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The following lessons in were originally posted to the ScholaLatina email list by M.A. Formosanus, head of the Sodalitas Latinitas. They are copyright © 2001 Brady Moore, republished here with permission.
- I. Informal Salutations
- II. Formal Salutations & Case
- III. Plurals
- IV. Wishes
- V. Pronounciation Part One
- VI. Pronounciation Part Two
- VII. Place Names and Locative Case
In Nova Roman e-mail messages it is common to use Latin salutations. These normally begin with "Salve" (SAHL-way) in the singular and "Salvete" (sahl-WAY-tay) in the plural. This word ("salvere") means to be well, and these forms are imperative. Latin, unlike English, has different imperative forms in singular and plural, depending on how many people you are giving your command to.
Following this there is the name or title of the person or persons being addressed. This word or these words are in the Vocative Case (Casus Vocativus). The Vocative is used for anyone or anything we are speaking to. In English there is no special form to indicate this. {Sometimes poets and orators will still put an "O" in front of the vocative word, however: "O Citizens!" This is in imitation of Latin, which also often adds the same "O": "O Romani!"}
In Latin there is also usually no change of form from the Nominative (the case that we normally write our names in). However, there are three special cases - two very common ones - when the ending is not the same as the Nominative, and that is the trick to getting this right.
Masculine names of people usually end in "-US". These endings must be changed to "-E". So, you say to me *not* "Salve, Marcus!" but "Salve, Marce!" And "Salvete Brute, Feste, Maxime, Traiane!"
Another special case with men in the singular is those names ending in "-IUS". For these the "-US" is simply dropped off, leaving "-I" at the end. "Salve, Corneli!" Note that also "Gaius" becomes "Gai" in the same manner. [And in the fairly rare case of names ending in -AUS (one syllable), the form changes to -AE, pronouced here as two syllables: Salvete Venceslae, Nicolae, Iaroslae!]
That is all there is to it! All other forms, those not ending in a -US, have no special forms in either single or plural. So, "Salvete Iuppiter, Apollo, Iulia, Pontifex, Quirites, Novoromani, Consul, Censor, Sulla, Praetor!"
Add a "Vale!" (WAH-lay) or "Valete! (wah-LAY-tay) (from "valere" to be hale and strong) at the end, write your signature in the normal, unchanged Nominative, and you have a message with a nice Latin flavour, suitable for the Nova Roman list.
In the first lesson we learned how to make an informal greeting in Latin: just say "Salve" (singular or "Salvete" (plural) and add the names and titles of the person(s) addressed in the Vocative Case. We also learned that the Vocative is the same as the Nominative (the basic form of our names, etc.) except when a name ends in -US. And we learned how to make the right Vocative form then.
Those forms are good not only for letters here, but in the Forum, on the telephone, and in any face-to-face situation. However, the ancient Romans preferred another form for letters, the form which I used at the top of this lesson.
The basic form of this is to state who is writing and to whom the letter is going all in one sentence at the beginning, which also serves as the salutation. A most practical, compact and elegant affair. The form is this:
SENDER (Nominative) TO RECIPIENT (Dative) SAYS GREETINGS.
For example, "Apollonius Cornelio Sullae S.P.D."
Let us analyse this. "Apollonius" is Nominative, the form we always start with in thinking of cases. No problem if you know your name! The next idea is "TO". We do not say "to", which in Latin would be "ad". Rather, we use the Dative Case (Casus Dativus).
Now, English grammar is not taught very well these days in many schools of Britain and America, so if your education has luckily made the following ridiculously obvious, please forgive me for boring you, but I am afraid that some of you out there may need this little discussion of what cases really are. Others please bear with me.
English has three cases: Subjective ( = Nominative in Latin), Possessive ( = Genitive in Latin), and Objective ( = Accusative and Dative in Latin) We can see this very easily in the case of the pronoun "he". "He" is used for the subject of a sentence. ("He is intelligent.") It is therefore Subjective/Nominative Case. "His" is Possessive/Genitive Case. ("His book"). "Him" is Objective/Accusative or Dative. ("I see him." "I gave him the book.")
But what is the real difference between Accusative and Dative case? It is the difference in English between a Direct Object and an Indirect Object. In "I see him" the word "him" is the Direct Object of "see". In the sentence "I gave him the book" the word "him" is the Indirect Object and the words "the book" are the Direct Object.
We can also say, "I gave the book *to* him." Usually the Dative Case expresses the same idea as "to" or "for". ("I bought YOU a gift." = "I bought a gift *for* you.) In English there is only one form for both kinds of objects. In Latin there are two different forms.
Also, in English all nouns have the same form in the Subjective and Objective Cases. ("Mark is intelligent." "I see Mark." "I gave Mark the book.") Only the Possessive has a special ending: "This is *Mark'S* book." In Latin there are four endings for these: Nominative ("MarcUS est intelligens."). Accusative ("Video MarcUM."), Dative ("Dedi MarcO librum."), and Genitive ("Hic est liber MarcI").
You don't have to memorise these endings; the above discussion is just to make clear the general concept of "case" in English and Latin.
Now that we have hopefully clarified what the Dative Case is, let us go back to its use in the Traditional Salutation. There we use the Dative Case to show the person TO whom the letter is going or FOR whom it is written.
So, how can we form the Dative when we need it? Most people's names end in one of two ways.
If it ends in -US, the Dative ending is -O.
If it ends in -A, the Dative ending is -AE. (Pronounced like "eye")
So: Marcus Apollonius Cornelio Sullae S.P.D.
CorneliUS has become CorneliO.
SullA has become SullAE.
("Sulla" is masculine, but the ending would in the same way be IuliAE if the name were a feminine Iulia.)
Titles are just a tad trickier, so here is a little list of Dative titles:
As you see, although there are some internal changes, they all end in -I. ("Tribunus", however, is "Tribuno" in the Dative.)
But sometimes we want to write to people in the plural, and then we need the Dative *Plural* endings. These are even easier; normally there are only two:
Both -US and -A change to -IS in the Dative Plural. And all the others you will normally need change to (or add) -IBUS.
So:
Only one more element is necessary, the salutation proper at the end. "S.P.D." is an abbreviation for "Salutem Plurimam Dicit." That is, "Salutation Much Says." So,
"Marcus Apollonius Formosanus Censori Lucio Cornelio Sullae Felici Salutem Plurimam Dicit" means "Marcus Apollonius Formosanus to Censor Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix says many salutations." (In English the plural sounds more natural, but in Latin "Salutem Plurimam" is singular and sounds quite normal.)
On Nova Roma lists I am often impressed by the difficulty of remembering whose name or e-mail address goes with which Nova Roman name. It is sometimes necessary to scroll to the bottom of the letter first to be sure where someone is coming from. If more of us used the traditional Roman salutation, one would know immediately at the beginning of a message who the writer was with no trials of memory. Thus, this form is eminently practical.
