouns, these clearly represent
what is signified as an action. This is most clear when they take objects:
‘To fish trout is my favorite pastime.’ ‘Fishing trout is best.’ ‘He enjoys
trouting, so to speak.’
Further there are verbal adjectives (16), participles, which also retain
the character of action. Again, this is most clear when they take objects:
‘The man fishing trout is the murderer.’
44
14. Finite Verb
14.3 Aspect
Aspect is, generally speaking, the manner of representing an action over
time. Thus, aspect includes three general possibilitles: the simple (also
called aorist), the progressive (on-going or imperfect), and the perfect (com-
plete). In Latin the simple (or ‘aorist’ from the Greek, meaning ‘indefinite’)
and the perfect have become wholly confused in form. The distinct sense of
the simple is often implicit in the use of certain tense-aspect combinations
(14.33).
In judging a verb, one must first consider its form. In Latin the funda-
mental distinction in form is that between the progressive and the perfect.
(The aorist form is no longer distinct from the perfect.) Each of these
systems is further divided into past, present, and future.
14.31 Progressive
The progressive aspect represents what is signified by the verb as ongoing.
Thus in English: ‘I am walking,’ or ‘I was walking.’
45
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
14.32 Perfect
In its most fundamental use, the perfect aspect represents the completion
of what is signified by the verb. Thus in English: ‘I have walked,’ or ‘I had
walked.’
46
14. Finite Verb
14.4 Voice
Voice (usually called genus in Latin) represents the manner in which what is
signified by the verb relates to the verb’s subject. Voice is active or passive
or ‘middle’. The ‘deponent’ seems to result from a confusion (or ‘putting
together’) of the middle and the passive.
The active voice seems to be ‘voice’ in the fullest sense, while the other
voices seem to share in its power or force, while falling away from it, as
adjectives and pronouns share in the force of the noun.
14.41 Active
The first voice found in verbs is the active. With this voice the verb
represents the subject as acting on something. The action is represented as
coming forth from the subject and terminating in another.
In Sanskrit grammar, such a verb is called a ‘word for another’. Thus,
in English, ‘The man walks the dog.’ Again, ‘The boy breaks the window.’
This voice can also represent the subject as ‘in the state of existence denoted
by the verb.’ (Kent 371.1) ‘The man was in the room. He sat on the chair.’
47
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
14.42 Passive
A passive voice was in fact the last to develop. This voice represents what
is signified by the verb, breaking or walking, as coming forth within the
subject and from another. So, ‘The window was broken by the boy,’ and
‘The dog will be walked daily by our neighbor.’
14.43 Middle
Well before the passive was formed in the parent family of Latin and En-
glish, another voice was established. Here the verb represents some action
as coming forth from the subject so that the subject itself is in some way
involved beyond performing the act: ‘the subject acts on itself or on some-
thing belonging to itself or for its own benefit.’ (Kent 371.2)
This middle voice is described by the Sanskrit grammarians by the
expressive phrase ‘word for self’. This distinguishes it, from the active, the
‘word for another’. But in English this new ‘voice’, called the middle, does
not demand a new form of the verb. It uses the same form as the active.
(This may also suggest an ancient origin in English.) Thus, we say, ‘The
man walks,’ or ‘The window breaks’. In Latin, the middle voice uses the
same form as the passive.
14.44 Deponent
The Latin grammarians described certain verbs as ‘setting aside’, depo-
nentes, their active forms. Such verbs used only passive forms (hence their
dictionary entries are distinctly passive), yet they described actions.
In fact, these verbs describe ‘actions’ that in some way affect the subject
of such actions. The ‘action’ is not represented as distinctly passive, for
these verbs sometimes take accusative direct objects. But neither is it
represented as distinctly active, since the active voice is not used. Most
48
14. Finite Verb
deponent verbs are examples of the ‘middle’ voice. Sequor hominem istum.
‘I am following that man.’
14.6 Indicative
A Latin finite verb in the indicative mood, when used independently, A 157a, 437
H 498
states or declares something to be true, whether particular or universal.
Questions stated directly in the indicative mood likewise ask simply whether
something is true or is not true.
The Latin indicative uses all three tenses in both aspects. These refer,
in their most fundamental use, to the three parts of time, according as the
action is then completed or still incomplete.
49
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
The Latin subjunctive uses only the present and past tenses. In the
most primitive use, these refer to temporal possibilities or desires. Soon,
however, this distinction serves to represent things as more removed (past
subjunctive) and less removed (present subjunctive) from reality and actu-
ality, through a kind of analogy with time.
