The following paragraph is a short story about a bear who fights in gladiator battles. It's written using grammar constructions that you should have learned prior to this class. Don’t write out a translation, but feel free to mark up the Latin as you read, and be sure to notice areas that are a struggle. You'll want to be sure to practice those!
Horatia ursa erat. illa in amphitheatro Carthaginis vivit. corpus Horatiae erat magnum et pingue. dentes Horatiae erant ferocissimi et acerrimi. totus populus ab ursa terrebatur: talem asperam faciem habebat ursa! tamen Horatia in immensa arena ludere gaudebat. uno die cum tauro pugnabat, Horatia aprum qui velociter currebat spectabat. aper avarus sanguinis ad eam aspiciebat. Horatia iaciebat suum corpus in harenam. sic aper taurum non aggrediebatur. sed Horatia non perfecerat.
Additional vocab help:
taurus: bull; aper: wild boar; curro: to run; iacio: to throw, hurl; harena: sand; aggredior: to attack, perficio: to finish
Read through each sentence (or even the whole paragraph) before you start looking up individual words. Don’t look anything up yet!
Keep an eye out for the subjects of each sentence and the verbs and remember that verbs can help you figure out the subjects of sentences
Once you’ve given it an initial look, go back over the Latin—this time, you can start looking up words and puzzling out forms. Make notes to help yourself, but don’t write out a full translation!
You might be wondering why I urged you not to write out a translation. We all have different reasons for wanting to learn to read original Latin texts, but let's not kid outselves--the goal is not coming up with THE definitive, perfect, translation. There are loads of English translations of every Latin text that you can find both in books and various places online. Your job in translating is not to make a perfect translation but to become part of this ongoing conversation about the text. As we go over the text of the Passio in class, your mind might change about how you want to understand a sentence--and that's great! But, I've found that writing out translations can trap you into thinking that there's only one way to make sense of the text.
This course assumes you have a decent grasp of the foundational Latin that's described below. Take a look at the list and figure out where you feel rusty and what you need to review.
Verbs—verbs do the stuff in the sentence
3 persons (1 = I/we, 2 = you/y’all, 3 = he, she, it/they). The verb’s ending gives you this information.
They’re divided into 5 conjugations (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 3rd –io)—conjugations give you information about tenses:
Present system = present, imperfect, future tenses
Perfect system = perfect, pluperfect, future perfect
various ways to translate these tenses
present: I love; I am loving
imperfect: I was loving; I used to love; I began to love; I tried to love
future: I will love
perfect: completed action in the past: I loved; I have loved
pluperfect: action further back in the past: I had loved
future perfect: I will have loved
moods: indicative, infinitive (in present or perfect tense), imperative (in present tense)
voices: active (I love, I will love), passive (I am loved, I will be loved), deponent and semi-deponent
irregular verbs: sum, possum, fero, eo, volo, nolo, malo
You should also know the principal parts of each verb (ideally!)
Nouns—nouns are the stuff of the sentence
basic uses of cases—the noun’s endings tell you the case/use of the noun in the sentence:
nominative: subject of verb, predicate nom,
genitive: possession, used with certain adjectives, value,
dative: indirect object, with certain adjectives,
accusative: direct object of verb, with preposition, duration of time, place to which
ablative: used with preposition, time when, place from which, comparison
vocative: direct address
there are 5 declensions—declensions are the way we organize the different systems of endings
genders (feminine, masculine, neuter)
numerals
Adjectives—adjectives describe nouns
decline mostly like nouns
2-1-2 adjectives: i.e. magnus, magna, magnum, and 3rd decl. adjectives
agree with nouns in number, gender, and case
may also be used as nouns (aka substantive adjectives: barbari viri = barbari)
comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs
irregular adjectives, and sort of irregular adjectives like UNUS NAUTA
correlative adjectives and adverbs
Adverbs—adverbs describe the other parts of the sentence
formed from adjectives, end in –e (if a 2-1-2 adjective) or –iter (if 3rd decl)
many various other adjectives (mox, diu, paene, etc.)
Pronouns—prounouns give you a shortcut when you’re talking about nouns
demonstrative (hic, ille, iste, is, ipse)
personal and reflexive
relative and interrogative
Prepositions and the cases with which they’re used
some prepositions use multiple cases—their meaning shifts depending on which case is being used
Parsing is a specific and detailed way of explaining the grammar of a given word, including the particular use of the word in the context of the sentence. Successfully parsing words in your readings helps you show that you understand what's going on with the words in the text.
To parse verbs, you should include the person, number (sg or pl), tense, mood, voice of the word. You should also include the lexical entry (at least the 1st principal part)
For parsing nouns, you should include the gender, number (sg or pl), case, lexical entry, and explain its use in context.
Adjectives are parsed similarly to nouns: the gender, number (sg or pl), case, lexical entry, and an explanation of its use in context—often these will be modifying a noun—be sure to say which one.