CHAPTER 14 "I-Stem Nouns of the Third Declension; Ablative of Means, Manner, and Accompaniment" THIRD DECLENSION NOUNS As you learned in Chapter 7, the thematic vowel of the third conjugation case endings tends to be a short "-e-". You also saw that the short "-e-" has a habit of turning into an "-i-". Let's take a look at the third declension endings again. Remember, part of the problem of nouns which belong to the third declension is that their stem -- that is, the root to which the case endings are added -- may be a substantially different form from the nominative singular. You must look at the dictionary listing for the genitive singular to get the true stem of the noun. (And don't forget the laws of the neuter nouns: (1) the accusative is always the same as the nominative; and (2) the nominative plural ending is a short "-a-".) Decline the following nouns: homo, -inis (m) virtus, -tutis (f) tempus, -oris (n) N/V. _______________ _______________ _______________ Gen. _______________ _______________ _______________ Dat. _______________ _______________ _______________ Acc. _______________ _______________ _______________ Abl. _______________ _______________ _______________ N/V. _______________ _______________ _______________ Gen. _______________ _______________ _______________ Dat. _______________ _______________ _______________ Acc. _______________ _______________ _______________ Abl. _______________ _______________ _______________ As you can see, masculine, feminine and neuter nouns of the third declension use the same case endings. The only exceptions are the accusative singular and the nominative and accusative plural of neuter nouns. But this is what neuter nouns do, no matter what declension they belong to: they obey the laws of the neuter. So really, the neuter nouns of the third declension use the same endings as third declension masculine and feminine nouns. The only differences are where neuter nouns are obeying their own peculiar laws. THIRD DECLENSION I-STEM NOUNS There is a class of nouns in the third declension which does not maintain this regularity. We call this class of third declension nouns the "i-stems" because an "-i-" turns up in some unexpected places in the case endings. Basically, i-stem nouns use the same endings as the normal, non-i-stem third declension nouns. But in a couple of places, i-stem nouns differ. What is more, i-stem masculine and feminine nouns don't behave the same way neuter i-stem nouns behave. So you're going to have to learn three things in this chapter: (1) how to recognize whether a third declension noun is an i-stem noun; (2) how to decline masculine and feminine i-stem nouns; (3) how to decline neuter i-stem nouns. First off: how can you tell whether a noun is an i-stem noun of the third declension? The dictionary doesn't tell you explicitly whether a noun is i-stem or not because there are ways to tell simply by looking at the normal dictionary entries for a noun: the nominative case, the genitive case (including the stem), and the gender. NEUTER I-STEMS Let's start with the easiest. I. Rule for Detecting Neuter i-stem Nouns (a) If a third declension noun is neuter, and (b) if its nominative case ends in "-al", "-ar", or "-e", THEN the noun is a neuter i-stem. This is fairly easy. You look up a noun and the dictionary tells you this: "animal, -is (n)". "Animal" is the nominative case. The next entry tells you the genitive, from which you spot any stem changes and learn the declension of the noun. The "-is" entry tells you there are no stem changes and that the noun is third declension (since "-is" is the genitive ending in the third declension). The final entry is, of course, the gender, and for "animal" it's neuter. Therefore, you have a neuter noun of the third declension whose nominative ends in "-al". So the noun is an i-stem. Simple, isn't it. So if you remember this rule, you'll be able to spot, from the dictionary entry alone, all neuter i-stem nouns of the third declension: if it's a neuter noun which ends in "-al", "-ar", or "-e", then it's an i-stem. And how do neuter i-stems decline? They differ from non-i-stem nouns in four cases: (1) the ablative singular is a long "-i" instead of the normal short "-e"; (2,3) the nominative (and therefore the accusative) plural is "-ia" instead of just plain "-a"; (4) the genitive plural is "-ium" instead of "-um". Let's have a look. Decline the following neuter i-stem nouns, and compare them to a regular neuter noun of the third declension "corpus, -oris (n)": corpus, -oris animal, -is mare, -is exemplar, -is N/V. ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________ Gen. ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________ Dat. ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________ Acc. ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________ Abl. ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________ N/V. ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________ Gen. ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________ Dat. ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________ Acc. ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________ Abl. ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________ MASCULINE AND FEMININE I-STEMS Masculine and feminine i-stems are both easier and more complicated at the same time. On the one hand, there is only one case where the masculine and feminine i-stems differ from the regular non-i-stems. On the other hand, the detection process is more exquisite. First the detection. There are two different rules for establishing whether a masculine or feminine third declension noun is an i-stem. But you can get all the information you need by looking at the standard dictionary entry. Here are the two rules. I. The Parisyllabic Rule (the Equal Syllable Rule) (a) If a masculine or feminine noun ends in an "-is" or an "-es" in the nominative singular, and (b) if the nominative singular and the genitive singular have the same number of syllables, THEN the noun is an i-stem of the masculine and feminine type. Let's go right along to the second rule; after that I'll show you some examples. II. The Double Consonant Rule (a) If a masculine or feminine noun ends in an "-s" or an "-x", and (b) if its stem ends with two consonants, THEN the noun is an i-stem of the masculine and feminine type. Let's look at an example of both these rules. You see this noun in the dictionary: "civis, civis (m)". Is it an i-stem? Well, it's a masculine noun of the third declension. It's not neuter, so you don't have to worry about whether the nominative ends in an "-al", "-ar", or "-e". But you do have to run it through the two rules for masculine and feminine nouns. (The Parisyllabic and the Double Consonant rules apply ONLY to masculine and feminine nouns.) The nominative ends in an "-s", so you have to pursue the double consonant rule a little farther. Look at the stem: it's "civ-". Does its stem end with two consonants? No, so "civis" fails the second provision of the Double Consonant rule. Now try to run it through the Parisyllabic rule. The nominative ends in "-is", which is the first provision of the rule, so you have to go on. Provision (b) of the Parisyllabic rule also applies to "civis", since the nominative and the genitive cases have the same number of syllables. So, according to the Parisyllabic rule, "civis" is an i-stem noun of the masculine an feminine type. Another noun: "ars, artis (m)". Follow the steps carefully. Is this an i-stem? Why or why not? Of course it is. It ends in "-s" or "-x" in the nominative (provision (a) of the Double Consonant rule), and its stem, "art-", ends in a double consonant. It fulfills both provision of the Double Consonant rule, so it is an i-stem. So how do masculine and feminine i-stem nouns decline? The only case where they differ from the non-i-stem nouns is in the genitive plural, where the i-stems insert an "-i-" before the normal "-um" ending of the third declension. And that's it. Decline the following nouns. homo, -inis (m) ars, artis (m) civis, civis (m) N/V. ________________ ________________ ________________ Gen. ________________ ________________ ________________ Dat. ________________ ________________ ________________ Acc. ________________ ________________ ________________ Abl. ________________ ________________ ________________ N/V. ________________ ________________ ________________ Gen. ________________ ________________ ________________ Dat. ________________ ________________ ________________ Acc. ________________ ________________ ________________ Abl. ________________ ________________ ________________ This may seem like a lot to remember (and it probably is), but try to work slowly through these drills; be deliberate and logical. You'll be surprised at how quickly these rules stick. Which of these nouns are i-stems? If any is an i-stems, indicate which rule applies to it. I-STEM (YES/NO) RELEVANT RULE ignis, ignis (f) __________ _________________________ dens, dentis (m) __________ _________________________ civitas, -tatis (f) __________ _________________________ rex, regis (m) __________ _________________________ opus, operis (n) __________ _________________________ tempus, -oris (n) __________ _________________________ nox, noctis (f) __________ _________________________ moles, molis (f) __________ _________________________ urbs, urbis (f) __________ _________________________ sol, solis (m) __________ _________________________ hostis, hostis (m) __________ _________________________ dux, ducis (m) __________ _________________________ orator, -toris (m) __________ _________________________ finis, finis (m) __________ _________________________ gens, gentis (f) __________ _________________________ laus, laudis (f) __________ _________________________ genus, generis (n) __________ _________________________ veritas, -tatis (f) __________ _________________________ aetas, -tatis (f) __________ _________________________ USES OF THE ABLATIVE: MANNER, ACCOMPANIMENT, MEANS Way back when I promised you that we'd someday have to start cleaning up the ablative case. Today is that day; but this is going to be just a start, and just a review. The ablative case can be used either with a governing preposition