Language Learners' Library

Would you like the exercises to be:

  • More modern
  • More Japanese
  • Just the same

0 voters

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Ohhh, good grammar workout, this one is going to be hard!

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“Celtic collar rings writed be.” “Red gems and amethysts the cut be” What by Jove is that supposed to mean? Please explain, why you think a) the nominative singular masculine of the participles is appropriate, and b) why you feel the need to include an infinitive.
Please note my purposely bad “writed”.

Volumina antiqua works better. A volumen literally is “a rolled up thing”.

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Wiktionary gives torquis (root of torquēs) as “chaplet, collar, necklace, ring, wreath”. I figured I could use it in its fourth sense. Is there a better term for ring?

Then I looked at https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Latin_third_conjugation#Participles, where it says “Perfect passive: tēctus esse (“to have been covered”)” and used that as my base. I know, I have to go back to your post and read about the participles again – I must remember to inflect them! I’ll redo this since it’s clear I stil don’t understand (which is fine :slight_smile: )

Is there an infinitive there??

Also, thanks for the note about pergamēna.

You have it there: tectus esseto have been covered.” The “covered” part is only tectus. We call this form the Participle Perfect Passive, short PPP. The PPP, together with the forms of esse as auxiliary forms the passive voice of the perfect tense, much as in english. tectus sum “I have been covered”, tecti sumus “we have been covered” (or: I am covered, we are covered).

There is no Participle Perfect Active in Latin, but in Greek: pepaideukōs, ‘one, who has been educating’.
Latin has furthermore a Participle Present Active PPA corresponding to the english -ing form: laborans, -ntis “working”. Also, a Participle Future Active PFA: laboraturus, -i “about to work”.
You see how not all possibilities are explored in Latin. Greek has participles for all aspects (rather than tenses) and all voices.

I know torquis mostly from Celtic archeology, where it’s the neck-rings worn by nobles. A fingerring is an anulus. Anulorum Erus - Vicipaedia

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I couldn’t think of what to do now… so I’ve made a 100-Noun Mega-Challenge

Food: bread, fruit, soup, beef, pork, chicken, vegetables, cake, fish, honey

Drink: water, wine, beer, cider, whisky, juice, lemonade, tea, coffee, milk

Entertainment: music, dancer, jester, juggler, circus, tavern, brothel, stadium, theatre, play

Geography: city, town, port, road, river, mountain, hill, coast, plain, island

Transport: horse, ox, cart, litter, bicycle, car, train, plane, ship, ferry

The Sea: wave, seawater, gull, albatross, anchovy, tuna, squid, mussel, clam, coral

Hierarchy: emperor, king, nobleman, priest, merchant, servant, slave, criminal, prisoner, leper

Profession: butcher, baker, builder, cook, soldier, author, actor, scholar, painter, sculptor

Treasure: sapphire, emerald, ruby, amethyst, diamond, opal, jet, ivory, platinum, gold

Education: teacher, student, desk, pencil, pen, ink, chalk, lecture, exercise, knowledge

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Food
English Nom. sg. Nom. pl. Gen. sg.
bread pānis n/a -is
fruit frūctus = =
soup iūs -ūra -ūris
beef būbula -ae =
pork petasiō -ōnes ōnis
chicken gallīna -ae =
vegetable holus -era -eris
cake crustulum -a
fish piscis -ēs -is
honey mel -la -lis
Drink
English Nom. sg. Nom. pl. Gen. sg.
water aqua -ae =
wine vīnum -a
beer cervesia -ae =
cider sīcera -ae =
whisky vischium -ia -iī
juice sūcus =
lemonade limonāta -ae =
tea thea -ae =
coffee cafea -ae =
milk lac n/a -tis
Entertainment
English Nom. sg. Nom. pl. Gen. sg.
music mūsica -ae =
dancer saltātor -ōrēs ōris
jester caulātor -ōrēs ōris
juggler aeruscātor -ōrēs ōris
circus circus =
tavern taberna -ae =
brothel stabulum -a
stadium stadium -a
theatre theātrum -a
play fābula -ae =
Geography
English Nom. sg. Nom. pl. Gen. sg.
city urbs -ēs -is
town mūnicipium -ia -iī
port portus -ūs =
road via -ae =
river flūmen -ina -inis
mountain mōns -tēs -tis
hill collis -ēs -is
coast ōra -ae =
plain campus
island īnsula -ae =
Transport
English Nom. sg. Nom. pl. Gen. sg.
horse equus =
ox bōs -vēs -vis
cart currus -ūs =
litter sella -ae =
bicycle birota -ae =
car autoraeda -ae =
train tramen -ina -inis
plane āeroplanum -a
ship nāvigium -ia
ferry pontō -ōnes -ōnis
The Sea
English Nom. sg. Nom. pl. Gen. sg.
wave unda -ae =
seawater mare -ia -is
gull larus =
albatross diomēdus* =
anchovy sardīna -ae =
tuna thunnus =
squid polypus =
mussel mūscellus =
clam pelōris -idēs -idis
coral corallium -ia -iī