Even English includes this distinction. Observe the difference between
the use of past and present subjunctives in the following sentences: ‘If he
were the murderer, he would have used an axe.’ ‘If he be the murderer, he
used an axe.’
N.B. Often in English we use ‘modal subjunctives’ with ‘would’, ‘should’,
‘may’, and so on, to clarify the sense of the subjunctive.
Utilis eius opera sit. His service may be useful. His service could
be useful.
Utilis eius opera non sit. His service may not be useful.
Ego ipse cum Platone non invitus erraverim. ‘Not unwillingly
would I go wrong with Plato.’
50
14. Finite Verb
51
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
Tecum ludere sicut ipsa possem. Could I play with you as she
does. [But I cannot.] (Catullus)
‘Homo hic ebrius est, ut opinor’ ‘Utinam ita essem!’ This man
is drunk, I think. I wish I were!’ (Plaut.)
14.724 Past Perfect: Regret that something did or did not hap-
pen
Utinam res publica stetisset nec in homines cupidos incidisset.
‘Would that the republic had stood and had not fallen to greedy
men.’
A 439-40; 450
H 514, 516-7
W 109-12
52
14. Finite Verb
53
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
54
15. Verbal Noun
15 Verbal Noun
A verbal noun can name merely a noun derived from a verb, as ‘action’
is derived from ‘act’. In a more strict sense, a verbal noun retains certain
verbal properties and thus is conceived as being ‘part’ of the verb. There
are three verbal nouns of this sort in Latin: the infinitive, the gerund (not
the gerundive), and the supine. The gerund and the supine are both more
concrete than the infinitve. T
15.1 Infinitive
The infinitive is a verbal noun that distinctly retains certain properties A 451
H 888
of the verb. All Latin infinitives have aspect (progressive or perfect), and
W 20
voice. Some have the future tense. They do not have person, number, or
mood. The infintive can take an object, especially the accusative.
55
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
Possum ambulare sed volim volare. ‘I can walk but I would like
to fly.’
15.141 Object
The accusative-infinitive construction serves as a ‘double’ object of a verb.
The accusative is the ‘material’ accusative and the infinitive is the ‘formal’
accusative. In English we do this too: ‘I want him to come.’ Volo eum
venire.
A 451, 460
W 28
56
15. Verbal Noun
15.2 Gerund
The gerund is a verbal noun, that is, a noun derived from verbs. In A 159
H 864
Latin the gerund looks exactly like the future passive participle with two
W 201, 205
limitations. The gerund is only neuter and singular, while the participle
can be of any gender. Further, the gerund is never used in the nominative
case, while the participle can be used in any case.
Though it is indistinguishable in form from many parts of the future pas-
sive participle, the gerund must be understood in an active sense: modum
praedicandi, ‘the mode of predicating’. The gerund praedicandi names the
action of ‘predicating’. The future passive participle praedicandum would
speak of something ‘to be predicated’, agendum ‘something to be done’.
15.23 Dative
A 505
equites tegendo satis latebrosum locum. . . ‘sufficiently shady H 864
W 205(c)
place for concealing horsemen. . . ’
57
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
15.31 Accusative
A 509 The accusative form is used without a preposition representing what it
H 860
signifies as the goal of movement:
W 152
15.32 Ablative-Dative
A 510 Some confusion occurred of the ablative and dative forms of the supine.
H 861-3
Often grammarians do not distinguish any dative from from the ablative.
W 153
58
16. Participle (Verbal Adjective)
59
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
16.142 As Gerundive
H 870-7 Yet another use of the future passive participle has given it the name gerun-
W 206
dive. Here the future passive participle ‘replaces’ a (neuter) gerund in some
construction with a noun. In fact (a) the noun takes on the syntactical re-
lations appropriate to the gerund (which is a noun), while (b) the participle
must agree (as any adjective) in gender, number, and case with the noun.
Meaning does not change.
60
16. Participle (Verbal Adjective)
but it actually means ‘toward destroying the cities’, just as did the original
construction.
Use of the gerund would result in the construction causa parandi naves,
which presents the gerund parandi as an objective genitive of causa and the
accusative noun naves as the object of the gerund. With the ‘gerundive’
introduced, the noun becomes the genitive navium, while the future passive
participle or gerundive agrees in gender, number, and case, parandarum.
The phrase causa navium parandarum may seem to mean ‘for the purpose
of ships to be prepared’, but it means ‘for the purpose of preparing the
ships.
