New Latin Grammar | Page 8

change of form to express modifications of meaning. In case of Nouns, Adjectives, and Pronouns, this process is called Declension; in case of verbs, Conjugation.
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CHAPTER I.
--_Declension._
A. NOUNS.
12. A Noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or _quality_; as, Caesar, _Caesar_; R?ma, _Rome_; penna, _feather_; virt??s, courage.
1. Nouns are either Proper or Common. Proper nouns are permanent names of persons or places; as, Caesar, R?ma. Other nouns are Common: as, penna, virt??s.
2. Nouns are also distinguished as Concrete or Abstract.
a) Concrete nouns are those which designate individual objects; as, m?ns, _mountain_; p?��s, _foot_; di?��s, _day_; m?��ns, mind.
Under concrete nouns are included, also, collective nouns; as, legi?, _legion_; comit?tus, retinue.
b) Abstract nouns designate qualities; as, c?nstantia, _steadfastness_; paupert?s, poverty.
GENDER OF NOUNS.
13. There are three Genders,--Masculine, Feminine, and Neuter. Gender in Latin is either natural or grammatical.
Natural Gender.
14. The gender of nouns is natural when it is based upon sex. Natural gender is confined entirely to names of persons; and these are--
1. Masculine, if they denote males; as,--
nauta, _sailor_; agricola, farmer.
2. Feminine, if they denote females; as,--
m?ter, _mother_; r?��g??na, queen.
Grammatical Gender.
15. Grammatical gender is determined not by sex, but by the general signification of the word, or the ending of its Nominative Singular. By grammatical gender, nouns denoting things or qualities are often Masculine or Feminine, simply by virtue of their signification or the ending of the Nominative Singular. The following are the general principles for determining grammatical gender:--
_A. Gender determined by Signification._
1. Names of Rivers, Winds, and Months are Masculine; as,--
S?��quana, _Seine_; Eurus, _east wind_; Apr??lis, April.
2. Names of Trees, and such names of Towns and Islands as end in -us, are Feminine; as,--
quercus, _oak_; Corinthus, _Corinth_; Rhodus, Rhodes.
Other names of towns and islands follow the gender of their endings (see B, below); as,--
Delph??, n.; Leuctra, n.; T??bur, n.; Carth?g?, f.
3. Indeclinable nouns, also infinitives and phrases, are Neuter; as,--
nihil, _nothing_; nef?s, _wrong_; am?re, to love.
NOTE.--Exceptions to the above principles sometimes occur; as, Allia (the river), f.
_B. Gender determined by Ending of Nominative Singular._
The gender of other nouns is determined by the ending of the Nominative Singular.[11]
NOTE 1.--_Common Gender._ Certain nouns are sometimes Masculine, sometimes Feminine. Thus, sacerd?s may mean either priest or priestess, and is Masculine or Feminine accordingly. So also c??vis, _citizen_; par?��ns, _parent_; etc. The gender of such nouns is said to be common.
NOTE 2.--Names of animals usually have grammatical gender, according to the ending of the Nominative Singular, but the one form may designate either the male or female; as, ?nser, m., goose or gander. So vulp?��s, f., _fox_; aqu??la, f., eagle.
NUMBER.
16. The Latin has two Numbers,--the Singular and Plural. The Singular denotes one object, the Plural, more than one.
CASES.
17. There are six Cases in Latin:--
Nominative, Case of Subject; Genitive, Objective with of, or Possessive; Dative, Objective with to or _for_; Accusative, Case of Direct Object; Vocative, Case of Address; Ablative, Objective with by, from, in, with.
1. LOCATIVE. Vestiges of another case, the Locative (denoting place where), occur in names of towns and in a few other words.
2. OBLIQUE CASES. The Genitive, Dative, Accusative, and Ablative are called Oblique Cases.
3. STEM AND CASE-ENDINGS. The different cases are formed by appending certain case-endings to a fundamental part called the Stem.[12] Thus, portam (Accusative Singular) is formed by adding the case-ending -m to the stem porta-. But in most cases the final vowel of the stem has coalesced so closely with the actual case-ending that the latter has become more or less obscured. The _apparent case-ending_ thus resulting is called a termination.
THE FIVE DECLENSIONS.
18. There are five Declensions in Latin, distinguished from each other by the final letter of the Stem, and also by the Termination of the Genitive Singular, as follows:--
DECLENSION. FINAL LETTER OF STEM. GEN. TERMINATION. First ? -ae Second ? -?? Third ?- / Some consonant -??s Fourth ?- -??s Fifth ?�� -?��?? / -????
Cases alike in Form.
19. 1. The Vocative is regularly like the Nominative, except in the singular of nouns in -us of the Second Declension.
2. The Dative and Ablative Plural are always alike.
3. In Neuters the Accusative and Nominative are always alike, and in the Plural end in -??.
4. In the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Declensions, the Accusative Plural is regularly like the Nominative.
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FIRST DECLENSION.
?-Stems.
20. Pure Latin nouns of the First Declension regularly end, in the Nominative Singular, in -??, weakened from -?, and are of the Feminine Gender. They are declined as follows:--
Porta, _gate_; stem, port?-.
SINGULAR. CASES. MEANINGS. TERMINATIONS. _Nom._ porta a gate (as subject) -?? _Gen._ portae of a gate -ae _Dat._ portae to or for a gate -ae _Acc._ portam a gate (as object) -am _Voc._ porta _O gate!_ -?? _Abl._ port? _with, by, from, in a gate_ -?
PLURAL. _Nom._ portae gates (as subject) -ae _Gen._ port?rum of gates -?rum _Dat._