Latin grammar
Latin, like all other ancient Indo-European languages, is highly inflectional, which allows for very flexible word order. As such, Latin is rather archaic in its preservation of Proto-Indo-European forms. In Latin there are five declensions of nouns and four conjugations of verbs. Latin does not have articles and draws no distinction between, for example, a girl and the girl; the same word, puella, represents both. Latin syntax is generally Subject Object Verb, though variations are common. Latin is right-branching, uses prepositions, and usually places adjectives after their nouns. Latin is also pro-drop and verb-framed.
Nouns
Detailed information and declension tables can be found at Latin declension.
Sucks alot
Determiners and personal pronouns
Detailed information and declension tables can be found at Latin declension.
Suck the most
Adjectives
Detailed information and declension tables can be found at Latin declension.
These arent bad
Adverbs
Detailed information and declension tables can be found at Latin declension.
or these
Word order
This sucks
Ablative absolute
In Latin grammar, the ablative absolute (Latin: ablativus absolutus) is a noun phrase cast in the ablative case. More specifically it consists of a noun or pronoun and some participle (in the case of sum (to be) a zero morpheme often has to be used as the past and present participle do not exist, only the future participle), all in the ablative absolute. It indicates the time, condition, or attending circumstances of an action being described in the main sentence. It takes the place of, and translates, many phrases that would require a subordinate clause in English. The unfamiliarity of this construction makes it sometimes difficult for Latin students to grasp; however, mastery of this construction is needed to write Latin well, and its availability makes Latin prose quite concise. The closest English equivalent is the nominative absolute.
The closest translation to the Latin follows the paradigm, with the NOUN having been VERBed. This construction however can often sound awkward in English. Therefore, it is often finessed into some other, more English-like, construction. In the following examples, the first line is the direct translation from Latin, while the second has been construed to sound more at home in English.
Urbe capta, Aeneas fugit
- The city having been captured, Aeneas flees. (literal)
- With the city having been captured, Aeneas flees.
- When the city was captured, Aeneas flees.
Ovidio exule, Musae planguntur.
- Ovid having been exiled, the Muses weep. (literal)
- With Ovid having been exiled, the Muses weep.
- The Muses weep because Ovid has been exiled.
The ablative absolute indicates the time when things happened, or the circumstances when they occurred.
vivo Caesare...
- with Caesar having been alive...
- when Caesar was alive...
It also indicates the causes of things, as in:
Ira calefacta, sapientia dormit.
- With anger having been kindled, wisdom sleeps.
- Wisdom sleeps because anger is kindled.
Domino absente, fur fenestram penetravit.
- With the master being absent, a thief entered the window.
- Since the master was absent, a thief entered the window.
It can be used to add descriptions:
Passis palmis, pacem petiverunt.
- With hands outstretched, they sued for peace.
- Hands outstretched, they sued for peace.
Sometimes an infinitive or clause occurs in the ablative absolute construction, especially in Livy and later authors:
audito eum fugisse...
- with it having been heard that he had fled...
- having heard that he had fled...
- when they heard he had fled...
The ablative absolute construction is sometimes imitated in English in a construction called the nominative absolute: "The Americans, (with) their independence secured, formed a government." But the construction is rarer and less natural in English than it is in Latin. It was introduced by early modern authors heavily influenced by Latin, for example, John Milton whose Paradise Lost is an example of the construction.
See Also
Why the hell would some1 want to learn this lang?
References
- Bennett, Charles E., Latin Grammar (Allyn and Bacon, 1895).
- Wheelock, Frederic, Latin: An Introduction (Collins, 6th ed., 2005) ISBN 0-06-078423-7
External links
- Ablative Absolute from Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar
- Ablative Absolute by William Harris