Naturally we do not always have to use the impressive full-length affairs like the one above, full of gravitas. In many cases, as among the ancient Romans, a simple "Apollonius Sullae suo S.P.D." would suffice. [The "suo" - masculine - or "suae" - feminine - meaning "his" or "her" (i.e. of the writer) can be used to show close friendship and affectionate feeling.]
If anyone has questions, of course you will write me:
"<YOUR NAME> M. Apollonio Formosano S.P.D."
(Thanks to our eminent Censor for the use of his highly suitable name as an example.)
In our first lesson we learned how to use informal greetings:
Salve (sing.) or Salvete (pl.) + ADDRESSEE (Vocative)
And we learned that the Vocative is just like the basic Nominative except for names ending in -US, and that the rules for changing those were:
-US > -E
-IUS > -I
-AUS > -AË (two syllables)
In our second lesson we learned how to make the traditional salutation in letters:
SENDER (Nominative) + RECIPIENT (Dative) + S.P.D.
We learned how to make the Dative from the Nominative by these rules:
-A > -AE
-US > -O
-IS > -I
-OR > -ORI
Now, in Lesson 3 we are going to learn how to make Latin plurals. These will all be Nominative, so the form that you would use them in an English sentence or the subject of a Latin sentence or in isolation.
There is usually nothing wrong with using an English plural for Latin words in English. We can say one praetor, two praetors. But if we feel like using the Latin plural, we can also say one praetor, two praetores.
With other Latin words finding a really good purely English plural is difficult. What is the English plural of "civis" or "sacerdos"?
So, how do we form the plurals? To do this systematically, we should learn what the Declensions of Latin are. A Declension is just a group of words (nouns, pronouns and adjectives) that take the same kinds of endings. If we put them all in the same group, it is easy to remember the endings. We then don't have to remember the endings individually for each word.
Latin has five Declensions for nouns, but some of them have more than one subclass. We shall apply some of these in a practical way to some common terms used in Nova Roma. But first a note on the approximate pronunciation given after each example:
eh as in "let"
ay as in "say"
oo as in "book"
ue as in "Sue"
oose as in "goose"
ih as in "sit"
oh as in "oh"
eye as in "eye"
ace as in "ace" = ase as in "case"
Other sounds should be pronounced in a manner natural in English.
This pronunciation is only approximate for now, but it will help you to get the accented syllable right in the singular and plural, and help you to avoid any big mistakes.
Now let us examine some common words from several classes:
FIRST DECLENSION (pl. in -AE)
Romana > Romanae (Roman woman/women) [roh-MAH-na/eye]
Latinista > Latinistae (male Latinist/Latinists) [la-tee-NIHST-a/eye]
Latinistria > Latinistriae (female Latinist/Latinists) [la-tee-NIHS-tri-a/eye]
scriba > scribae (male scribe/scribes) [SKREE-ba/eye]
collega > collegae (male colleague/colleagues) [kol-LAY-ga/eye]
pagana > paganae (female pagan/pagans) [pah-GAH-na/eye]
dea > deae (goddess/goddesses) [DEH-a/eye]
provincia > provinciae (province/provinces) [proh-WIHN-ki-a/eye]
Musa > Musae (Muse/Muses) [MUE-sa/eye]
poeta > poetae (male poet/poets) [po-AY-ta/eye]
poetria > poetriae (poetess/poetesses) [po-AY-tri-a/eye]
filia > filiae (daughter/daughters) [FEE-li-a/eye]
curia > curiae (curia/curias, ward/wards) [KUE-ri-a/eye]
Kalendae (always plural: Kalends) [ka-LEHN-dye]
Nonae (always plural: Nones) [NOH-nye]
litterae (always plural with singular meaning: letter, epistle; literature) [LIHT-teh-rye]
SECOND DECLENSION (pl. in -I for masc. and -A for neuter)
tribunus > tribuni (tribune/tribunes) [trih-BUE-noose/ee]
populus > populi (people/peoples) [PO-poo-loos/ee]
stoicus > stoici (stoic/stoics) [STOH-i-koos/ee]
Romanus > Romani (male Roman/Romans) [roh-MAH-noose/ee]
paganus > pagani (male pagan/pagans) [pah-GAH-noose/ee]
legatus > legati (legate/legates) [lay-GAH-toose/ee]
filius > filii (son/sons) [FEE-li-oos / FEE-li-ee]
ludus > ludi (game/games) [LUE-dooss/ee]
deus > dei OR IRREGULAR dii OR di (god/gods) [DEH-oos/DEH-ee/DIH-ee/DEE]
magister > magistri (master/masters, male teacher/teachers) [ma-GIHS-ter/ma-GIHS-tree]
triumvir > tresviri IRREGULAR (triumvir/triumvirs) [trih-OOM-wir/TRAYSS-wih-ree]
edictum > edicta (edict/edicts) [ay-DIHK-toom/a]
senatusconsultum > senatusconsulta (senatorial resolution/resolutions) [se-NAH-toose-con-SOOL-toom/a]
collegium > collegia (college/colleges) [kol-LEG-i-oom/a]
plebiscitum > plebisciti (popular decree/decrees) [play-bee-SKEE-toom/ee]
comitia (always plural: a popular assembly) [co-MIH-ti-a]
Saturnalia (always plural: Saturnalia) [sah-toor-NAH-li-a]
THIRD DECLENSION (pl. in -ES for masc. & fem., neut. in -IA)
praetor > praetores (praetor/praetors) [PRY-tohr/pry-TOH-race]
censor > censores (censor/censors) [KEHN-sor/kehn-SOH-race]
rogator > rogatores (rogator/rogators, poll clerk/clerks) [ro-GAH-tor/ro-gah-TOH-race]
curator > curatores (curator/curators) [kue-RAH-tor/kue-rah-TOH-race]
senator > senatores (senator/senators) [seh-NAH-tor/se-nah-TOH-race]
lictor > lictores (lictor/lictors) [LIHK-tor/lihk-TOH-race]
gubernator > gubernatores (governor/governors) [goo-ber-NAH-tor/goo-ber-nah-TOH-race]
imperator > imperatores (general/generals, emperor/emperors) [ihm-peh-RAH-tor/ihm-peh-rah-TOH-race]
moderator > moderatores (male director/directors) [maw-deh-RAH-tor/maw-deh-rah-TOH-race]
civis > cives (citizen/citizens) [KEE-wihs/KEE-wace]
aedilis > aediles (aedile/aediles) [eye-DEE-lihs/ace]
gentilis > gentiles (gens member/gens members) [gehn-TEE-lihs/ace]
sodalis > sodales (club member/members) [saw-DAH-lihs/ace]
Lar > Lares (Lar/Lares, household tutelary deity/deities) [LAHR/LA-race]
Penates (always plural: Penates, household gods) [peh-NAH-tace]
sodalitas > sodalitates (sodality/sodalities) [saw-DAH-lih-tahss/saw-dah-lih-TAH-tace]
lex > leges (law/laws) [LAKES/LAY-gihs]
