I-Stems with Ablative -i

Here’s the other half of that list that I started in (this post). These are the class of consonantal adjectives that tend not to operate as quasi-nouns, and therefore tend to take -i in the ablative, rather than -e.

• āmēns, āmentis, frantic, crazed
• anceps, ancipis, double, doubtful
• concors, concordis, agreed, joint
• dēgener, dēgeneris, low-born, weak
• hebes, hebetis, dull, blunt
• ingēns, ingentis, huge, vast
• inops, inopis, needy, helpless
• memor, memoris, mindful of
• pār, paris, alike, equal to
• perpes, perpetis, lasting
• praeceps, praecipitis, headlong
• praepes, praepitis, nimble, winged
• teres, teretis, smooth

Sorry for the relative obscurity of these last two posts. The thing is, they cover a few footnotes in Allen and Greenough that I feel should be out there on the Internet, preferably with a basic entry format and definition.

The Essential AG: 121a3

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Accusative Case-Ending -im

Certain nouns in Latin have an i-stem, such as puppis, -is (ship). However, following the consonant declension, these generally take an accusative stem –em (puppem), not –im.

This post covers exceptions to that rule, by listing all cases where –im is retained

1. Greek nouns borrowed from the Greek third declension (consonant declension) with an i-stem.

• Paris -> Parim
• Adōnis -> Adōnim
• Busīris -> Busīrim

2. The following Latin nouns:

• amussis, -is (rule)
• būris, -is (plough-beam)
• cucumis, -is (cucumber)
• rāvis, -is (??)
• sitis, -is (thirst)
• tussis, -is (cough)
• vīs, -ī (force, power)

[n.b. on rāvis, -is…. I can’t find this in any online dictionary. Any clues?]

3. Adverbs in –tim, such as partim (in parts)

The –im ending is also found occasionally in the following words–

• febris, -is (fever)
• puppis, -is (ship)
• restis, -is (cord)
• turris, -is (tower)
• secūris, -is (axe)
• sēmentis, -is (sowing)

“and rarely in many other words,” say A&G. Damn poets…

The Essential AG: 75a-b

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

Single-Termination Third Declension Adjectives

Here’s a review of triple- and twin-termination adjectives, covered in earlier posts:

• Triple-termination: ācer, ācris, ācre (sharp)
• Twin-termination: levis (m/f), leve (light)

Formation of Single-Termination Third Declension Adjectives

These are complicated because they take several possible consonant stems. That said, their declension is more-or-less equivalent to third declension i-stem nouns (nūbes, nūbis or mare, maris)

atrōx, actrōcis, fierce

A few things to note:

• The ablative singular may be either atrōcī or (less often) atrōce
• The neuter plurals all feature the i–stem (-ia, -ium, -ibus, etc.)
• The masculine and feminine plural accusative may (rarely) be atrocīs

Here are a few more nouns to consider:

egēns, egentis: needy

praeceps, praecipitis: headlong

pār, paris: equal, alike

ūber, ūberis: fruitful, copious

The Essential AG: 118

Famous Phrase: cēterīs pāribus [all other things being equal]

(an ablative absolute, denoting non-variable components of scientific experiments or other forms of structural reasoning)

Third Declension Triple-Termination Adjectives

Adjectives of the third declension have either one, two or three gendered endings.

• Triple-termination: ācer, ācris, ācre (sharp)
• Twin-termination: levis (m/f), leve (light)
• Single-termination: …these are complicated. I’ll address them in a coming post

Triple-Termination Formation

Triple-Termination Third Declension Adjectives are declined as follows:

Here are additional triple-declensions thirds to practice declining:

• alacer, alacris, alacre: lively, cheerful
• campester, campestris, campestre: flat
• celeber, celebris, celebre: famed, crowded
• equester, equestris, equestre: equestrian
• palūster, palūstris, palūstre: boggy
• pedester, pedestris, pedestre: pedestrian, ordinary
• puter, putris, putre: rotting
• salūber, salūbris, salūbre: healthy
• silvester, silvestris, silvestre: woodland
• terrester, terrestris, terrestre: terrestrial
• volucer, volucris, volucre: aerial
• octōber, octōbris, ocrōbre: of October
• (likewise with all menstrual [monthly] adjectives)

Do note: the triple-termination design was developed relatively late, so you may encounter some or all of these adjectives as twin-termination adjectives, with either the masculine or the feminine representing either the masculine or the feminine in early Latin prose and poetry [e.g. homō alacris or fēmina alacer would be acceptable] (AG, 115 n1)

Also, celer, celeris, celere (swift) is an odd bird.

The Essential AG: 115-115a

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).

__________________

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]

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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!