Superable

The Latin superābilis, -e may be broadly defined as “possible to overcome,” and falls into two distinct uses within the extant literature:

Of military enemies encampments, regions and territories:

• scīlicet ut nōn est per vim superābilis ūllī / clearly, he cannot be overcome by anyone through force (Ovid, Tristia 5.8.27)
• murūs superābilies ad dextrā adoriēmur / we will attack the weakened wall at the right

Of diseases and calamities:

• caecitās et calivitium opē hūmānā nōndum superābilēs sunt / blindness and baldness cannot yet be cured by human aid

The L&S entry—http://goo.gl/bXJ1UW

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Some Inter-esting Distinctions

In my last post, I introduced intra, to which I will now compare and contrast intra, a considerably more common and complex preposition, individuated from intra through the following uses.

1. The et double-accusative.

• inter mōns et durum: between a rock and a hard place
• inter tē et mē: between you and me

2. The inter sē construction.

• inter sē loquuntur: they talk amongst themselves
• inter se confērunt: they compare amongst themselves

3. The ‘amid’ construction.

• inter hostium tēla: amid the weapons of the enemies
• inter imbrim: during the rainfall
• prīmus inter parēs: the first among equals

4. The temporal ‘while’ construction (with a gerund)

• inter bibendum: while drinking
• inter agendum: while carrying forward

The Essential AG: 221.15

Compound Verbs with Intrā—

You would think, given the vast tribe of verbal compounds with inter- as a prefix, that a few species of intrā-compounds would also inhabit that wood of the Latin dictionary. In fact, they are highly endangered, perhaps even extinct. Here are a few compound adjectives and nouns that I discovered; the verbs were nowhere to be found.

• intrābilis (adj)—possible to enter
• intrāclusus (adj)—shut in, enclosed
• intrāmeātus, -ūs (n)—a journey within
• intrāmūrānus (adj)—within the walls
• intrāneus (adj)—within

Greek Patronymics in Latin

Patronymics are generally Greek-derived Latin nouns with special endings, appearing frequently in epic poetry and rarely elsewhere. They may be masculine or feminine, but always one or the other, depending on the specific ending:

• -adēs, idēs, īdēs and -eus are masculine
• –ās, is, and -ēis are feminine

In Greek, these are usually adjectives; in Latin, they are usually nouns.

Exempla:

• Tydareus, -ī (the Spartan king) —> Tyndaridēs, -ae (either Castor or Pollux, the twin sons of Tyndareus)
• Tydareus, -ī (the Spartan king) —> Tyndaris, -idis (Helen, the daughter of Tyndareus)
• Anchīsēs, -ae (Anchises, the Dardanian prince) —> Anchīsiadēs, -ae (Aeneas, the son of Anchises)
• Tydeus, -ī, (Tydeus, the Aeolian hero) —> Tydīdēs, -ae (Domedes, the son of Tydeus)
• Oīleus, -ī (Oileus, the Locrian king) —> Aiāx Oīleus, Aiācis Oīleī (Ajax Minor, the son of Oileus)
• Hesperus, -ī (the Evening Star) —> Hesperis, -idis sg. (a daughter of Hesperus) —> Hesperides, -um pl. the Hesperides (not Hesperidēs, -ae, which would be masculine)

The Essential AG: 244

Uses of Ambō

Ambō is sometimes decline to match its respective noun, like a fully-functional adjective, but otherwise remains fixed as ambō

• Ambās mānūs lavit: he washed both hands.
• Consulēs alter ambōve prōgredientur: either one or both of the consuls will march on
• ūna salus ambobus erit: both were healthy (this is Virgil—a very Greek declension!)

Effectively, there is no rule. Both A&G and L&S present freeform variation between the two options.

More Gentile Suffixes

In my last post, I introduced what Allen and Greenough refer to as ‘gentile’ adjectival suffixes—these relate the idea of ‘relating to’ or ‘pertaining to’ or ‘belonging to’. -ānus performs this function, but so do a host of similar suffixes:

-ēnus, -īnus, -ās, ēnsis, -cus, -acus, -ācus, -icus, -eus, -ëius, -icius

Let’s look at a few examples of these adjectives in action—

• Nox serēna mentem quiēvit: a calm night calms the mind. (sērus, -a, -um, late)
• Officium cīvicum fācite: do your civic duty! (cīvis, -is, citizen)
• Navis Siciliēnsis in portū visa est: A Sicilian  ship was seen in the port.