sacerdos > sacerdotes (priest/priests) [sa-KER-dohss/sa-ker-DOH-tace]
flamen > flamines (flamen/flamens) [FLAH-mehn/FLAH-mih-nace]
pontifex > pontifices (pontifex/pontifexes) [PON-tih-fehks/pon-TIH-fih-case]
augur > augures (augur/augurs) [OW-goor/OW-goo-race]
consul > consules (consul/consuls) [KON-sool/KON-soo-lace]
legio > legionis (legion/legions) [LEH-gi-oh/le-gi-OH-nihs]
centurio > centurionis (centurian/centurians) [kehn-TOO-ri-oh/kehn-too-ri-OH-nihss]
provocatio > provocationes (appeal/appeals to the People) [proh-wo-KAH-ti-oh/proh-wo-ka-ti-OH-nace]
intercessio > intercessiones (veto/vetoes) [ihn-ter-KEHS-si-oh/ihn-ter-keh-si-OH-nace]
Quirís > Quirites (Quirite/Quirites) [KWIH-rees/kwih-REE-tace]
gens > gentes (gens/gentes) [GAYNSS/GEHN-tihss]
paterfamilias > patresfamilias (paterfamilias/?) [PA-ter-fa-MIH-lih-ahss/PA-trace-fa-MIH-li-ahss]
materfamilias > matresfamilias (materfamilias/?) [MA-ter-fa-MIH-lih-ahss/Ma-trace-fa-MIH-li-ahss]
curatrix > curatrices (female curator/curators) [kue-RAH-treeks/kue-rah-TREE-case]
senatrix > senatrices (female senator/senators) [seh-NAH-treeks/seh-nah-TREE-case]
moderatrix > moderatrices (directress/directresses) [mo-deh-RAH-treeks/mo-deh-rah-TREE-case]
nomen > nomina (name/names) [NOH-mehn/NOH-mih-na]
FOURTH DECLENSION (pl. in -ÚS for masc., -UA for neuter)
senatus > senatús (senate/senates) [seh-NAH-tooss/seh-NAH-toose]
tribus > tribús (tribe/tribes) [TRIH-booss/TRIH-boose]
Idús (always plural: Ides) [EE-doose]
Note that some masculine nouns ending in -US belong to the Second Declension and the plural ends in -I, and some to the Fourth, whose plural ends in -ÚS. The difference in pronunciation of singular -US and plural -ÚS is that between "puss" and "loose".
FIFTH DECLENSION (pl. in -ES)
dies > dies (day/days) [DIH-ace/DIH-ace]
res > res (thing/things) [RACE/RACE]
(We do not have any common Nova Roman terms in the Fifth Declension.)
This may seem complicated, but consider the different ways to make plurals we have inherited in English:
man > men, child > children, ox > oxen, mouse > mice, crisis > crises, kibbutz > kibbutzim, phenomenon > phenomena, datum > data, sheep > sheep, alumnus > alumni, alumna > alumnae, château > châteaux...
Latin is just doing the same thing.
The following simplified rules apply in most cases:
CHANGE:
-A > -AE
-US > -I (but sometimes -ÚS or other)
-UM > -A
-ER > -RI (but sometimes -ERI)
-IS > -ES
-ES > -ES
-EN > -INES (masc.), -INA (neuter)
-E > -IA
-TAS > -TATES
ADD -ES:
-OR > -ORES
-IO > -IONES
-UL > -ULES
ADD -(I)A (neuters only):
-AL > -ALIA
-AR > -ARIA
-U > -UA
So, what are the plurals of these words?
finis (end, goal)
via (way, road)
lupus (wolf)
lupa (female wolf)
animal (animal)
cornu (horn)
certamen (neuter - struggle)
nubes (cloud)
mare (sea)
sacrificium (sacrifice)
lectio (lesson, reading)
exemplar (model, specimen)
forum (forum)
flumen (neuter - river)
arbor (tree)
religio (religion)
computatrum (computer)
gladiator (gladiator)
nuntium (message, announcement)
nuntius (messenger)
uxor (wife)
cognomen (neuter - cognomen)
genius (genius - spirit)
The above list is exercise. It would be good to write down your answers. We shall provide the correct answers a little later. It is not necessary to memorise the words, but if you want to, they are mostly high frequency, and worth learning.
Note that we have not dealt with some of the rarer plurals in this lesson.
In our first lesson we learned how to use informalgreetings:Salve (sing.) or Salvete (pl.) + ADDRESSEE (Vocative)And we learned that the Vocative is just like the basicNominative except for names ending in -US, and that the rules for changing those were: -US > -E [O Marce!] -IUS > -I [O Apolloni!] -AUS > -AË (two syllables) [O Nicolae!]
In our second lesson we learned how to make the traditionalsalutation in letters:SENDER (Nominative) + RECIPIENT (Dative) + S.P.D.We learned how to make the Dative from the Nominative bythese rules: -A > -AE [To Sulla, Maria: Sullae, Mariae] -US > -O [To Marcus,Merullus: Marco, Merullo] -IS > -I [To Curtis:Curti] -OR > -ORI [To Censor, Praetor:Censori, Praetori] -AUS > -AO (two syllables) [To Nicolaus: Nicolao]
In Lesson 3 we learned how to make Latin plurals.As homework we had the plurals of these words. Please check your work with the answers which follow. If you did not do it yet or do not have your answers handy, then do it again here before you look at the answers! What are the (nominative) plurals of these words? finis (end, goal) via (way, road) lupus (wolf) lupa (female wolf) animal (animal) cornu (horn) certamen (neuter - struggle) nubes (cloud) mare (sea) sacrificium (sacrifice) lectio (lesson, reading) exemplar (model, specimen) forum (forum) flumen (neuter - river) arbor (tree) religio (religion) computatrum (computer) gladiator (gladiator) nuntium (message, announcement) nuntius (messenger) uxor (wife) cognomen (neuter - cognomen) genius (genius - spirit)
Here are the correct answers so that you can check the work. finis (end, goal) fines via (way, road) viae lupus (wolf) lupi lupa (female wolf) lupae animal (animal) animalia cornu (horn) cornua certamen (neuter - struggle) certamina nubes (cloud) nubes mare (sea) maria sacrificium (sacrifice) sacrificia lectio (lesson, reading) lectiones exemplar (model, specimen) exemplaria forum (forum) fora flumen (neuter - river) flumina arbor (tree) arbores religio (religion) religiones computatrum (computer) computatra gladiator (gladiator) gladiatores nuntium (message, announcement) nuntia nuntius (messenger) nuntii uxor (wife) uxore scognomen (neuter - cognomen) cognomina genius (genius - spirit) genii
If you made a lot of mistakes, fo back and study Lessonthree again. It is not difficult, just a matter of memorisation. The most common pluralising formulae are: -A > -AE -US > -US or -ÚS (Use a dictionary to make sure which.) -UM > -A -IS > -ES -ES > -ES or -EI (Use a dictionary to make sure which.) -U > -UA
There are some exceptions to the above.