Mons pecori bonus alendo erat. ‘The mountain was good for
nourishing sheep.’
61
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
Use of the gerund would result in the construction alendo pecus, with the
gerund in the dative alendo and the noun as an accusative object (pecus)
of the gerund. With the ‘gerundive’ introduced, the noun becomes neuter
dative singular pecori, while the future passive participle or ‘gerundive’
agrees in gender, number, and case alendo. The phrase pecori alendo may
seem to mean ‘for sheep to be nourished’, but it means ‘for nourishing
sheep’.
62
16. Participle (Verbal Adjective)
Ut oculus sic animus se non videns alia cernit. ‘As the eye, so
the soul, though not seeing itself, perceives other things.’
Non mihi nisi admonito venisset in mentem. ‘It would not have
occurred to me unless reminded.’
Galli ad Clusium venerunt legionem Romanam oppugnaturi.
The Gauls came to Clusium intending to attack the Roman le-
gion.
63
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
17 Adverbs
(Cf. LMWL The adverb is part of speech that involves several difficulties: Is it truly one
37-40)
part of speech? Which of the two principal parts of speech does it properly
share in or do they share in both?
Even the question about its unity does not seem to have a perfectly
simple answer. ‘Pronominal adverbs’ such as ‘thus’ and ‘how’, and the
Latin sic and perhaps quomodo, seem to share in the noun through the
pronoun, while the ‘truer’ adverbs, ‘fast’, ‘soon’, ‘well’, ‘quickly’, and even
‘inside’ and ‘outdoors’, ‘today’, ‘next month’ and ‘tomorrow’, seem to share
in the noun through the adjective, or at least by falling away from the noun
in the same ‘direction’as–though farther than–does the adjective. Thus
‘true’ adverbs represent what they signify as having a determinate nature
64
17. Adverbs
65
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
Domus est locus ubi vivimus. ‘Home is the place where we live.’
Vivit hic ubi viximus. ‘He lives here where we lived.’
Note that relative adverbs share in the pronoun and to this extent, they
introduce two syntactical concerns. First, they bring about a subordinate
clause (21-27). Second, an antecedant, explicit or implicit, must be identi-
fied for the most complete understanding of the relative adverb.
67
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
Non saepe postulabat aquam calidam. ‘He not often was asking
for hot water.’
Saepe in ira loquitur. ‘He spoke in anger often.’
68
18. Interjection
18 Interjection
The interjection holds its place among the parts of speech most tenuously.
The Greeks did not include it in their list of eight parts. (They raised
the status of the article.) But the Latins and the ‘modern’ grammarians
do. The objection arises from the fact that the interjection does not seem
sufficiently distinct from the cries and calls that animals use to express their
passions. To this extent, the interjection does not seem to signify a thought,
as does the word ‘pain’, but the ‘brute’ fact that I am feeling pain, ‘Ow!’
This is not the place to propose any determination of this question.
Nonetheless, it is not hard to see that two reasons lead grammarians to
admit the interjection to the rank of ‘part of speech’. First, reason, by
convention for various languages, does consecrate certain sounds to signify
such expressions of passion: ‘ouch’, ‘wow’, ‘oh’, ‘ooo’, ‘ayayai’, ‘oh lala’, and
so on. (Of all words, however, in any language, these are the most difficult
to agree upon.) The second reason for including them as parts of speech
is their ‘integration’ with what is undeniably speech: ‘Wow! Did you hear
the way he used that word?’
Since interjections do appear integrated with spoken or written lan-
guage, any grammar must make some mention of this ‘part’ and identify
the ways in which it may be encountered.
69
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
19 Conjunction
Like the preposition, the conjunction is an ancillary part of speech. Its force
lies wholly in its relation to other words. The conjunction is like a chain or
like glue. It ‘joins’ other words. Sometimes a conjunction joins two words
immediately; sometimes it joins phrases; sometimes it joins sentences.
One must keep in mind that a conjunction immediately joins two things
to one another. In context, a conjunction may join a whole ‘list’. In writ-
ten English we now introduce commas where conjunctions have been ‘sup-
pressed’, perhaps to avoid repetition: ‘bacon, eggs, orange juice, and coffee’,
‘coffee, tea, or both?’ Such lists occur in written Latin, with and without
explicit conjunctions.
Conjunctions are distinguished insofar as they ‘yoke together’ (con-
jungo) words, phrases, or sentences in different ways.
