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Pronunciation

Latin pronunciation has varied somewhat over the course of its long history, and there are some differences between Classical Latin, as spoken in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire, and Medieval or Ecclesiastical Latin, as spoken in the Middle ages and in the Catholic Church. This text focuses on the classical pronunciation.

Most letters in Latin are pronounced similarly to their English counterparts, with several exceptions:

The dipthong "ae" is pronounced as the "ai" in "aisle". The dipthong "au" is pronounced "ow". The dipthong "oe" is pronounced "oy" in "boy". The dipthong "eu" is pronounced as "eh-oo" The dipthong "ou" is pronounced "oo". The dipthong "ui" is pronounced "we".

The letter "c" is always hard as in cat. The letter "g" is always hard as in good. The letter "v" can be either a consonant or a vowel. When a consonant, it is pronounced as a "w", and when a vowel it is pronounced as a "u", though it is often edited to a "u". The letter "i" can be either a consonant or a vowel. When a consonant, it is pronounced as a "y" and is often edited to a "j". Neither "u" nor "j" existed in Latin as such.

The letters "k", "w", "z", and "y" did not exist in Latin, though they were occasionally used to write words borrowed from Greek or some other foreign language.

Grammar Part 1: Nouns and Their Role in Sentences

Nouns in Latin are inflected, which means that endings (also known as suffixes or suffices) are appended to the end of the stem. These endings indicate the:

1. Number (whether the noun is singular or plural)
2. Case of the noun (role of the noun in the sentence)
3. Gender (the gender of the word - one of masculine, feminine, or neuter)

Most nouns in English can be modified to indicate number (cat versus cats), whilst many pronouns can be modified to indicate case (who versus whose) or gender (he versus she, his versus hers). Case is especially important in Latin as meaning cannot be determined by syntax as it can be in English, but purely by its endings, or "inflection".

Adjectives themselves must match the gender, number, and case of the noun (be the noun a substantive or pronoun) they modify. For example, if an adjective describes a table, which is feminine, the adjective must have a feminine suffix to match the gender. (It is important to note here that although many genders make sense - for example, "puella", meaning girl, is feminine - many are simply assigned and hold no real meaning. For most words, you will simply have to memorise their gender.) At the same time, the adjective must match the case and number of the noun it modifies. Therefore, if a noun is nominative singular feminine, then the adjective describing it must also be nominative singular feminine. If the noun is accusative plural masculine, then the adjective must be accusative plural masculine.

Case (casus)

Cases (casus) determine the role of the noun in the sentence in relation to other parts of the sentence. Relations in which a noun fails to express use a preposition along with specific case (see Introduction).

There are 6 cases, nominative, vocative, accusative, genitive, dative and ablative. Vocative (Lesson 3) can be considered a sort of miniature case, however, it is not generally accepted as a true one. As nominative and accusative are the most basic, these will be taught first. Additionally, some nouns have a locative case, meaning "at".

Gender (genera)

All substantives have a particular gender. This includes inanimate objects. There are three genders to which all substantives may lay claim. A substantive can be one of masculine, feminine, or neuter.

For example, homo, "a man," is thought to be masculine. Marītus, "a husband," is also masculine. Puella, "a girl," is feminine. Māter, "a mother," is feminine. Even inanimate objects are assigned gender, including all the moons, stars, trees, tools etc. Logic will give you little help in determining what the gender of the inanimate objects are, and so ultimately you will be required to memorize the gender associated with each individual substantive.

Certain rules may be utilized to determine the gender of an inanimate substantive. Declension is a good indication of gender, especially for 1st and 2nd declension substantives. 1st declension substantives (substantives with an -a suffix) are usually feminine and second declension nouns (substantives with an -us suffix) are usually masculine or neuter. There are a few exceptions, and they will have to be learned. 3rd declension nouns can be either masculine, feminine or neuter. 4th declension nouns are usually masculine, sometimes neuter while 5th declension nouns are usually feminine.

1st/2nd declension adjectives alternate the set of endings depending on the gender of noun it describes (see above: Agreement of the Gender of Nouns and the Adjective). If the adjective describes a feminine noun, the adjective must use 1st declension endings, if the adjective describes a masculine noun, the adjective must use 2nd declension masculine endings, if the adjective describes a neuter noun the adjective must use 2nd declension neuter endings.

3rd declension adjectives use the same set of endings for masculine and feminine nouns. However a slightly different set of endings are used when describing neuter nouns.

Declension

All substantives are part of one of the 5 declensions. Each declension has a set of standard suffixes to indicate case and number. Usually gender is indicated by the suffix, however there are many exceptions. Therefore, for substantives, the gender must be memorized for every substantive you learn.

By familiarizing yourself with the following table, you could deduce that originally the suffix indicating number, case, and gender was the same for every noun. However as the language developed, nouns with a common stem formed declensions and sounds changed (this process happens continually over time, even today).

Adjectives are also classed into declensions, although there only two: 1st/2nd declension and 3rd declension Adjectives.

1st/2nd declension adjectives use 1st declension suffixes from the substantive declension table when describing feminine nouns. 1st/2nd declension adjectives use 2nd declension masculine suffixes from the table when describing masculine nouns. 1st/2nd declension adjectives use 2nd declension neuter suffixes from the table when describing neuter nouns.

3rd declension adjectives behave as 'i' stem substantives unless specified. Masculine and Feminine suffixes (which are the same) will be used if describing masculine and feminine nouns, and Neuter suffixes will be used when describing neuter nouns.

Pronouns are not part of any declension, as they are all irregular, and simply have to be memorized.

Recapitulation

• Declensions are used to categorise nouns in groups. There are 5 declensions in total.
• Each of the five declensions has a distinct set of endings which are appended to nouns of that declension.
• The endings indicate the case and number when appended to the stem of a noun.
• A substantive may use only the endings of the declension of which it is a part.
• Each substantive has a predefined gender which almost never changes and is separate from the suffix.
• Adjectives are a part of the 1st/2nd declension and 3rd declension.
• Adjectives use the gender of the noun that they modify.

Therefore:

• An adjective of the 1st/2nd declension uses 1st declension endings when describing a feminine noun, a 2nd declension masculine ending when describing masculine noun, and 2nd declension neuter when describing a neuter noun.
• An adjective of the 3rd declension uses the same set of endings when describing masculine and feminine nouns and another set of endings when describing neuter nouns. (Actually, there are 3-termination, 2-termination, and 1-termination 3rd declension adjectives. If the adjective is 3-termination, e.g., acer (f. sing.), acris (m. sing.), acer (n. sing.), acres (f. pl.), acres (m. pl.), or acria (n. pl.), then use the appropriate ending; if the adjective is 2-termination, then one termination will be masculine/feminine and the other neuter; if the adjective is 1-termination, the common form is used.)

Before you proceed to the next lesson, complete the exercises below so you will be able to apply this knowledge to Latin.

Exercises

1. What are the three genders?
2. Are the genders which are applied to all nouns logical?
3. What is number (singular/plural)?
4. What is case?
5. What is a declension?
6. Describe the relationship between an adjective and the noun which it modifies.
7. How do 1st/2nd declension adjectives agree in gender with the noun that they modify, and how do 3rd declension adjectives agree in gender with the noun they modify?
8. How many declensions are there?
9. What gender are 1st declension substantives mostly?
10. What genders are 2nd declension substantives mostly?
11. What do the endings on the stem tell you?
12. Summarise this page.