Ordinal Numerals

There are four central aspects to the Latin numeral:

• The cardinal: ūnus, duo, trēs, quattuor
• The ordinal: prīmus, secundus, tertius, quārtus
• The distributive: singulī, bīnī, ternī, quaternī
• The adverb: semel, bis, ter, quater

Ordinals are derived from cardinals, and operate as declining adjectives, in the manner of bonus, -a, -um

• The suffixes attached to cardinals are often very similar to superlative suffixes (e.g. ūndēvīcēnsimus, 19th)

The Ordinals 1st-10th

• 1st: prīmus, -a, -um
• 2nd: secundus, -a, -um or alter, altera, alterum (remember alterīus is the genitive for all genders)
• 3rd: tertius, -a, -um
• 4th: quārtus, -a, -um
• 5th: quīntus, -a, -um
• 6th: sextus, -a, -um
• 7th: septimus, -a, -um
• 8th: octāvus, -a, -um
• 9th: nōnus, -a, -um
• 10th: decimus, -a, -um

A few fun notes on these:

• The cardinal prīmus is an archaic superlative from prō
• The cardinal secundus is exactly what it appears to be—the future passive participle of sequor (to follow)
• The cardinal alter is a comparative form (like with the Greek -τερος)
• The cardinal nōnus is a contraction of novenus

Cardinals 11th-19th

• 11th: ūndecimus, -a, -um
• 12th: duodecimus, -a, -um
• 13th: tertius, -a, -um decimus, -a, -um or decimus et tertius or decimus tertius
• (thus, both words decline and have three double-declining variations with 14th-19th)
• 14th: quārtus decimus
• 15th: quīntus decimus
• 16th: sextus decimus
• 17th: septimus decimus
• 18th: duodēvicēnsimus, -a, -um or octāvus decimus, etc.
• 19th: ūndēvicēnsimus, -a, -um or nōnus decimus, etc.

Cardinals 20th-100th

• 20th: vīcēnsimus, -a, -um
• 21st: vīcēnsimus, -a, um prīmus, -a, -um or ūnus et vīcēnsimus 
• (thus, we have two distinct options from 11th – 19th, with (a) cardinal tens -> cardinal ones reversed or (b) ordinal ones -> cardinal tens; both terms will decline, where possible, for all cardinals 22nd-99th)
• 28th: duodētrīcēnsimus, -a, -um or the other two options
• 29th: ūndētrīcēnsimus, -a, -um
• 30th: trīcēnsimus, -a, -um
• 40th: quadrāgēnsimus, -a, -um
• 50th: quīnquāgēnsimus, -a, -um
• 60th: sexāgēnsimus, -a, -um
• 70th: septuāgensimus, -a, -um
• 80th: octōgēnsimus, -a, -um
• 90th: nōnāgēnsimus, -a, -um
• 100th: cēntēnsimus, -a, -um

A few fun notes on these:

• Again, note the distinct sets of options for the 11th-19th crowd and the 21st+ crowd: with 21st+, you get a mix of ordinals and cardinals, which can only lead to a really bad hangover…
• Whitaker’s Words suggests ūnetvīcēnsimus, -a, -um is an alternative form of 21st, though that may be Medieval only
• A few only sources suggest that the (n) in the 40th/50th/etc. is optional: quadrāgē(n)simus, -a, -um, though I should note that A&G don’t mention this

Ordinals 101st -1000th

• 101st: centēnsimus, -a, -um prīmus, -a, -um or ūnus et centēnsimus
• 113th: centēnsimus et tertius decimus or centēnsimus et decimus tertius
• (basically, we have a pattern very similar to 21st-99th, though recall that once we have three words in play, that et will only appears between the two highest denominations, so you will never see centēnsimus et decimus et tertius)
• (also, to be explicit, everything continues to decline, where possible)
• 200th: ducentēnsimus, -a, -um
• 300th: trecentēnsimus, -a, -um
• 400th: quadrigentēnsimus-, -a, -um
• 500th: quīngentēnsimus, -a, -um
• 600th: sescentēnsimus, -a, -um
• 700th: septigentēnsimus, -a, -um
• 800th: octigentēnsimus, -a, -um
• 900th: nōngentēnsimus, -a, -um
• 1000th: mīllēnsimus, -a, -um

I’ll get to the 1000+ crowd eventually, though it involves multiplicative forms, so brace yourself.

The Essential AG: 133

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Greek Nouns (in Latin) of the Second Declension

Consider this a sequel to my earlier post on Greek Nouns (in Latin) of the First Declension: http://wp.me/p2eimD-aX

• As with “Greek” first-declension nouns, these second-declension nouns decline like their regular Latin counterparts in the plural
• Like the Greek second declension, nouns are by-and-large masculine or feminine
• For the singular, they decline more regularly than the first-declension nouns. Have a look:

So, a few things:

• These correspond more or less identically corresponding second-declension Greek nouns, with the genitive -ου rendered as the regular Latin -ī and dative -ῳ rendered as -ō
• The exception here is Athōs, which declines more like an Attic-declension noun (see below)
• Occasionally, the plural nominative -οι appears as -oe, rather than the typical Latin -ī
• Nota bene that certain Greek names, like Odysseus, are actually third-declension nouns, which we’ll get to shortly.

For more on second-declension Greek nouns and the Attic declension:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek_nouns#Second_declension

The Essential AG: 52

Greek Nouns (in Latin) of the First Declension

Latin features loanwords from Greek, which I doubt will surprise you. A&G mentions a host of proper names, as well as “about thirty-five” other words in the first declension.