Like the suffix -anus, the rest of these can also pan out into nouns as well as adjectives.

• laniēna, -ae, a butcher’s stall (lanius, -ī, butcher)
• inquilīnus, -ī, a lodger (incola, -ae, an inhabitant)
• ruīna, -ae, a collapse (ruō, fall)
• doctrīna, -ae, learning (doctor, -ōris, teacher)

The Essential AG: 249.1, 249.2, 249.2a

-ānus, or Relating to Old Women

A number of adjectival endings denote what Allen and Greenough refer to as a ‘gentile’ relationship—demonstrating ‘relation to’ or ‘belonging to’ the corresponding class of nouns. One of these is -ānus, -a, -um.

• montānus, -a, -um, of mountains (mōns, montis, mountain)
• veterānus, -a, -um, of veterans (vetus, veteris (adj), old)
• antelūcānus, -a, -um, before daylight (ante lūcem, before light)
• Rōmānus, -a, -um, Roman (Rōma, -ae, Rome)
• Sullānī, -ōrum, of Sulla’s veterans (Sulla, -ae, Sulla)

Some of these derived adjectives have furthermore been transformed to new nouns.

• Silvānus, -ī, Silvanus, a woodlands deity (silva, -ae, the wood)
• membrāna, -ae, the skin (membrum, -ī, limb)

The Essential AG: 249.1, 249.2, 249.2a

Reminder: The Double Comparative with Intrā

This is just a quick reminder (of what I covered briefly in March 2012) that intrā gives rise to one of the few comparative / superlative adjectival pairs that is not derived from an adjective.

• intrā, within —> interior, -ōris, inner —> intimus, a, -um inmost

A&G offer this fascinating footnote:

“The forms in -trā and -terus were originally comparative (cf. alter), so that the comparatives in -terior are double comparatives.” (my emphasis)

• Like this: in + accusative —> intrā + accusative —> interior, -ōris

The Essential AG: 130a

Comparison of Regular Adverbs

Remember two simple rules and you’ll have this mastered in no time:

1. A comparative adverb is always the neuter singular accusative of the corresponding comparative adjective. (ex. clārius)
2. The superlative adverb is just the superlative stem of the corresponding superlative adjective with –ē. (ex. clārissimē)

Here are some additional examples:

• carē, cārius, cārissimē, dearly, more dearly, most dearly
• miserē, miserius, miserrimē, wretchedly, more wretchedly, most wretchedly
• leviter, levius, levissimmē, lightly, more lightly, most lightly
• audācter, audācius, audācissimē, boldly, more boldly, most boldly
• bene, melius, optimē, well, better, best
• male, peius, pessimē, poorly, worse, worst

The Essential AG: 218

Comparison of Adverbs: Irregular and Defective

Here are some irregular adverbs that defy the rules set up in this post.

• diū, diūtius, diūtissimē, for a long time, for a longer time, for the longest time
• potius, —— potissimum, rather, first of all
• saepe, saepius,saepissimē, often, more often/again, most often
• satis, satius, —— enough, preferable
• secus, sētius, —— otherwise, worse
• multum (or multō), magis (or mage), maximē, much, more, most
• parum, minus, minimē, not enough, less, least
• nūper, ——, nūperrimē, newly, most newly
• temperē, temperius, —— seasonably, more seasonably

Most of these are either disconnected from their corresponding adjectives (semantically), or are defective in either comparative or superlative form. However, the real outlier here is the multum/ō, magis/e, maximē set, which is an aggregate of various options. Multō is of course the ablative singular neuter for the positive adjective, and mage the neuter accusative of the comparative adjective.

Magis and maximē may also be paired with other adjectives to create their comparatives, especially in adjectives ending in -eus or -ius (in the positive.)

• idōneus, magis idōneus, maximē idōneus, fit, more fit, most fit

The Essential AG: 128, 218a