Latin for Beginners Part 2

<16.>> Certain little words called _enc.l.i.t'ics_[5] which have no separate existence, are added to and p.r.o.nounced with a preceding word. The most common are <-que>>, _and_; <-ve>>, _or_; and <-ne>>, the question sign.

The syllable before an enc.l.i.tic takes the accent, regardless of its quant.i.ty. Thus

>, >, >,

[Footnote 5: Enc.l.i.tic means _leaning back_, and that is, as you see, just what these little words do. They cannot stand alone and so they lean back for support upon the preceding word.]

HOW TO READ LATIN

<17.>> To read Latin well is not so difficult, if you begin right.

Correct habits of reading should be formed now. Notice the quant.i.ties carefully, especially the quant.i.ty of the penult, to insure your getting the accent on the right syllable. (Cf. --15.) Give every vowel its proper sound and every syllable its proper length. Then bear in mind that we should read Latin as we read English, in phrases rather than in separate words. Group together words that are closely connected in thought. No good reader halts at the end of each word.

<18.>> Read the stanzas of the following poem by Longfellow, one at a time, first the English and then the Latin version. The syllables inclosed in parentheses are to be slurred or omitted to secure smoothness of meter.

EXCELSIOR [[HIGHER]]! [6]

The shades of night were falling fast, As through an Alpine village pa.s.sed A youth, who bore, 'mid snow and ice, A banner with the strange device, Excelsior!

Cadebant noctis umbrae, dum Ibat per vic.u.m Alpic.u.m Gelu nivequ(e) adolescens, Vexillum c.u.m signo ferens, Excelsior!

His brow was sad; his eye beneath, Flashed like a falchion from its sheath, And like a silver clarion rung The accents of that unknown tongue, Excelsior!

Frons tristis, micat oculus Velut e v.a.g.i.n.a gladius; Sonantque similes tubae Accentus lingu(ae) incognitae, Excelsior!

In happy homes he saw the light Of household fires gleam warm and bright; Above, the spectral glaciers shone, And from his lips escaped a groan, Excelsior!

In domibus videt claras Focorum luces calidas; Relucet glacies acris, Et rumpit gemitus labris, Excelsior!

"Try not the Pa.s.s!" the old man said; "Dark lowers the tempest overhead, The roaring torrent is deep and wide!"

And loud that clarion voice replied, Excelsior!

Dicit senex, "Ne transeas!

Supra nigrescit tempestas; Latus et altus est torrens."

Clara venit vox respondens, Excelsior!

At break of day, as heavenward The pious monks of Saint Bernard Uttered the oft-repeated prayer, A voice cried through the startled air, Excelsior!

Iam lucescebat, et fratres Sancti Bernardi vigiles Orabant preces solitas, c.u.m vox clamavit per auras, Excelsior!

A traveler, by the faithful hound, Half-buried in the snow was found, Still grasping in his hand of ice That banner with the strange device, Excelsior!

Semi-sepultus viator Can(e) a fido reperitur, Comprendens pugno gelido Illud vexillum c.u.m signo, Excelsior!

There in the twilight cold and gray, Lifeless, but beautiful, he lay, And from the sky, serene and far, A voice fell, like a falling star, Excelsior!

Iacet corpus exanimum Sed luce frigida pulchrum; Et caelo procul exiens Cadit vox, ut Stella cadens, Excelsior!

[Footnote 6: Translation by C. W. Goodchild in _Praeco Latinus_, October, 1898.]

PART II

WORDS AND FORMS

LESSON I

FIRST PRINCIPLES

<19.>> > 1. Latin, like English, expresses thoughts by means of sentences.

A sentence is a combination of words that expresses a thought, and in its simplest form is the statement of a single fact. Thus,

_Galba is a farmer_ > _The sailor fights_ >

In each of these sentences there are two parts:

SUBJECT PREDICATE _Galba_ _is a farmer_ > _The sailor_ _fights_ >

>

2. The subject is that person, place, or thing about which something is said, and is therefore a _noun_ or some word which can serve the same purpose.

_a._ p.r.o.nouns, as their name implies (_pro_, "instead of," and _noun_), often take the place of nouns, usually to save repeating the same noun, as, _Galba is a farmer; > is a st.u.r.dy fellow_.

3. The predicate is that which is said about the subject, and consists of a verb with or without modifiers.

_a._ A verb is a word which a.s.serts something (usually an act) concerning a person, place, or thing.

<20.>> > In the two sentences, _The boy hit the ball_ and _The ball hit the boy_, the same words are used, but the meaning is different, and depends upon the order of the words. The > of the act, that about which something is said, is, as we have seen above, the >. > is the > of the verb. _The boy hit the ball_ is therefore a.n.a.lyzed as follows:

SUBJECT PREDICATE /----------- _The boy_ _hit the ball_ (verb) (direct object)

_a._ A verb whose action pa.s.ses over to the object directly, as in the sentence above, is called a >. A verb which does not admit of a direct object is called >, as, _I walk_, _he comes_.

<21.>> > The verb _to be_ in its different forms--_are_, _is_, _was_, etc.--does not tell us anything about the subject; neither does it govern an object. It simply connects the subject with the word or words in the predicate that possess a distinct meaning. Hence it is called the >, that is, _the joiner_ or _link_.

<22.>> In the following sentences p.r.o.nounce the Latin and name the _nouns, verbs, subjects, objects, predicates, copulas_:

1.

2.

3. > _(His) daughter is Julia_

4. > _Julia and (the) farmer are on (the) island_

5. > _Julia water carries_

6. > _(A) rose in (her) hair (she) has_

7. > _Julia is (a) girl pretty_