70
19. Conjunction
71
I. THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
antequam: adverb
cum: adverb
donec: adverb
dum: adverb
postea quam, postquam: adverb
priusquam: adverb
quamdiu: adverb
quamvis: adverb
quia: adverb, noun
quin (qui-ne): noun, adverb (perhaps with relative force)
quod : noun, adverb (relative pronoun quod introduces adjective clause)
quominus: adverb
quoniam: adverb, noun
quotiens: adverb
72
19. Conjunction
quotienscumque: adverb
si : adverb
tamquam: adverb
ubi : adverb
ut: noun, adverb
73
II THE COMPOUND SENTENCE
75
II. THE COMPOUND SENTENCE
76
III THE COMPLEX SENTENCE
77
III. THE COMPLEX SENTENCE
78
22. Subordinating Words
know he’s cóming.’ Again, it may become: ‘I knów he’s coming.’ A few
examples of this remain in Latin:
22 Subordinating Words
Subordination of one sentence to another to make one sentence out of many
can be caused by words of two kinds. Some words, subordinate conjunc-
tions, are formed precisely to do this. Other words that are not conjunc-
tions can do this not from their genus but from their difference. They make
one sentence to depend upon another by relating it to that other (relative
words) or by making it the object of a verb concerning asking or knowing
(interogative words).
79
III. THE COMPLEX SENTENCE
80
23. Function of the Subordinate Clause
Subject:
81
III. THE COMPLEX SENTENCE
Direct Object:
82
24. Mood
Thus, in English, the subjunctive has declined more and more, in propor-
tion to the growth and increase of clear, distinct subordinate conjunctions.
We rarely say, for example, ‘If he be the murderer, he will be hanged.’
Rather, we say, ‘If he is the murderer he will be hanged.’
In Latin, however, the subjunctive, is used with much greater force and
significance. Even used independently, it is used to express differences,
sometimes quite subtle, in the reality or likelihood of the matter spoken of.
In the subordinate clause, the subjunctive takes on particular importance
as a means by which the speaker clarifies that, and perhaps how, what he
speaks of is not a fact or at least not an ascertained fact.
For this reason, the various subordinate clauses used in Latin can be
divided according to mood employed by finite verb used in that clause, if
considered according to their significance. Some subordinate clauses exclu-
sively employ the subjunctive. (24.1–24.5). Other subordinate clauses regu-
larly employ the indicative, though they sometimes employ the subjunctive.
(24.6–24.7) Yet others employ both the subjunctive and the indicative more
or less equally. (24.8–25)
24 Mood
Clauses Using Subjunctive (§24.1–24.5)
24.1 Indirect Question arising from Deliberative or
Potential Subjunctive
The deliberative subjunctive (14.75) seems to be the primary origin of the H 660-2
W 135, 177-83
indirect question, which, in Latin, is regularly in the subjunctive. In indirect
question the asking (or answering) of the question is reported. Usually the
indirect question is joined to the main clause by an interrogative word. For
example,
Non dixit ubi maneant. ‘He has not said where they are to stay.’
83
III. THE COMPLEX SENTENCE
Non scio quis homini tam mendaci crederet? ‘I don’t know who
would have believed such a liar.’
Over time, Latin established the subjunctive as the usual (though not
invariable) mood for all indirect questions, even those which would be stated
directly in the indicative, namely questions about facts.
Quaerat utrum homo sit albus. ‘He asks whether the man be
white.’
Quaeratur utrum Deus sit. ‘It is asked whether God exist.’
84
24. Mood
Since these final noun clauses (or jussive noun clauses) represent some-
thing as to be done, the subjunctive in the subordinate clause will be in
the progressive rather than the perfect (which would suggest that it is com-
plete). Reasons for this are given under the rubric ‘Sequence of Tenses’.
(27)
85
III. THE COMPLEX SENTENCE
Since the clause arises from the potential subjunctive, negation is indi-
cated by non (rather than ne).
86
24. Mood
Woodcock holds that the indicative relative clause merely describes how
things stand, for example, Odimus eos qui haec faciunt. ‘We hate those who
do these things.’ Such a sentence assumes that those hated have actually
performed the actions in question.
The subjunctive, however, especially as it has been developed in the
result clauses, does not imply that something has actually happened, but
only that it may result. Hence, the subjunctive in a relative clause comes
to express the sort or kind (genus) apt to act in such a way:
Odimus eos qui haec faciant. ‘We hate the people who would do these
things.’ This sentence indicates what sort of person we hate, whether or
not the actions in question have actually resulted from his character.