Now, in Lesson four we are going to learn a few aditional social expressions.We already know SALVE!, SALVETE!, VALE!, and VALETE!But if we want a variation, we can say: Salvus sis! May you be well. (To one man.) Salva sis! May you be well. (To one woman.) Salvi sitis! May you be well. (To two or more men or amixed group.) Salvae sitis! May you be well. (To two or more women.)
"Sis" (pronounce "cease") is a subjunctive for of ESSE (tobe) expressing a wish. "Sitis" is the plural. "Salvus" is well or healthy.
Thanks in Latin are expressed by an idiomatic expression.Gratias Tibi ago. (Thanks to you I give.) "Gratias" + THANKEE (Dative) + agere (to act) "Gratias" is "thanks", always plural as in English. It is Accusative case."Tibi" is "to you", the Dative form of "Tu", you."Ago" is not really "give", but "act", which is here usedidiomatically.Marcus Sullae gratias agit. (Marcus is thanking Sulla.) Moravius Cornelio gratias agit. (Moravius is thanking Cornelius.) ("Agit" is third person singular, if you were wondering.) If you want to say "Thank you VERY MUCH", that is "greatest thanks" in Latin:Gratias maximas Tibi ago! ( I thank you very much.) If you want to thank more than one person, you use the Dative plural of "Tu" (you), which is "vobis".Gratias Vobis ago! (I thank you all.)For short, we can just say "Gratias!" [GRA-tee-ahss]
If we want to wish someone something, we use a simular structure: Diem natalem optimum Tibi exopto. (I wish you a happybirthday.)[WISHER (Nominative) +] WISHED THING (Accusative) +WISHEE (Dative) + "exopto".
"Diem natalem" is "birthday" in the Accusative. It is WHAT you are wishing."Optimum" is "best" in the Accusative to match "Diem natem"."Tibi" is the Dative of "Tu", you."Exopto" means "wish" (related to the English words "opt"and "option")
Another example: Saturnalia optima Tibi exopto! (I wish you a good Saturnalia.)N.B. "Saturnalia" and "optima" are Accusative *plurals* in Latin, but in English "Saturnalia" is singular.
And again: Iter Optimum Tibi exopto! (I wish you an excellent trip.)Iter (trip) and optimum are neuter Accusatives. And:Ferias optimas Tibi exopto! (I wish you a wonderfulvacation.) "Feriae", holiday, vacation, is plural (like French"vacances", German "Ferien") "Ferias" is the Accusative."Optimas" is feminine Accusative plural to agree with"ferias".
If we want to have more than one person doing the wishing,like a couple or a definite group, you can replace "exopto" with "exoptámus:.Festum optimum Tibi exoptamus! (We wish you a happy holidayor holy day) Or we can wish someone a good night:Bonam noctem Tibi exopto.N.B.: "BonAM", but "noctEM". Both are Accusative singular,but their endings are differnt because they belong todifferent word classes.You can not yet use these structures freely, because we havenot learned how to make Accusatives yet. However, you do already know Datives from Lesson two.
Here is your homework exercise. You should already knoweverything here from the lessions to date.Translate into Latin: 1. I wish you a good night. 2. We wish you (sing.) a happy Saturnalia. 3. I wish you (plural) a good trip. 4. We wish Marcus a good trip. 5. I wish you (plural) a nice vacation. 6. I wish you (sing.) a happy holy day. 7. We wish you (plural) good night.8. I thank you (sing.) very much. 9. I thank you (plural). 10. We thank you (plural).
Answers will appear with the next lesson. Now might be agood time to go back and reveiw everything so far. If anyonefeels that more exercises for the material already presentedare called for, please let me know.
In our first lesson we learned how to use informal greetings:
Salve (sing.) or Salvete (pl.) + ADDRESSEE (Vocative)
And we learned that the Vocative is just like the basic Nominative except for names ending in -US, and that the rules for changing those were:
-US > -E [O Marce!] -IUS > -I [O Apolloni!] -AUS > -AË (two syllables) [O Nicolae!]
In our second lesson we learned how to make the traditional salutation in letters:
SENDER (Nominative) + RECIPIENT (Dative) + S.P.D.
We learned how to make the Dative from the Nominative by these rules:
-A > -AE [To Sulla, Maria: Sullae, Mariae] -US > -O [To Marcus, Merullus: Marco, Merullo] -OR > -ORI [To Censor, Praetor: Censori, Praetori] -AUS > -AO (two syllables) [To Nicolaus: Nicolao]
In Lesson 3 we learned how to make Latin plurals.
The most common pluralising formulae were noted as being:
-A > -AE -US > -US or -ÚS (Use a dictionary to make sure which.) -UM > -A -IS > -ES -ES > -ES or -EI (Use a dictionary to make sure which.) -U > -UA
(There are some exceptions to the above.)
In Lesson 4 we learned how to make a few more social expressions:
Salvus sis!, Salvi sitis!, Salva sis!, Salvae sitis! Gratias (maximas) Tibi ago! Bonum iter Tibi exopto!
We had the following homework exercise. If you have not done it yet, do it now *before* looking at the answers below.
Translate into Latin:
1. I wish you a good night.
2. We wish you (sing.) a happy Saturnalia.
3. I wish you (plural) a good trip.
4. We wish Marcus a good trip.
5. I wish you (plural) a nice vacation.
6. I wish you (sing.) a happy holy day.
7. We wish you (plural) good night.
8. I thank you (sing.) very much.
9. I thank you (plural).
10. We thank you (plural).
Here are the answers. Note that the word order is *not* important. The endings of the words are.
1. I wish you a good night. Bonam noctem Tibi exopto.
2. We wish you (sing.) a happy Saturnalia. Bona Saturnalia Tibi exoptamus.
3. I wish you (plural) a good trip. Iter bonum Vobis exopto.
4. We wish Marcus a good trip. Iter bonum Marco exoptamus.
5. I wish you (plural) a nice vacation. Ferias bonas Vobis exopto.
6. I wish you (sing.) a happy holy day. Tibi festum bonum exopto.
7. We wish you (plural) good night. Bonam noctem Vobis exoptamus.
8. I thank you (sing.) very much. Gratias maximas Tibiago.
9. I thank you (plural). Gratias Vobis ago.
10. We thank you (plural). Gratias Vobis agimus.
If you had trouble with this, go back and study Lesson 4 again. If that does not help, please feel free to contact me privately with your questions.
In this lesson we are going to learn about Latin pronunciation, starting with the vowels.
Now this may be a slightly emotional topic. As cives of Nova Roma naturally are intensely interested in Rome, and the names and terminology connected with Rome in most cases have been learned in childhood or in high school, and presumably a great deal of the love of Rome that we feel is tied up emotionally with the pronunciations that we each are used to. It has its associations.