• “Greek forms” are only a feature of singular nouns, since the “Greek” nouns decline like typical Latin nouns in the first declension plural
• By my reading, all or nearly all of these verbs correspond to the first/α-declension in Greek

From what I see, these more or less correspond to the four basic variations of the Attic first declension, with the datives -ῃ and -ᾳ rendered as -ae, and the genitive -ου as (again) -ae.

–
The Greek is slightly complicated beyond the ‘four basic variations’ (some would say there are six basic, and there are certainly eight total). That’s not my line of work, so here’s a Wiki Synopsis:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek_nouns#First_declension
Indeed, the Latin nouns are complicated too. Suffice it to say what I’ve offered above is a very terse representation of the numerous variations that A&G offer on each of these nouns. They also offer 5 additional sample nouns with different variations.

The Essential AG: 44

Praenōmina

While we’re on the topic of names, let’s go over the 18 typical Roman praenōmina.

Origin of the Praenōmina

A&G list the praenōmina, but they don’t discuss their origin, their use, or why there are only 18.

• From what I can tell, the names became concentrated because fathers had a habit of naming their sons after themselves
• Marcus Tullius Cicero was Marcus, son of Marcus, son of Marcus, son of Marcus, (son of Marcus?)
• Certain names became associated with certain patrician gentēs, encouraging further concentration
• I assembled my information from this page

The List

Honestly, if you just sit down and decline all of these by hand, you’ll likely be set for life. You may not be able to list them off from memory, but when you encounter Mām, you’ll no longer forget it’s Māmercus.

• A. Aulus
• App. / Ap. Appius
• C. / G. Gāius
• Cn. / Gn. Gnaeus
• D. Decimus
• K. Kaesō
• L. Lūcius
• M. Mārcus
• M’. Mānius
• Mām. Māmercus
• N. / Num. Numerius
• P. Pūblius
• Q. Quintus
• Ser. Servius
• Sex. / S. Sextus
• Sp. Spurius
• T. Titus
• Ti. / Tib. Tiberius

Go on, now. Decline them! They don’t even have plurals. It won’t take you more than ten minutes.

The Essential AG: 108c

Famous Phrase: nōmen nesciō (n.n.) [I don’t know the name]

[An N.N. number is assigned to Jane Does in certain European countries, in order to protect the identity of witnesses or victims]

The Locative Case (p1)

My last post left me curious about the precise use and character of the Locative case, so I took to milling around A&G for just about every line I could find on the matter. There’s more than the might imagine for a case so rare–

Let’s start with the formation of the locative case (post 1) and then I’ll search out all the things we can do with it (post 2).

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Formation for First Declension

singular genitive; plural dative

(Rōmae; Athēnīs)

[remember that only place names which are already plural, like Athēnae, will appear with a plural locative]

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Formation for Second Declension

singular genitive; plural dative

[Corinthī; Philippīs]

__________________

Formation for Third Declension

singular dative or ablative (-ī or -e); plural dative

[Carthāginī or Carthāgine; Trallibus]

__________________

Formation for Fourth Declension

The only locative offered by A&G is that for domus, house: it’s either domī or domuī

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Formation of the Fifth Declension

Here, the locative only appears in a few fixed expressions of time, where it always ends in the singular ablative:

hodiē, today; diē quārtō (etc.), on the fourth day; postrīdiē, tomorrow; perendiē, the day after tomorrow; prīdiē, yesterday

Review

1 —> gen/dat; 2 —> gen/dat; 3 —> dat or abl/dat; 4&5 —> just a few words!

__________________

The Essential AG: (scattered, I know) 43c; 49a; 80; 93 n1; 98b

Famous Phrase: in locō parentis [in place the parent]

This is a legal term describing a state of non-parent custody of children; a teacher or your aunt (while you’re staying at her cottage) are in locō parentis figures

Cases and Relations of Place: Homes and Hometowns

Summary of Forms

There are particular rules for relations of place associated with the proper names of (i) cities and (ii) islands, as well as the words (iii) domus and (iv) rūs [the countryside]

• The place from which uses the ablative 
  
• The place to which uses the accusative
• The place at which uses the locative
• no prepositions!

Again, this system of relations of place and case forms is distinct from the archetypes discussed in this earlier post.

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Review of the Locative

In the first and second declensions (think Eurōpa and Ephesus), the locative is:

• identical to the genitive in the singular (Eurōpae, Ephesī)
• identical to the dative in the plural (Eurōpīs, Ephesīs)

In the third (and I assume fourth and fifth?) declension (think Carthāgō), the locative is:

• identical to the dative in singular and plural (Carthāginī or Carthāgine, Carthāginibus)

[note the the plural of all these examples are superfluous–plural datives only apply to place names that are already plural, such as Philippī –> Philippīs]

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Place to Which (abl.)

He was absent from Rome: Rōmā abfuit.

He left home yesterday: prīdiē domō abiit.

Place from Which (acc.)

She arrived in Rome on the sixth day: Rōmam sextō diē vēnit.

I will go into the country: rūs ībō.

They will sail from Delos (abl.) to Rhodes (acc.): Dēlō Rhodum nāvigābunt.

Place at Which (loc.)

There are three hundred statues at Samos: Samī trecenta signa sunt.

The temple had been at Athens: Athēnīs aedem erat.

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The Essential AG: 427

Famous Phrase : ūnus papa Rōmae, ūnus portus Ancōnae, ūna turris Crēmōnae, una ceres Rācōnae

(one pope in Rome, one port in Ancona, one tower in Cremona, one beer in Rakovnik)

[motto of the Rakovnik Brewery]

Ok, not so famous, and dripping with neo-Latinisms, but it’s got a lot of locatives!