Ablative absolute

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The ablative absolutus (“detached ablative”, lat. Absolutus = past participle passive from absolĕre “to solve”. Abbreviation: abl. Abs. , Also ablative with participle (AmP) or ablative with predicative (AcP) ) is a syntactic construction of the Latin Language consisting of the combination of two ablatives, one of which is a predicative. This has the meaning of an adverbial determination and is either a participle (participle ablative absolutus) or a noun (nominal ablative absolutus) .

Examples:

Participle ablative absolutus : Tarquinio Suberbo regnante “when Tarquinius Suberbus ruled” ( Tarquinio Superbo = ablative of Tarquinius Superbus ; regnante = ablative of the present participle regnans of regere “to rule”).

Nominal ablativus absolutus : Natura duce "with nature as a guide" ( natura = ablative of natura "nature"; duce = ablative of dux "guide").

The ablativus absolutus is related to the participium coniunctum , which is an appositive participle construction.

The ablativus absolutus refers to what is said by the subject of the superordinate sentence and is not used if there is a reference only to dependent parts of the superordinate sentence. It takes the place of a subordinate clause , whereby only a certain temporal or logical relationship to the superordinate clause must exist and the connection with the superordinate clause must be inferred from the context .

Participatory ablative absolutus

It consists of a noun (the reference word) and a participle, both in the ablative. The participle is in a form that is congruent to the reference word KNG, i.e. it corresponds to the reference word in number (singular / plural) and gender (gender).

There are two manifestations to be distinguished:

  • The participatory ablative absolutus of simultaneity with the present participle active (PPA):
    • Cicerone Oj. cenante Abl. nuncio litteras Quinti attulit.
    • "While Cicero was eating, a messenger brought a letter from Quintus."
  • The participatory ablative absolutus of prematurity with the participle perfect passive (PPP):
    • Ponte Abl. facto oj milites flumen transierunt.
    • “After a bridge was built, the soldiers crossed the river.” Or: “After the soldiers had built the bridge, they crossed the river”.

In addition, in the abl.-abs.-constructions with the past participle, the subject of the superordinate sentence is often identical to the agent , the acting person of the participle construction ( cryptoactive ) . Since the passive construction only represents an active one, which cannot be formed in Latin due to the lack of a corresponding participle, it should be reproduced in the active by a subordinate clause. The above sentence becomes: "After they had built a bridge, the soldiers crossed the river." To clarify, the agent can be between the components of the OJ. Section. advised: Ponte milites facto etc.

Translation options :

Instead of a subordinate clause, the ablative absolutus can also be translated with a main clause. The logical connection with the previous parent sentence must then be reproduced appropriately. Another possible translation of the second example sentence given above would be: “The soldiers built a bridge. Then they crossed the river. ”In translations, this main clause is usually followed by a semicolon instead of a period.

Another translation option is the prepositional expression. The ablative absolutus is represented with a preposition and a verb nominalized from the participle in the ablative. The translation of the example sentence would then look like this: "After building a bridge, the soldiers crossed the river."

Also magistro praesente (absente) can be translated präpositional "in the presence (absence) of the teacher".

Nominal ablative absolutus

It contains two nouns in the ablative but no participle and denotes the simultaneity with the superordinate verb.

  • Example:
    • Romulo Oj. active Abl. , Sabinae raptae sunt. (1st noun in the ablative: Romulus; 2nd noun in the ablative: rex, regis).
    • "While Romulus was king, the Sabine women were stolen."

Further examples:

nominal ablative absolutus noun translation
Caesar-e duc-e dux, duc-is under Caesar's leadership
Romul-o reg-e rex, reg-is when Romulus was king, under the rule of Romulus
August-o imperator-e imperator, imperator-is when Augustus was emperor, under the rule of Augustus
Ciceron-e viv-o vivus, -a, -um during Cicero's lifetime when Cicero was alive
Caesar-e invit-o invitus, -a, -um against Caesar's will
Ciceron-e consul-e consul, -is when Cicero was consul, under the consulate of Cicero
Ciceron-e auctor-e auctor, -is at the instigation of Cicero
me inscio inscius, -a, -um without my knowledge

Related constructions in other languages

Similar constructions are the Church Slavonic and East Baltic dative absolutus , the locativus absolutus in Sanskrit , and the Greek (and partly German ) genitive absolutus .

German : Some standing expressions in German form the latter after [noun + adjective, noun + present participle active] and thus offer a limited possibility of comparison to the ablative absolutus: "without having achieved things (he moved away)", "dry feet (she got over the River) "," standing foot (turned her around) "[loan translation of the Latin 'stante pede'?]," Beating heart (he entered the room) "," seeing eye (he ran into his misfortune) ".

The absolute participle construction in English

  • weather permitting , ... "if the weather permits" ( permitting = ing-form of to permit "allow").

The absolute participle construction in the Romance languages

French :

  • ceci dit , ... "after that has now been said" ( dit = past participle of dire "to say").
  • Dieu aidant , ... "if God helps" ( aidant = present participle of aider "to help").

Italian :

  • Giunta la sera , ... "when the evening had come" ( giunta = past participle of giungere "to arrive").

Spanish :

  • Venida la noche , ... "when the night had come" ( venida = past participle of venir "to come").

See also

literature

  • Helmut Glück (Ed.): Metzler Lexicon Language . 4. Updated & revised edition. Publishing house JB Metzler, Stuttgart u. Weimar 2010, ISBN 978-3-476-02335-3 . Lemma: Ablativus absolutus , p. 3.
  • Hadumod Bußmann (Ed.): Lexicon of Linguistics . 4. reviewed u. bibliographically supplemented edition with the collaboration of Hartmut Lauffer. Alfred Kröner Verlag, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-520-45204-7 . Lemma: Ablativus absolutus , p. 2.
  • Hans Rubenbauer, Johann B. Hofmann: Latin grammar . 10th edition. CC Buchners Verlag, Bamberg 1977, pp. 214-216 (§ 180).
  • Hermann Quantity : Review of Latin syntax and style . 16th edition. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft , Darmstadt 1968 (special edition. Unchanged reprint of the 11th edition. Edited by Andreas Thierfelder ).

Web links

Wiktionary: Ablativus absolutus  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ F. Adami, Eduard Bornemann: Latin language teaching (= Bornemann Latin teaching work ). 8th edition. Hirschgraben-Verlag, Frankfurt 1970, pp. 173-174.
  2. ↑ Since there is no perfect active participle in Latin, only the passive construction is possible. A translation in the active is possible. See the example.
  3. ^ Hermann Throm: Latin grammar . Pädagogischer Verlag Schwann, Düsseldorf 1964, p. 187 (section S 105).
  4. ^ Hans-Wilhelm Klein, Hartmut Kleineidam: Grammar of today's French for school and study . Ernst Klett Verlag, Stuttgart 1983, ISBN 3-12-521720-2 , p. 252.
  5. ^ Moritz Regula , J. Jernej: Grammatica italiana descrittiva su basi storiche e psicologiche . Seconda edizione riveduta e ampliata. Francke Verlag, Bern 1975, p. 237.
  6. ↑ Claudia Moriena, Karen Genschow: Great learning grammar Spanish: rules, examples of use, tests; [Level A1 - C1]. Hueber Verlag, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-19-104145-8 , pp. 432-433.