I am, let me say therefore, not trying to *force* you to change your customary, familiar pronunciation if you do not want to. I would, however, like to make you familiar with the system most active uses now consider best and most authentic, and to clarify for you exactly what some of the other pronunciations are. It would be nice if you could be bidialectical in pronunciation, being able to pronounce Latin words at your pleasure in your familiar way or in the more standard way, as circumstances dictate.
Now Latin pronunciation has always been changing, as is normal with human languages. The earliest that normally interests us is that of the Late Republic, spoken by Cicero. By the Late Western Empire the sounds had already changed a good deal, and still more in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. And the changes in sound were different in different parts of Europe. The standard traditional Latin pronunciations in Portugal, Bavaria, Germany (outside Bavaria), Italy, Poland, and England, just for an example, are all diverse. In Romanian a final -US is pronounced -USH for example. And in Poland the Latin -US is not so pronounced, but names taken from Latin into Polish are both spelled and pronounced that way, e.g. "Mariusz". On the other hand, the English pronunciation of the vowels - E like I and I like AE - makes it one of the hardest for Latinists of other countries to understand.
In the English-speaking world there are normally three pronunciations found:
1. The traditional English: In this one "cives" for example is pronounced "sihveez". This is normal and perhaps even preferable for isolated Latin expressions like "sine die" and "pro tempore". It is also used for scientific terms and for plant names by gardeners. It is rarely taught in America in Latin courses, however, although it was in Britain. It really should be reserved for isolated use in an English context, not for whole sentences in Latin.
2. The Italianate Ecclesiastical: In this one "cives" is pronounced "cheevays". In other countries the Ecclesiastical pronunciation is different. In Rome the Pope says "cheevays" but back home in the Polish church "seevays". This is sometimes taught in U.S. parochial schools, and it is used very often for singing mediaeval songs and chants, for which it shares the exceptional beauty of the Italian tongue.
3. The Restored Pronuntiation: German and other scholars reconstructed the original pronunciation of classical latin in the 19th and 20th centuries. It has now long been normal in U.S. public schools. (Not so in many European schools, however!) It is said that if one returned by time machine to ancient Rome, Cicero would surely understand us speaking in this mode, although he would probably think our accent rather strange. In this rather "harder" pronunciation "cives" is "keewayss"
Because of its authenticity as the pronunciation of the classical period and because of its unifying effect on the modern Latin language, most European and American proponents of Living Latin strongly support the use of this pronunciation.
The Sodalitas Latinitatis of Nova Roma has not yet made a recommendation on this matter, but it seems highly probable that the Sodalitas will choose to support the Restored Pronunciation. It is essentially the pronunciation of the period of Roman history that we are most interested in and it alligns us with other restorers of the Latin tongue to practical use.
The following introduction, therefore, will be to the pronunciation of this "Pronuntiatus Restitutus" or "Pronuntiatio Restituta".
Vowels
Latin has twelve simple vowel sounds. They are arranged in six pairs. In each pair there is a long version and a short version of the vowel. This "long" and "short" refer in the first place to how long in time we pronounce the vowel for. This is the "quantity" of the vowel. Most (but not all) of the vowels are also different in "quality", that is to say, the actual nature of the sound itself. The marked vowels below are long:
a like "hat" in German or a very short A as in "father" á like "father" e like E in "let" é like A in "say" or like French "été" i like I in "pin" í like I in "machine" o like O in "caught" ó like OA in "float", but without the U sound at the end
u like OO in "foot", "book" or "good" ú like U in "flute" y like German Ü or French U (short) ý like German Ü or French U (long)
Note that English "long A" and "long O" are really diphthongs - two vowels blended together in one syllable. In Latin and English long A would be spelled "EI" and English long O "OU". The Latin vowels above are pure monophthongs. The speech organs should be more or less frozen from beginning to end.
The Y represents the Greek Upsilon and is used in Greek loan words. It is made as in French, German and Mandarin by pronouncing an "ee" inside the mouth, while pronouncing an "oo" (as it "boot") with the lips. If it is really too hard, then substitute the Latin I sounds.
Be careful of short U. In English when we say "Marcus" or "Coloseum", the U is changed to a neutral schwa sound. In Latin the lips are rounded and it is the OO of "look" in Mar-koos and Kolose-oom. Likewise in "consul". In accented syllables we must also be careful. "Sulla" does *not* sound like "sullen". That is the sound of U in "up" which does not exist in Latin. Rather it is "oo". "Cum" is likewise *not* like "come" (unless one has a Northern England or Scotch accent, in which case it is a perfect match).
Remember that each vowel is pronounced relatively clearly in Latin compared to English, even in unaccented syllables.
You might wonder about how to know which vowels are long and which are short. Answer: A good beginning text will mark them for you. Most books use a "macron" (a long bar) over the long vowels, and sometimes (not often) a "breve" (the bottom part of a circle, like a smile) over the short. The acute accent mark used here indicates a long vowel. It has the advantage that everyone has it in his screen font and it looks just like the "apex" (plural "apices") used by the Romans themselves sometimes (but never consistently) to mark long vowels.
Otherwise you must use a dictionary. Fortunately many endings have their typical vowel lengths, and if you know the root, you will normally know the vowel quantities for the whole family of words. There are also other tricks. However, most speakers are careless about the quatities in completely unaccented syllables, which makes it easier. But do try to learn carefully now in the beginning.
Now, for the diphthongs of Latin:
ae a + e or like a + i as in "eye" oe o + e or like OI in "oil" au a + u or like OU in "house" eu e + u No English equivalent. As in Greek, Esperanto and Polish ei e + i like "say"
Originally AE was spelled AI, and this was changed. That suggests that the sound too changed from a true AI sound like "pie" to a sound like a Japanese AE as in "kaeru". Most modern scholars pronounce it like AI, however, so you may take your choice. In later Latin the sound of AE and OE changed to é, with or without a change in spelling.
EU is not like the "oi" sound of German as in "Europa" or the sound of French "Europe" or English "Europe". It is a Latin short E plus a more shortly pronounced short U blended into one syllable.
Here are some words to practice on. All unmarked vowels except in diphthongs are short. Marked vowels are long.
Marcus, Sulla, Rómánus, Rómánae, saepe (often - short final E, so not like "pay"!), ita (yes, so - short I so like "it" not like "eat"!), síc (yes, so - like "seek", not "sick"!), proelium (battle), Colosséum (not "uhm"! The first part like "call loss say".), Európa (3 syllables, EU *not* like "you" and not like "OI"!), caupóna (inn, pub - not "oh-oo", but a pure O!), Graecia (Greece), viri (men - like "weary"), Caesar (kai-sar), lyra (lyre), Lýdia (Lydia), Ítalia ("ee"! And accent on second syllable!), aut (or - like "out"), lautum (elegant, not "tuhm", but "toom"!), núbés (cloud - "noo -bays", "noo" like "Sue".)
In the next lesson we shall learn the consonants and word accent.
