III 1
Schola Neuter Nouns; Ablative and Vocative Cases
As you can imagine, schools were quite different two thousand years ago. A common Latin word for elementary school was lūdus, a word that also meant fun and game! The more advanced school was called schola. Classes usually took place on an open porch (pergula). Each pupil, holding a wax tablet (tabula) on his lap, sat on a bench (subsellium). Each wrote with a pointed-end “pencil” (stilus) made of wood, bone, or steel. Sometimes a student received permission to write with a pen (calamus) dipped in ink (ātrāmentum) on a sheet of expensive paper (charta) made of papyrus. Children played on a playground (ārea). Girls did not attend school. Usually the mother taught them the household duties.
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Note the following adjectives: meus –a –um tuus –a –um eius
noster nostra nostrum our vester vestra vestrum your eōrum eārum eōrum their
my your his, hers, its
Vocābula. Read the words aloud after your teacher.
magister m
magistra f
liber m
discipulus m
discipula f
charta f
schola f (or lūdus m)
classis f
calamus m
librārium n
volūmen n
subsellium n
tabula f
stilus m
SCHOLA
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ātrāmentum n
rēgula f
cathedra f
fenestra f
iānua f
ĀCTIVITĀS A. Identify the Latin words for the following items in Latin. Be sure to indicate the gender of each word.
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1.
4.
2.
5.
3.
6.
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3
7.
11.
15.
8.
12.
16.
9.
13.
10.
14.
Now that you know the new words, read the following story to see if you understand it. Schola Rōmāna nōn est spatiōsa. Schola fenestram et iānuam nōn habet, sed librārium habet. Magister est persōna intellegēns et populāris. Magister ante classem stat. Classis nōn est magna; est parva sed studiōsa. Sunt trēs discipulī et trēs discipulae. Puerī et puellae in subselliō sedent. Canis et fēlēs nōn in lūdō sunt; sunt in āreā. Omnis discipulus et omnis discipula habet librum, chartam, calamum, ātrāmentum, rēgulam, stilum, tabulam. Magister volūmen magnum habet.
nōn not spatiōsus –a –um spacious Rōmānus –a –um Roman librārium –i n bookcase, bookshelf persōna –ae f person ante (+ acc) in front of stat stands magnus –a –um big parvus –a –um small trēs three sunt there are in on, in sedent sit omnis each, every
Magister classem salūtat. Classis magistrum salūtat. SCHOLA
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In the story, we encounter a new noun case: ABLATIVE. We now have three noun cases, each determined by how the nouns are used. Study these three groups of words: A NOMINATIVE ārea f lūdus m subsellium n
B ACCUSATIVE āream lūdum subsellium
C ABLATIVE āreā lūdō subselliō
Ārea ends in a short a when it is the subject of a sentence. When it is the object of the sentence (accusative case), the word ends in an m. When the same word is the object of a preposition (such as in), the ending is long: in āreā (on the playground). When a noun is the object of a preposition, it is in the ABLATIVE CASE. When the masculine noun lūdus (school) is the subject of a sentence, it ends in -us. When lūdus follows (is the object of) the Latin preposition in, its ending changes to -ō: in lūdō (in school). Lūdō is the ABLATIVE form of lūdus. When the neuter noun subsellium is the subject of a sentence, it ends in -um. When this noun is the object of the Latin preposition in, the word’s ending changes to -ō: in subselliō (on a bench). Subselliō is the ABLATIVE form of the noun.
ĀCTIVITĀTĒS B. Complete the following sentences about the story you just read. 1. Schola Rōmāna est
.
2. Schola nōn habet fenestram et
.
3. Schola habet
.
4. Classis nōn est
.
5. In lūdō sunt
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discipulī et
discipulae.
6. Puerī et puellae sedent in
.
7. Canis (dog) et fēlēs (cat) nōn sunt in
.
8. Canis et fēlēs sunt in
.
9. Magister est intellegēns et
.
10. Magister stat ante
.
11. Magister salūtat
.
12. Classis salūtat
.