(*) Improvisation from Diomedeidae, a taxonomic group

Hierarchy
English Nom. sg. Nom. pl. Gen. sg.
emperor imperātor -ōrēs -ōris
king rex -gēs -gis
nobleman procer -rēs -ris
priest sacerdōs -ōtēs -ōtis
merchant mercātor -ōrēs -ōris
servant assecula -ae =
slave servus
criminal sōns -tēs -tis
prisoner captīvus =
leper leprōsus
Profession
English Nom. sg. Nom. pl. Gen. sg.
butcher lanius -iī =
baker pistor -ōrēs -ōris
cook coquus =
soldier mīlēs -itēs -itis
author condītor -ōrēs -ōris
actor artifex -icēs -icis
scholar scholasticus
painter pictor -ōrēs -ōris
sculptor sculptor -ōrēs -ōris
Treasure
English Nom. sg. Nom. pl. Gen. sg.
sapphire sapphīrus =
emerald smaragdus =
ruby rubīnus =
amethyst amethystus
diamond adamās -antēs -antis
opal opalus =
jet gagātēs -ae =
ivory ebur -ora -oris
platinum platīnum -a
gold aurum -a
Education
English Nom. sg. Nom. pl. Gen. sg.
teacher praeceptor -ōrēs -ōris
student discipulus =
desk pulpitum -a
pencil stilus =
pen as above
ink ātrāmentum -a
chalk calx -cēs -cis
lecture audītiō -ōnēs -ōnis
exercise exercitium -ia -iī
knowledge scienta -ae =

I’ve noticed a few things lately about Latin spelling variants.

  1. e varies with i when it’s before a u
  2. b varies with p
  3. h can be used or not used
  4. consonants can be doubled or undoubled

So, this might reveal some information about accent variation if a proper research study was made. Probably it already has been, many years ago.

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I just looked at the vocabulary. The genus name for albatrosses goes back to a personal name Diomedes, the Greek hero at Troy. A scholar mighs as well be a philologus or a vir sapiens. A nobleman is vir nobilis. Procer means primarily ‘descendent’, if I’m not mistaken.

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Yeah, I knew the root of the genus name – although, not the reason for it.

I actually spent several minutes trying to find the right word for scholar. It was my most difficult translation out of the whole thing. There seemed to be a lot of near-homonyms, but none of them seemed to actually be a Classical Latin word with the definition “scholar”.

For instance, I went to https://latin-dictionary.net/ and I found philologus defined as scholar. I went to double-check this on Wiktionary, and there was no entry. So, I looked up English philologist there and the first definition was as a “historical linguist”. Somehow I missed the second listed sense of “a person devoted to general learning and literature”.

Wiktionary gave procer as “noble(s), prince(s), chief(s)” which is what Latdict also suggests.

@Vsotvep Would you like to do the honours of rolling 1d65 and 1d9 for today’s script spotlight?

435: generated by random.org

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Today’s script is Bamum, a writing system invented by the King of Cameroon!

I was actually reading about this yesterday.

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I was thinking a little about an hour ago: what were the ten most historically important world languages?

My list ended up looking like this:

  • Ancient Greek. The spring of Classical Western culture.
  • Latin. Foundation of the Romance dialect continuum and transmitter of many of the Greek terms.
  • Spanish. The dominant speech of Latin America for some 400-500 years.
  • English. The current global prestige language, and has been so for ~150 years.
  • Sanskrit. The base of a lot of Indian language and culture.
  • Egyptian. Spoken for a great length of time in one of the most powerful states.
  • Arabic. Has preserved a lot of ancient Semitic and Middle Eastern words over a large speakership.
  • “Chinese”. Insofar as we consider only a single Chinese language, it is here for obvious reasons.
  • Nahuatl. The language of the Aztecs.
  • Mayan. The second half of the Meso-American sprachbund.

Honourable mentions to Aramaic, Hebrew, and French.

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What was you measure for historical importance? I agree with the selection of languages, although I would give French and/or Spanish a place within the top ten. I am, however, not sure about the ranking itself. French was THE language of continental European diplomacy between the Pyrenees and the Ural from the 17th-19th century. Aramaic was the lingua franca of the middle east; the three official languages of the Achaemenids were Aramaic, Persian and Elamic (speaking of Elamic, I’ve got a friend who’s about to decipher Elamic linear script).

So, tell me, in your own words, what you’ve learned about Latin participles.

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They’re not in order of ranking. They’re in a different arrangement that I’ll let you figure out :stuck_out_tongue:

The numbers were misleading…

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Well, the’re all languages of Empires of some sort. Then, you could include Russian and Mongolian, or even Turkic.

Aaaalright, today’s Vocabulary Workout is about The Home.

Vocab Workout

1 - 5: floor, wall, roof, window, door
6 - 10: pillar, porch, cellar, chimney, fountain
11-15: carpet, tiles, mosaic, painting, decoration
16 - 20: table, chair, stool, couch, bed

And the Grammar Workout is about Possession.

Grammar Workout
  1. Hold your (pl.) ground!
  2. We are their prisoners.
  3. Our city is defended.
  4. My feet are sore.
  5. His schemes are wicked.
  6. I heard her voice.
  7. Your (sg.) food is excellent.

I wouldn’t consider any of those to be on the same level. They haven’t had a significant impact on other major languages.

Maybe it’s a cultural thing. I think even your anglic preception of a scholar differs from my Gelehrter. When I look up philologus in my dictionary, it gives me .1. Gelehrter, 2. Philologe. The first “philologoi” were simply people who liked texts, like “philosophoi” liked thinking and being wise. Now, at the library of Alexandria, the “philologoi” were the scholars who emended and edited texts from Homer and the other poets to establish an original wording, kicking out additions by later poets. Then, the word stayed to designate people with interest in texts and books, quite generally, but also in a professional way. So when the treatment of historical texts with the goal to establish good editions became a thing again after the invention of the printing press, the philologists were again the people who established a text that one could print and publish to general use by scholars. And that’s what me and my colleagues still do, among other things.

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