In our first lesson we learned how to use informal greetings:
Salve (sing.) or Salvete (pl.) + ADDRESSEE (Vocative)
And we learned that the Vocative is just like the basic Nominative except for names ending in -US, and that the rules for changing those were:
-US > -E [O Marce!] -IUS > -I [O Apolloni!] -AUS > -AË (two syllables) [O Nicolae!]
In our second lesson we learned how to make the traditional salutation in letters:
SENDER (Nominative) + RECIPIENT (Dative) + S.P.D.
We learned how to make the Dative from the Nominative by these rules:
-A > -AE [To Sulla, Maria: Sullae, ariae] -US > -O [To Marcus, Merullus: Marco, Merullo] -OR > -ORI [To Censor, Praetor: Censori, Praetori] -AUS > -AO (two syllables) [To Nicolaus: Nicolao]
In Lesson 3 we learned how to make Latin plurals.
The most common pluralising formulae were noted as being:
-A > -AE -US > -I or -ÚS (Use a dictionary to make sure which.) -UM > -A -IS > -ES -ES > -ES or -EI (Use a dictionary to make sure which.) -U > -UA
(There are some exceptions to the above.)
In Lesson 4 we learned how to make a few more social expressions:
Salvus sis!, Salvi sitis!, Salva sis!, Salvae sitis! Gratias (maximas) Tibi ago! Bonum iter Tibi exopto!
In Lesson 5 we learned how to pronounce the vowels of Latin. It is possible to hear the vowel sounds using the sound file with the Latin materials at the Novaroma List Files at YahooGroups.
We are now going to proceed to the consonants and rules of accent.
The following letters/sounds are approximately as in English: B, D, F, H, K, L, M, N, Q, S, T, X
Note some special points, however:
BS is pronounced PS as in "urbs", (city) "oorps".
G is never pronounced soft as in "gem", but always hard as in "get".
GN is pronounced like English "ng-n". "Gnosco" (be acquainted with) is pronounced "ng-nosko" and "lignum" as "ling-noom".
D, T and L are pronounced with the tongue a bit more forward than in English, touching the teeth. As in French.
M and N at the end of a word or before another consonant were in Ciceronian times already very weak and in fact pronounced as just a nasalisation of the preceeding vowel, as in French. Thus "consul" was really "kõ-sool", and "puellam" ("girl" in the accusative singular) is "pwel-lã". However, this rule is almost never followed by modern speakers, and it is generally permitted to pronounce the M and N with full force and articulation in all positions (except in poetry).
N in front of C, K or G is pronounced like "ng" in English. Thus "Anglus" (Englishman) is not "an-gloos", but "ang-gloos".
S is always S, never Z. "Rosa" (rose) is "raw-sa", not "raw-za", and "mors" (death) is "mors", not "morz".
UI is as in "phooey". In the words "cuius" and "huius" the I is pronounced twice and differntly so that it is "kwi+yoos" and "hwi-yoos".
X as in English is "ks", never "gz". It may appear at the beginning of a word, unlike English. E.g.: "Xystus" (portico, walkway).
Other sounds:
V is pronounced as English W. "In vino veritas" is "ihn wee-no way-rih-tahs". Originally there was no differnce between the letters "V" and "U". One is the consonant and the other the vowel and normally one knew to pronounce a V before a vowel as the consonant. However, there are exceptions to that rule, so it is convenient to write with two separate letters. Some scholars, however, write both with V and others both with U. E.g. "uinum" = "vinum".
Z is best pronounced as "dz" as in English "adze".
I at the beginning of a word before a vowel or in the middle of a word between vowels is normally pronounced like an English consonantal Y. E.g.: "Iúlius" is "yoo-li-oos" because the I at the beginning is before a vowel and the second I is not between vowels.
Thus is sometimes called the I-longa when it was written extending below and or above the levels of the other letters. (It was not always so written.) It evolved as a written letter into J. This was used for some centuries. More recently there was a movement to remove it from clasical texts and to write both the vowel and the consonant with the same symbol, "I". More recently still, some authorities such as Traupman have been championing the use of the J for the consonant, so as to make the pronuntiation clearer in those few words where there might be doubt because of exceptions. Most classicists do not use it, however. When it is used, it always means an English Y, never an English J!
R is trilled with the tip of the tongue before a vowel. Before a consonant or at the end of a word it is pronounced like an American English R (i.e. as a schwar).
Now there are three special contrasts:
C vs. CH, P vs. PH, and T vs. TH.
The difference is the aspiration. "Aspiration" means the little puff of air that we let come out of our mouths after certain sounds.
So, C is like K, but never with an aspiration. CH is like K with an aspiration. And so forth.
This difference exists in English too, but normally we do not notice it. But take a slip of paper and put it in front of your mouth. Then say "key". Adjust the paper so that it jumps with the aspiration. Now say "ski". If you say this naturally, the paper will *not* jump. We really pronounce these words "khi" and "ski". This is the difference between Latin CH and C.
Likewise with PH and P. Use your slip of paper again and say "pie" and "spy". Again you will note aspiration for the first but not for the second. The sounds are like Latin PH and P.
Finally, take your slip of paper and try "tow" and "stow". This is the difference between TH and T.
Another approach to these sounds is to pronounce them as follows:
CH as in "cake house" (pronounced quickly!) PH as in "top hat" TH as in "hot house"
and to pronounce C, P and T with an especially small amount of aspiration, almost like G, B and D, but without voicing.
Warning: In classical Latin we *never* pronounce PH as F, CH like English or German CH, or TH like English TH.
Also, C is never pronounced as S or as TS or as English CH.
Remember that all double consonants are pronounced double (unlike English). That means that we hold the sound of the consonant for an extra beat, not that we actually pronounce it twice. As we say the LL-sound in "hill-loving" as opposed to the single L of "healing".
A good example is "anus" (an old woman or hag) and "annus" (year). We just hold the N longer, we do not move our tongues to our palate twice. (If you are wondering, the English "anus" in Latin is with a long A: "ánus".)
ACCENT
Latin, like most languages, has a stress accent on some syllables. The Romans themselves claimed that this was a pitch or tonal accent as in classical Greek, but this a point of scholarly disputation for various technical linguistic reasons. Today virtually everyone uses a stress accent, as in English.
Accent is almost never marked in Latin dictionaries, because it can almost always be determined by a simple rule from the form of the word. Here is the rule:
1. If a word has two syllables, the accent is on the first.
2. In longer words it is necessary to inspect the next to last syllable (technically called the "penult"). If this syllable is long, then the accent is there. If it is short, then the accent goes forward in the word to the third syllable from the end (technically called the "antepenult"). There are only these two possibilities.
3. The penult is long if it contains a long vowel or a diphthong. It is also long ("by position" as we say) if it has a short vowel but two consonants after that vowel.
X and Z each count as two consonants (ks and dz).
If R or L is the second consonant, the two do not count as double, unless LL or RR.
CH, PH, TH and QU count as single consonants, and sometimes GU and SU.