The second explanation (see Allen & Greenough 534) holds that the
possibility implied in the potential subjunctive first brought about the rel-
ative clause of characteristic which merely suggested what such a person or
thing would do. This led to the sense that such action would result from
certain circumstances described in the indicative clauses upon which such
clauses depend.
Over time the subjunctive sentence was felt to depend upon the sentence
indicating fear. But this has produced some paradoxical results, for what
was desired is the opposite of what was feared:
With the form employing a negative the word ‘lest’ can help in transla-
tion:
87
III. THE COMPLEX SENTENCE
88
24. Mood
89
III. THE COMPLEX SENTENCE
24.722 dum meaning ‘so long as’ with juss. subj. (ne)
A 528 The jussive subjunctive can suggest a ‘proviso’: Adsit dum ne nos interpel-
H 594
let. ‘Let him be present, so long as [provided that] he does not interrupt
W 220
us.’
90
24. Mood
91
III. THE COMPLEX SENTENCE
Nos omnes facile consilia recta aegrotis damus [tum] quom vale-
mus. ‘We all [then], when [we are] well, give good advice to the
sick.’
This is sufficient to explain its mere temporal use with the indicative.
Use of the subjunctive with cum seems to have developped through paral-
lells to the relative clause of characteristic, as explained below.
92
24. Mood
24.92 Conjunction
24.921 Causal
The common conjunctions for causal clauses (other than cum clauses) are A 539-40
H 577, 579
quod, quia, quoniam, quando, quandoquidem, siquidem. They are often
W 241-3
balanced by adverbs such as eo, ideo, propterea, idcirco (see example iii)).
93
III. THE COMPLEX SENTENCE
iii) Quia natura mutari non potest, idcirco verae amiciticae sempiternae
sunt.
‘Because nature cannot be changed, for that reason true friendships
are everlasting.’
iv) Neque me vixisse paenitet, quoniam ita vixi ut non frustra me natum
existumem.
‘Nor do I regret having lived, since I have so lived that I do not think
I was born in vain.’
24.922 Concessive
A 526-7 The common conjunctions are etsi, etiamsi, tametsi, quamquam (which
H 598
emphasizes the clause), quamvis, licet. Two of these, quamvis and licet, are
W 244-9
always followed by a subjunctive which is jussive in origin.
94
25. Si Clause
ii) Me vera . . . loqui, etsi meum ingenium non moneret, necessitas cogit.
‘Necessity compels me to speak the truth . . . , even if my own nature
did not urge me.’
iii) Inops ille, etiamsi referre gratiam non potest, habere certae potest.
‘This needy man, even if he cannot return a favour, can certainly feel
gratitude.’
vi) Quamvis enim sine mente, sine sensu sis, tamen et te et tua et tuos
nosti.
‘However senseless and insensitive you may be, yet you know yourself
and your interests and your kin.’
95
III. THE COMPLEX SENTENCE
96
25. Si Clause
Si hoc dicet, errabit. ‘If he says (is going to say) this, he will be
making a mistake.’ Si hoc fecerit, poenas dabit. ‘If he does (will
have done) this, he will be punished.’
97
III. THE COMPLEX SENTENCE
98
25. Si Clause
99
III. THE COMPLEX SENTENCE
Si hoc dicat, erret. ‘If he will say (says) this, he will be making a
mistake.’ → ‘Should he say this, he would be making a mistake.’
100
26. Reported Speech
26 Reported Speech
Reported speech involves one person ‘reporting’ not merely that someone W 262
said something but what another person has said: ‘He said, “The dog died.”’
‘You said that it died’. In Latin, as in the English examples just given,
assertions or statements can be reported directly or indirectly.
Latin questions, however, are generally ‘reported’ indirectly, while a di-
rect question is represented as immediately stated by the speaker or writer.
Most direct questions are not ‘reported’.
26.1 Direct
An assertion or statement is reported directly, when it retains its proper
syntax, including person, tense, aspect, and so on. It is what we would
call a quotation in English. In direct report, the word ‘introducing’ the
quotation does not affect its syntax, except perhaps to interrupt it.
101
III. THE COMPLEX SENTENCE
26.2 Indirect
26.21 Indirect Discourse (Oblique Report)
A 577-90 Indirect report or discourse does not ‘quote’. Rather it restates the state-
H 663-76 W
ment from the perspective of the speaker.
