LATIN GRAMMAR.

PART FIRST.

FORMS OF WORDS. (ETYMOLOGY.)

1. ALPHABET.

THE Latin Alphabet is the same as the English, wanting W.

Vowels are a, e, i, o, u, y. Diphthongs are ae, oe (often written æ, œ), au, eu, and in poetry ei and ui.

Double Conso

Mute Consonants are p, b, f, v (labial); t, d (dental); c (k,) g (palatal). Liquids are 1, m, n, r. nants are x (cs), z (ds).

The Aspirate, h, is merely a silent breathing, and is not reckoned as a Consonant.

The Roman Alphabet consisted of 21 letters, viz.,

b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i̟, k, l, m, n,

s, t, y, x.

ik 9 p, q, r, s, t,

and z were added, in words derived from Greek.

and u, when used as consonants (having the sound of y and w), are generally written j and v; as, juvenis, a youth, for iuuenis.

k is used only in a few words, generally at the beginning, and is always followed by a.

c is usually written for k; and often for qu, (regularly when, followed by u): as in cum (for quum) when; secutus (for sequutus) having followed; and more rarely, in ecus (for equus) a horse, cotidie (for quotidie) daily, and others.

In early use, u never follows u (v), but o instead: as in volt, will. Often, i is put for ii, or ji, as in obit, died; obicit, hits. Examples of variation in spelling are, -undus or -endus in gerund forms; -umus or imus in superlatives; adulescens, youth, epistula, letter, for adolescens, epistola; cena, caena, coena, supper.

The last letter of the Prepositions ab, ad, con (cum), ex, in and sub, when combined with other words, is often altered to give an evener sound: as ad- or al-latus, brought, in- or im-mensus, boundless; sub- or suf-fero, sustain.

The verb est, is, is sometimes joined in spelling with the previous word, especially in the old poets, or when the two would be united by elision: as homost, he is a man, periculumst, there is danger. So vin', wilt? scin', know'st? for visne, scisne.

In the division of syllables, a consonant between two vowels is always written with the latter; as do-mi-nus, master: also, any combination of consonants which can be used to begin a word; as ho-spes, guest; ma-gnus, great; a-strum, star; di-xit, said.

Among us, Latin is generally pronounced like English. But there are no silent letters, except in scanning verse, by the usage called elision.

c and g are made soft before e, i, y, and the diphthongs ae, eu, oe,; ch is always like k; es and (in plural cases) os, are pronounced as in disease, morose.

The Roman pronunciation of the Vowels was no doubt like the Italian. In English, for the long and short vowels respectively, it may be nearly represented thus: :

a as in father, fast; e as in rein, met; i as in machine, fill; o as in holy, wholly; u as in rude, full.

c and g were probably always sounded hard.

1. A vowel before another vowel is short; as, via, way.

2. A diphthong is long; as, foedus, league.

3. A syllable formed by contraction is long; as, nīl, nothing, for nihil.

4. A vowel before two consonants or a double consonant is long, as rectus, straight, judēx, juror: but a short vowel before a mute followed by 1 or r, is common, as in volucris, bird; that is, it may be long in verse.

The sign denotes that a vowel is long; that it is short. A short vowel differs from a long one not in sound but in length; as in pătĕr, father, mátěr, mother.

4. ACCENT.

Words of two syllables are always accented on the Penult; as; ĕ'rant, they were.

Words of more than two syllables are accented on the Penult, if that is long; as, amī'cus, friend: if it is short, or common, then on the Antepenult; as, dom'inŭs, master; al'acris, eager.

The Penult is the last syllable but one; the Antepenult, the last but two (paene, almost; ultima, last.)

5. INFLECTION.

1. Inflection is a change made in the ending of a word to express some change in meaning; as, voc o, I call; voc ǎt, he calls.

2. That part of the word which remains unchanged is called the Root or Stem. When a primitive form, common to Latin with other languages, it is always called the Root: thus the root of fug a, flight, is found in the English fug

itive.

3. In Latin, Nouns, Adjectives, Pronouns, Participles, are inflected to express Declension (gender, number, and case); Adjectives and Adverbs to express Comparison; Verbs to express Conjugation (voice, mood, tense, number, and person).

4. Those parts of speech which are not inflected are called Particles: they are, Prepositions, Conjunctions, and Interjections. Adverbs, especially those of time, place, and manner, are also sometimes reckoned as Particles.

6. GENDER.

1. Gender may be either natural, as pŭěr, boy; puellă, girl; malum, apple: or grammatical, as lapis, stone (masc.); mănus, hand (fem.).

2. The following are general rules of gender:

Names of Rivers (except a few ending in a) are masculine : as, Tăměsis, the Thames; Rhodănus, the Rhone.

Most names of Plants are feminine: as, cornus, cornel.

Indeclinable nouns, or Phrases used as nouns, are neuter; as, illud Cassianum, “Cui bănō fuerit," that saying of Cassius, "For whose advantage it was."

3. Many Nouns may be either masculine or feminine, according to sex; as, exsul, exile; bōs, ox, cow. They are said to be of Common Gender.

4. A few are always connected with adjectives in the same gender, either masculine or feminine, independent of sex; thus, anser, goose, is always masculine, and vulpēs, fox, feminine. They are called Epicene.

7. CASE.

There are in Latin six Cases; namely, —

1. NOMINATIVE, used as the subject of a direct proposition: as, pătĕr meus ǎdest, my father is here.

2. GENITIVE (of), generally denoting origin or possession; also used with many adjectives and verbs, especially those expressing emotion; as,

patris ejus ǎmīcus misĕrētur mei, his father's friend pities me.

3. DATIVE (to or for), generally used for the indirect object after a verb or adjective: as,

dědit mihi ensem: magnō mìhī ūsui ĕrăt; he gave me a sword: it was of great service to me.

4. ACCUSATIVE (towards), used as the direct object of a verb, and after most prepositions: as,

dum agrum ărăbăt în hortum vēnī, while he was ploughing the field I came into the garden.

5. VOCATIVE, used in direct address: as,

hūc věnī cārě mi filiŏlĕ, come hither my dear little son.

6. ABLATIVE (by, from, with), used with many verbs and prepositions: as,

In hortō lūdēbāmus et cultellō mē laesit, we were playing in the garden and he hurt me with a knife.

All, excepting the nominative and vocative, are often called Oblique cases.

7. Some grammarians reckon also a Locative case, signifying the place where it is generally the same in form with the Dative, and may be called the Dative of Place: as,

Rōmae věl Athēnīs essě vělim, I should like to be at Rome or
Athens.

I. There are five Declensions of nouns in Latin, distinguished by the termination of the Genitive Singular, and by their characteristic or leading vowel. These are as fol

II. The following are general rules of declension:

1. The vocative is always the same in form with the nominative, except in the singular of nouns in us, of the second declension.

2. In Neuters, the nominative and accusative are always alike, and in the plural end in ă.

3. Except in neuters, the accusative singular always ends in m, and the accusative plural in s.

4. In the most ancient form, the dative singular of all the declensions ends in i; in the third declension, the locative case may end in ĕ or i.

5. The dative and ablative plural are always alike.

6. The genitive plural always ends in um.