So: a-MÍ-cus, fa-MI-li-a, re-GUN-tur, spé-RÁ-mus, Ró-MÁ-nus, Vir-GIL-i-us, BI-co-lor, Ró-má-NAE-que, Sep-TEM-ber, a-po-lac-TI-zo, A-POL-ló, A-po-cha, ma-GIS-ter, FÉ-mi-na, fé-MEL-la, SAR-ci-na
Exceptions:
1. A few words have lost an E at the end, but keep the original accent. E.g.: "illíc" (thence) from "illíce" is still pronounced "il-LÍC"
2. When an ending in -IUS changes to -I in the vocative, the "vanished" "US" still affects the accent: O Vir-GIL-í, O A-pol-LÓ-ní.
(This is also true of the shorter form of the genitive - the longer form is -IÍ, and this also applies to -IUM-ending neuters.)
3. In a few compounds of "facere" (make, do) where the meaning of the elements is very clear, the accent stays on the syllable "fa". E.g.: "be-ne-FA-cit".
4. There are a very few words where I does not become a consonant where one would expect it to, but remains a vowel.
heia (hay-a), Iúlus (the son of Aeneas - ih-OO-loos), T'róius (Trojan - TRO-i-oos)
5. In some compounds of "iacere" (to throw)," IC is pronounced "yihk". E.g.: tráició (trah-YIHK-i-o). In the system of spelling that uses a J, this is spelled. In the saying at the bottom of my letters there is the saying of Seneca: "Sí vís tibi omnia subicere, té subice Ratióní" (If you want to subject all things to yourself, subject yourself to Reason). With the spelling using J, this is spelled: "Sí vís tibi omnia subjicere, té subjice Ratióní". Just a small exception to the general rules.
That is the pronunciation of Latin. It is in general very regular.
Let us close with the names of the letters (the E is long when final and its own name. and short at the beginning):
a, be, ce, de, e, ef, ge, ha, i, (i-longa), ka, el, em, en, o, pe, qu, er, es, te, u, ve, ix, ypsilon, zéta (ce = "kay", ve = "way", qu = "koo", zéta = "dzay-ta"!)
Homework:
1. Go back over all the sentences and words in previous lessons and try to pronounce them correctly.
2. Read the following aloud. The correct accents will be given later.
Nova Róma est réspública. Novorómáni Novorómánaeque iam permultí sunt. Cívés interretialiter inter sé nuntiís électronicís dé rébus diversís certiórés saepe faciunt.
Latíné loquí nón est difficilissimum - difficilia nón sunt multa. Et prónuntiátió facillissima omnibus hominibus est.
Philosophus est homó quí nón semper in theátrum it. Malit philosophárí, nón dé puellís pulchrís cógitáre. Chartá calamóque multís dé rébus scríbit.
Ciceró nón multum Caesarem amávit. Amásne Cicerónem Caesaremque?
In our first lesson we learned how to use informal greetings:
Salve (sing.) or Salvete (pl.) + ADDRESSEE (Vocative)
And we learned that the Vocative is just like the basic Nominative except for names ending in -US, and that the rules for changing those were:
-US > -E [O Marce!] -IUS > -I [O Apolloni!] -AUS > -AË (two syllables) [O Nicolae!]
In our second lesson we learned how to make the traditional salutation in letters:
SENDER (Nominative) + RECIPIENT (Dative) + S.P.D.
We learned how to make the Dative from the Nominative by these rules:
-A > -AE [To Sulla, Maria: Sullae, ariae] -US > -O [To Marcus, Merullus: Marco, Merullo] -OR > -ORI [To Censor, Praetor: Censori, Praetori] -AUS > -AO (two syllables) [To Nicolaus: Nicolao]
In Lesson 3 we learned how to make Latin plurals.
The most common pluralising formulae were noted as being:
-A > -AE -US > -US or -ÚS (Use a dictionary to make sure which.) -UM > -A -IS > -ES -ES > -ES or -EI (Use a dictionary to make sure which.) -U > -UA
(There are some exceptions to the above.)
In Lesson 4 we learned how to make a few more social expressions:
Salvus sis!, Salvi sitis!, Salva sis!, Salvae sitis! Gratias (maximas) Tibi ago! Bonum iter Tibi exopto!
In Lesson 5 we learned how to pronounce the vowels of Latin. It is now possible to hear the vowel sounds using the sound file with the Latin materials at the Novaroma List Files at Yahoo Groups.
In Lesson 6 we learned how to pronounce the consonants of Latin. We also learned how to determine the accent by looking at the next to the last syllable. We saw that if this one is long or if it has two consonants after it [unless the second is l or r (but not doubled) or h], then it gets the word stress, and that if it is short, the accent goes to the third syllable from the end.
Let us now look at your homework. You were to read these texts aloud with the correct accent. If you have not done it yet, do it now before looking at the answers. It would be useful to print this out or copy it by hand and make the marks.
Nova Róma est réspública. Novorómáni Novorómánaeque iam permultí sunt. Cívés interretialiter inter sé nuntiís électronicís dé rébus diversís certiórés saepe faciunt.
Latíné loquí nón est difficilissimum - difficilia nón sunt multa. Et prónuntiátió facillissima omnibus hominibus est.
Philosophus est homó quí nón semper in theátrum it. Malit philosophárí, nón dé puellís pulchrís cógitáre. Chartá calamóque multís dé rébus scríbit.
Ciceró nón multum Caesarem amávit. Amásne Cicerónem Caesaremque?
Here are the answers. Check carefully to see if you understood all the principles for determining stress correctly.
NOva ROma est résPUBlica. NovoróMAni NovorómáNAEque iam perMULtí sunt. CIvés interretiAliter inter sé NUNtiís élecTRONicís dé REbus diVERsís certiOrés SAEpe FAciunt.
LaTIné LOquí nón est difficiLISsimum - diffiCIlia nón sunt MULta. Et prónuntAtió facilLISsima OMnibus hoMINibus est.
PhiLOsophus est HOmó quí nón SEMper in theAtrum it. MAlit philosoPHArí, nón dé PUELlís PULchrís cógiTAre. CHARtá calaMOque MULtís dé REbus SCRIbit.
CIceró nón multum CAEsarem aMAvit; aMASne CiceROnem CaesaREMque?
Lesson 7: Place Names and the Locative Case
In Latin there are prepositions like "in" (on or on), but with cities and small islands and certain other things no preposition is used to say where something is or happens. Instead, there is a special case, called the Locative (Casus Locativus).
With all those many city names ending in A its ending is "-AE" So,
"Romae" means "in Rome". "Lutetiae" means "in Paris". "Varsoviae" means "in Warsaw". "Lipsiae" means "in Leipzig". "Alexandriae" means "in Alexandria". "Philadelphiae" means "in Philadelphia." "Oxoniae" means "in Oxford" "Bruxellae" means "in Brussels"
Thus we say "Novae Romae Latinum discimus," We are learning Latin in Nova Roma. We should *not* say (!) "In Nova Roma..." However, we may add a word like "urbs" (city) or "civitas [(city) state] and say "in civitate Nová Romá (Ablative).