29-32
102
26. Reported Speech
Tenebam hoc ab eis uocari rem illam, quod sonabant, cum eam
uellent ostendere. I held [i.e., thought] that that thing was called
this which they sounded out, when they wished to point it out.
103
III. THE COMPLEX SENTENCE
104
27. Sequence of Tenses
105
III. THE COMPLEX SENTENCE
106
27. Sequence of Tenses
107
III. THE COMPLEX SENTENCE
Flaccus quid alii postea facturi essent scire non poterat. ‘Flaccus
could not tell what other people were going to do.’
An Lacedaemonii quaesiverunt num se esset mori prohibiturus?
‘Did the Spartans ask whether he was going to prevent them
from dying?’
108
21.8 Latin Verbs: Common Formants
Progressive System Perfect System
Indicative Subjunctive Indicative Subjunctive
Present Past Future Present Past Present Past Future Present Past
— -a-/-ba-/-eba- -i-/-bi-/-e- -i-/-e-/-a- -se- — -era- -eri- (IO) -eri- (I) -isse-
Verbs Formants by Root Verb
sum, esse su-/es- er-a- er-i- s-i- es-se- fu-i- fu-era- fu-eri- fu-eri- fu-isse-
possum, posse possu-/potes- poter-a- poter-i- poss-i- pos-se- potu-i- potu-era- potu-eri- potu-eri- potu-isse-
volo, velle volu-/vul- vol-eba- vol-e- vel-i- vel-(se→)le- volu-i- volu-era- volu-eri- volu-eri- volu-isse-
nolo, nolle nol(u)- nol-eba- nol-e- nol-i- nol-(se→)le- nolu-i- nolu-era- nolu-eri- nolu-eri- nolu-isse-
malo, malle mal(u)- mal-eba- mal-e- mal-i- mal-(se→)le- malu-i- malu-era- malu-eri- malu-eri- malu-isse-
do, dare da- da-ba- da-bi- da/-e- da-(se→)re ded-i- ded-era- ded-eri- ded-eri- ded-isse-
edo, esse ed- ed-eba- ed-e- ed+ a-/i- e(d→)s-se- ed-i- ed-era- ed-eri- ed-eri- ed-isse-
eo, ire e-/i- i-ba- i-bi- e-a- i-(se→)re- i(v)-i- i(v)-era- i(v)-eri- i(v)-eri- i(v)-isse-
fero, ferre fer- fer-eba- fer-e- fer-a- fer-(se→)re- tul-i- tul-era- tul-eri- tul-eri- tul-isse-
fio, fieri fi- fi-eba- fi-e- fi-a- fi-e-(se→)re-
Stems Formants by Stem Ending
-ĕ ĕ- ĕ/-eba- ĕ/-e- ĕ/-a- ĕ-(se→)re- -i- -era- -eri- -eri- -isse-
-a a- a-ba- a-bi- a
/-e- a-(se→)re- -i- -era- -eri- -eri- -isse-
-e e- e-ba- e-bi- e-a- e-(se→)re- -i- -era- -eri- -eri- -isse-
-i i- i-eba- i-e- i-a- i-(se→)re- -i- -era- -eri- -eri -isse-
rego, regere, rexi, rectum capio, capĕre, cepi, captum laudo, -are, -avi, -atum moneo, -ēre, -ui, -itum audio, -ire, -ivi, -itum
regĕ- (IOU) rex-i- capi- (IOU) cep-i- lauda- (O) laudav-i- mone- (O) monu-i- audi- (IOU) audiv-i-
regĕ/-eba- rex-era- capi-eba- cep-era- lauda-ba laudav-era- mone-ba- monu-era- audi-eba- audiv-era-
regĕ/-e- (-am) rex-eri- (IO) capi-e- (-am) cep-eri- (IO) lauda-bi laudav-eri- (IO) mone-bi- monu-eri- (IO) audi-e- (-am) audiv-eri- (IO)
regĕ/-a- rex-eri- (I) capi-a- cep-eri- (I) lauda
/-e laudav-eri- (I) mone-a- monu-eri- (I) audi-a- audiv-eri- (I)
regĕ-re- rex-isse- capĕ-re- cep-isse- lauda-re laudav-isse- mone-re- monu-isse- audi-re- audiv-isse-
Personal Endings “R Passive” Present Perfect Active Imperative Passive Imperative
-m/-o -mus -(o)r -mur -i -imus — — — —
-s -tis -re/-ris -mini -isti -istis —/-to -te/-tote -re/-tor -mini
-t -nt -tur -ntur -it -erunt -to -nto -tor -ntor