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C. If you remember that words such as medicīna (medicine) are feminine, amīcus (friend) and puer (boy) are masculine, and subsellium (bench) are neuter, you should have no trouble identifying the gender of each of these new nouns as m, f, or n. 1. discipulus
10. discipula
2. schola
11. charta
3. lūdus
12. calamus
4. librārium
13. tabula
5. magister
14. stilus
6. ātrāmentum
15. rēgula
7. ārea
16. magistra
8. subsellium
17. iānua
9. liber
18. fenestra
D. Look at each picture. From the words in parentheses, write the form of the word each picture describes.
1. Discipulus (calamus/ calamum)habet.
2. Discipula (tabula/tabulam) habet.
3. Magistra (librī/librōs) habet.
4. Magister (discipulī/discipulōs) salūtat.
SCHOLA
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5. Magister in (cathedra/cathedrā) sedet.
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9. Discipulae (magistra/magistram) salūtant.
6. Canis (liber/librum) habet.
10. Discipulī in (subselliō/subsellium) sedent.
7. Lūdus (librārium/librāria) habet.
11. Volūmen in (librārium/ librāriō) est.
8. Magister (chartae/chartās) habet.
12. Canis et fēlēs in (āreā/ārea) sunt.
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13. Classis (magistrum/magistrōs) salūtat.
14. Magister (classem/classis) salūtat.
E. Each group contains one word that does not belong. Identify each of these words. Be prepared to explain orally the reason for your selection. 1. discipulus, magister, īnfāns, discipula 2. liber, calamus, stadium, stilus 3. stella, equus, gallīna, vacca 4. rēgula, classis, canis, charta 5. puer, ārea, puella, fīlius, fīlia 6. magistra, fēmina, puella, cathedra 7. asinus, subsellium, fēlēs, canis 8. schola, medicus, magister, agricola 9. templum, lectus, stabulum, vīlla 10. cerasus, pirum, mālum, magistra 11. magistra, fenestra, discipula, magister 12. liber, volūmen, ātrāmentum, āthlētā
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A papyrus scroll (volūmen) consisted of a number of pages (pāginae) joined with glue. Volūmen is a neuter noun like templum (temple). Its form in the nominative and accusative cases remains the same. Look carefully at these groups: I SINGULAR As subject and object templum (temple) librārium (bookshelf ) volūmen (scroll) flūmen (river) nōmen (name) carmen (song) forāmen (hole)
II
PLURAL As subject and object templa (temples) librāria (bookshelves) volūmina (scrolls) flūmina (rivers) nōmina (names) carmina (songs) forāmina (holes)
SCHOLA
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As you can see, the first two words (templum and librārium) belong to one class of neuter nouns (second declension), while the rest of the nouns belong to a different class (third declension). Did you notice that the e in the stem of the third declension nouns changes to i? Remember that all plural neuter nouns, regardless of class, end in a as both subjects and direct objects.
ĀCTIVITĀS F. Match the sentences with the correct pictures. Tunica forāmina habet.
Puella carmen cantat (is singing).
Magister volūmina habet.
Oppidum flūmen habet.
Liber nōmen habet.
Tectum forāmen habet.
1.
4.
2.
5.
3.
6.
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Before you practice the next conversation, you need to learn about another Latin noun case: VOCATIVE. Use the vocative case when you speak directly to someone. Consider this English sentence: “John, wait for me.” The proper noun “John” is used in direct address. In Latin, nouns used in direct address are in the
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LECTIO III
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VOCATIVE CASE. The VOCATIVE CASE of most Latin nouns is exactly the same as the nominative case with two exceptions: a. A masculine noun ending in –us ends in –e in the vocative case. For example, Marcus becomes Marce and amicus becomes amice. b. A masculine noun ending in –ius ends in –ī in the vocative case. Caecīlius becomes Caecīlī and fīlius becomes fīlī.
Conversātiō
VOCĀBULA domina Miss ubi? where? tuus –a –um your hīc here meus –a –um my
es you are bene parātus –a –um well prepared magnificus –a –um fantastic tū you grātiās! thanks! multās grātiās! many thanks! SCHOLA
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Colloquium Complete the dialog by writing the pupil’s replies. Choose from the following list: Grātiās, magistra. Schola est magnifica! Hīc est liber meus. Salvē, Domina Cornēlia. Hīc est calamus meus et ātrāmentum et volūmen.
Rēs Persōnālēs The school year has just begun, and you are writing—in Latin, of course—a shopping list of some school supplies you will need from the stationery store (taberna chartāria). What would you include in your list? Be sure to write the Latin names so the man in the stationery store (chartārius) will understand you. 48
LECTIO III
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