But not all city names end in -A. Let us consider some other possibilities.
-UM, -US and -OS: The Locative ending is -I.
Paesti = in Paestum Berolini = in Berlin (from Berolinum) Tarenti = in Tarentum Londini = in London (from Londinium) Noveburaci = in New York (from Noveburacum or Novum Eburacum) Amstelodami = in Amsterdam (from Amstelodamum) Cairi = in Cairo (Cairus or Cairum - 3 syllables)
-AE and -I: The ending is -IS (These names are grammatically plural.)
Athenis = in Athens (Athenae) Cumis = in Cumae Brugis = in Bruges (Brugae) Delphis = in Delphi Deli = on Delos
-POLIS: The form (from Greek) is -POLI
Neapoli = in Naples (Neapolis) Indianapoli = in Indianapolis Persepoli = in Persepolis Constantinopoli = in Constantinople Angelopoli = in Los Angeles (Angelopolis)
There are a very few other possibilities such as
Carthagine = in Carthage (Carthago) (also Carthagini) Legione = in Léon (Legio)
Traditionally we see these at the end of a classical-form Latin letter. There is no signature because the sender's name is already in the salutation at the top. The form is:
Dabam + Place in Locative Case + DATE
"Dabam" means "I dispatched", i.e. turned over to the courier or travelling friend.
I doubt if we could make the traditional dating very popular in this day of automatically-dated e-mail. It might be that you would like to state your geographical location in this way, though, which might give us all a chance to see how far-flung Nova Roma really is.
And even if you do not do this, very possibly you are interested in the Latin name of your city in any case. Therefore, if anyone sends to me a request for the Latin form of his city, state or country in Latin, I shall try to inform you.
You should not be surprised if there are names for cities and regions in all parts of the world. Latin was still the language of science and the Church in the Age of Exploration. And it remains the language of botany, which must often describe the provenance of a plant. And many names in the New World were brought from the Old. If a town is too obscure to have a Latin name, it is normal to create one following various rather flexible rules based on the form or meaning of the name.
I can thus, for example, discuss my life in Latin with no problem around the world: Born in Pittsburgum and raised in Mars, Pensilvania, partly educated in Collinsfordia, Coloratum, and partly in the Insulae Havaianae, I then lived in Formosa (Taeuania), from which I made trips from time to time to Siamkiamum (Honcongum), Tokium in Iaponia and Seulia in Corea. Following that, I came and lived in Kandersino-Coselia in Polonia, although I shall be moving soon to Posnania.
In Latin, though, I would have to use the Locative Case for cities and "in" + Ablative Case for the larger areas and countries. So: Pittsburgi, Marte, in Pensilvaniá, Collinsfordiae (Ft. Collins), in Colorato (Colorado), in Insulis Havaianis (Hawai'ian Islands), in Formosá/Taeuaniá, Siamkiami/Honcongi, Tokii, In Iaponiá, Seuliae, in Coreá, Kandersinone-Coseliae (Kedzierzyn-Kozle), in Poloniá, Posnaniae.
Now, in telling my story I wanted to say "Honolulu on Oahu", but I have never seen Latin forms for these names. (Although we could treat them as true Latin words ending in U and say "Honolulú in Oahú" - but I have never seen that done, despite the fact that it would it would not be a mistake.) I can therefore use "in" + Ablative and the additional words urbe (from "urbs", city) and insulá, and then treat the foreign words like unchangeable forms (indeclinables):
in Urbe Honolulu, in Insulá Oahu.
If something is small for a real city, we can use "oppidum", "town". But if the result were difficult to pronounce in Latin, it would often be better to create a truly Latin form. Would you really like to see "in Urbe Szczecin"? Unless you know Polish, probably not. So better to use one of the truly Latin forms: Sedinum or Stetinum. And then you can say "Sedini" or "Stetini" without the preposition "in".
You should be aware that because of the historical depth of Latin, one town can have several names used at different times by different people. For example, Frankfurt am Main has been called: Franchinofurtum, Franconofurtum (ad Moenum), Franconavada, Frankenfordia, Frankfordia supra Moenum, Frankwordia, Helenopolis, and Traiectum Francorum. Today "Francofurtum ad Moenum" is the most standard and popular form.
Modern Latinists writing to publications have a different custom about place names. They put the *adjective* of the place after their names. for example, "M. Attilius Regulus, Romanus", since he actually lives in Rome. I might put (in a few months) M. Apollonius Formosanus, Posnaniensis. This is interpreted as a noun (or adjectival pronoun): M. Attilius Regulus, (the) Roman, and M. Apollonius Formosanus, (the) Posnanian.
With a relatively few names we make this form by adding "-ANUS" (feminine "-ANA"). With most *city* names we add "-ENSIS", which can be either masculine or feminine. E.G. Pittsburgensis, Londinensis, Vasingthonensis.
For cities ending in "-POLIS", the adjectival form ends in "-POLITANUS or feminine -POLITANA".
In the case of Florentia (Florence/Firenze), the form happens to be Florentinus/Florentina.
Here is some homework:
Write the Locative forms of these cities:
Roma, Brundisium, Mediolanum, Scopiae, Chicagum, Franciscopolis, Monachium
(Rome, Brindisi, Milan, Scopia, Chicago, San Francisco, Munich)
Write the adjective forms of these cities:
Cabura, Petropolis, Grenovicum, Praga, Vernicollis, Nova Aurelia, Pisae
(Kabul, St. Petersburg, Greenwich, Prague, Tel Aviv, New Orleans, Pisa)
Here are the answers to your homework on the uses of place names. If you have not done the homework yet, do it now and then look at the answers below. First a repetition of the questions. If you have not yet done the homework, do it now before looking at the answers.
Here is the homework:
Write the Locative forms of these cities:
Roma, Brundisium, Mediolanum, Scopiae, Chicagum, Franciscopolis, Monachium
(Rome, Brindisi, Milan, Scopia, Chicago, San Francisco, Munich)
Write the adjective forms of these cities:
Cabura, Petropolis, Grenovicum, Praga, Vernicollis, Nova Aurelia, Pisae
(Kabul, St. Petersburg, Greenwich, Prague, Tel Aviv, New Orleans, Pisa)
Here are the answers:
Write the Locative forms of these cities:
Roma, Brundisium, Mediolanum, Scopiae, Chicagum, Franciscopolis, Monachium
ANSWERS: Romae, Brundisii, Mediolani, Scopiis, Chicagi, Franciscopoli, Monachii
(Rome, Brindisi, Milan, Scopia, Chicago, San Francisco, Munich)
Write the adjective forms of these cities:
Cabura, Petropolis, Grenovicum, Praga, Vernicollis, Nova Aurelia, Pisae
ANSWERS: Caburanus, Petropolitanus, Grenovicensis, Pragensis, Vermicollensis, Novus Aurelianus, Pisanus
(Kabul, St. Petersburg, Greenwich, Prague, Tel Aviv, New Orleans, Pisa)