or without one. If the ablative case completes the meaning of a preposition, then the ablative itself poses no real problem as far as the translation goes. You simply translate the preposition and then the noun: de veritate = about truth e civitate = from the city sub mari = under the sea in Graecia = in Greece cum meo filio = with my son In other words, the fact that the noun itself is in the ablative case presents no difficulties. It's in the ablative case because that is the case required by the preposition which is governing it. A noun can be in the ablative case, however, without a preposition; when it is, the noun takes on a special meaning that is derived from the ablative case itself. As the weeks go by you'll be collecting a list of the uses of the prepositionless ablative case. Up to this point, you have only one use of the ablative case without a preposition: it's the Instrumental Ablative (also called the "Ablative of Means"). Do you remember this one: "Veritatem oculis animi videre possumus". Here you have the noun "oculis" in the ablative plural without a preposition, so, as far as you know, this must be an Instrumental Ablative (or Ablative of Means). An Instrumental Ablative shows with what thing the action of the verb is performed, and there as many ways we can translate it into English. We can say, "We can see truth with the eyes of the soul". "We can see truth by the eyes of the soul". "We can see truth by means of the eyes of the soul". "We can see truth through the eyes of the soul". Although each of these translations in English have their own feel and association of meanings, they are all legitimate translations of the Latin Instrumental Ablative. Use your own native English sense to tell you which translation to use, but remember the essential meaning of the Latin Instrumental Ablative: it shows with what thing the action of the verb is performed. CUM + ABLATIVE = ABLATIVE OF MANNER OR ACCOMPANIMENT One use of the ablative with a preposition needs a little further examination. You probably remember that the preposition "cum" + ablative" means "with" in the sense of accompaniment. This use of the ablative is fairly straight forward, because it works like English. Veniam cum amicis meis ad nostram patriam. Invenietis eum cum nostro filio. Tyrannus erit ibi cum ducibus. But "cum" + ablative can also mean something that boarders on our adverbs. Well call it the "Ablative of Manner", because it gives you some information about how or in what manner the action was completed. And words which tell you how the action was performed are adverbs. Now let's pause a second. Don't get this confused with the Ablative of Means. The Ablative of Means will answer the question "With what" the action is performed; the Ablative of Manner tells you "In what manner" the action is being performed. Study these examples. Where would the English be representing a Latin Ablative of Manner, where an Ablative of Means, where an Ablative of Accompaniment? "She saw the fire with her binoculars". "Dogs run with their legs". "He drove the nail in with his hammer". "He drove the nail in with great haste". "He drove the nail in with indifference". "They put the wall up with great speed". So how does the Ablative of Manner approach the adverb? What is another way to say "with great haste"? We could say "very hastily", and "hastily" is an adverb. How about "with indifference"? "Indifferently". But some of the Ablative of Manner have no nice one-word adverbial equivalent. For example, what would the adverb for "with great speed" be? The Ablative of Manner affords the writer the opportunity to elaborate on the manner in which the action is being performed in a way a simple adverb does not. Now let's look at some examples in Latin. Remember, translate them into idiomatic English. 1. Cum celeritate id fecit. _______________________________________________________ 2. Cum civibus istis nos non iungemus. _______________________________________________________ 3. Cum cura cucurrimus. _______________________________________________________ 4. Gessimus civitatem cum sapientia. _______________________________________________________ 5. Tyrannus civitatem pecunia cepit. _______________________________________________________ VOCABULARY PUZZLES vis, vis (f) In the singular it means "power"; in the plural it means "strength". A very strange noun, with a very strange declension. As you can tell it's third declension and it should be an i-stem noun. (The Parisyllabic rule.) In the singular it's odd but somewhat predictable; but in the plural it changes stems: from "v-" to "vir-". Pay attention, though; it's easy to mix up the plural of "vis" with the 2nd declension noun "vir, -i, (m)". Look it over; and write down the plural of "vir" next to it in the plural. Even though, as you can see, none of the forms of the two words are identical, still students always confuse them. Believe me: you must work a little to keep the two straight. SINGULAR PLURAL PLURAL OF vir, -i N/V. vis vires viri Gen. vis virium virorum Dat. --- viribus viris Acc. vim vires viros Abl. vi viribus viris 01/05/93