NOMINA

 Latina nomina are indeed "names." English nouns typically have singular and plural forms which can be used in any grammatical function without a change in spelling.

  • The dog bit Marcus. (dog is the subject)
  • Marcus bit the dog. (dog is direct object of "bit")
  • Marcus is the owner of the dog. (dog is possesive, limits "owner")
  • Marcus threw the bone to the dog. (dog is the indirect object of "threw")
  • Marcus took the done from the dog. (dog is the object of the preposition "from")

By contrast, Latin nouns have distinct morphological forms (spellings) depending upon the grammatical function for which they are employed.

  • Marc-us canem clamat. (Marcus is the subject)
  • Canis Marc-um mordet. (Marcum is direct object of "mordet")
  • Canis Marc-i est. (Marci is possesive, limits "canis")
  • Canis ludicrum Marc-o dat. (Marco is the indirect object of "dat")
  • Canis laetus sine Marc-o est. (Marco is the object of the preposition "sine")

It is VITAL to understand that the different forms are not interchangable. Marcus can be the subject, but it can never be the direct object of a verb.

 NOUN STEM: The noun stem is the genitive form with the particular genitive ending removed (e.g. insul- from insul-ae).

 

 DECLENSION: The particular set of case endings and manner of joining them to the noun stem.

  • There are FIVE declensions of the Latin nouns.
  • Nouns from one declension do not take the endings from another declension.
  • Nouns are listed in the dictionary under their nominative singular and genitive singular ending with m., f., or n. denoting gender (e.g. insula, -ae; f.).

 DICTIONARY ENTRIES:
 Declension  Nominative  Genitive ending
First  stem-a  -ae
 Second  stem-us; -um  -i
 Third  ????  -is
 Fourth  stem-us; -u -us
 Fifth  stem-es  -ei

 CASE ENDINGS: The set of endings joined to a noun stem in order to indicate its case, number, and gender: e.g. -us, -um, -i, -o, -o. Thus case endings designate the grammatical functions possible for a noun.

  • Case: The case of a noun determines what grammatical functions it can play in a sentence: e.g. the Accusative can be the direct object of a verb, the object of some prepositions, etc.. Functions and Uses of the Cases
  • Number: A noun is either singular (one of it) or plural (more than one of it).
  • Gender: Latin nouns are divided into genders, generally along logical lines: masculine, feminine, and neuter.

 COMPARISON of CASE ENDINGS:
   Declinatio I  Declinatio II  Declinatio III Declinatio IV  Declinatio V
 Nominativus (singul.)  -a -us; -um  -??? -us; -u -es
 Accusativus -am -um -em, -??? -um; -u -em
 Genetivus -ae -i -is -us -ei
 Dativus  -ae -o -i -ui; -u -ei
 Ablativus -a -o -e; -i -u -e
           
 Nominativus (pluralis)  -ae -i; -a -es; -a, -ia -us; -ua -es
 Accusativus  -as -os; -a  -es (-is); -a, -ia  -us; -ua  -es
 Genetivus  -arum -orum -um; -ium -uum -erum
 Dativus -is  -is  -ibus   -ibus   -ebus
 Ablativus  -is  -is   -ibus   -ibus  -ebus

NOTA BENE:

  • Where neuter forms differ from masculine/feminine, they follow a semi-colon.

 First Declension:

(stem-a, -ae)
   Singularis  Pluralis
 Nominativus  insul-a  insul-ae
 Accusativus  insul-am  insul-as
 Genitivus  insul-ae  insul-arum
 Dativus  insul-ae  insul-is
 Ablativus  insul-a  insul-is

NOTA BENE:

  • Except for a very few nouns which are masculine due to sense (e.g. nauta, -ae; sailor), the first declension nouns are feminine.

 

 Second Declension:

 (stem-us, -i; masculine)
 Masculinum  Singularis  Pluralis
 Nominativus  fluvi-us  fluvi-i
 Accusativus  fluvi-um  fluvi-os
 Genitivus  fluvi-i  fluvi-orum
 Dativus  fluvi-o  fluvi-is
 Ablativus  fluvi-o  fluvi-is

 (stem-um, -i; neuter)
 Neutrum  Singularis  Pluralis
 Nominativus  oppid-um  oppid-a
 Accusativus  oppid-um  oppid-a
 Genitivus  oppid-i  oppid-orum
 Dativus  oppid-o  oppid-is
 Ablativus  oppid-o  oppid-is

NOTA BENE:

  • A few nouns of the 2nd declension have a nominative singular terminating in [-r]; the stem for such nouns, as always, should be taken from the genitive singular.

 

 Third Declension: (???, -is)

  • The nominative singular can be nearly anything and frequently DOES NOT contain the complete stem used to form the other cases (which comes from the genitive as with all nouns).
  • Third declension nouns are divided into two classes: consonant-stem and i-stem.

 Masculine/Feminine Consonant Stem
   Singularis  Pluralis
 Nominativus  leo  leon-es
 Accusativus  leon-em  leon-es [or -is]
 Genitivus  leon-is  leon-um
 Dativus  leon-i  leon-ibus
 Ablativus  leon-e  leon-ibus

 Masculine/Feminine i-Stem
   Singularis  Pluralis
 Nominativus  mons   mont-es
 Accusativus  mont-em  mont-es [or -is]
 Genitivus  mont-is  mont-ium
 Dativus  mont-i  mont-ibus
 Ablativus  mont-e  mont-ibus

NOTA BENE:

  • Masculine and feminine i-stem nouns are identified by nominative singular ending in [-is], [-es], or a double consonent, often ending in [-s] or [-x] (e.g. mons, arx).
  • For the masculine and feminine nouns, i-stem nouns differ from consonent stem nouns in that they have [-ium] rather than [-um] in the genitive plural.

 Neuter Consonant Stem
 N con-stem  Singularis  Pluralis
 Nominativus  onus  oner-a
 Accusativus  onus  oner-a
 Genitivus  oner-is  oner-um
 Dativus  oner-i   oner-ibus
 Ablativus  oner-e  oner-ibus

 Neuter i-Stem
 N i-stem  Singularis  Pluralis
 Nominativus  mare  mar-ia
 Accusativus  mare  mar-ia
 Genitivus  mar-is  mar-ium
 Dativus  mar-i   mar-ibus
 Ablativus  mar-i  mar-ibus

NOTA BENE:

  • Neuter i-stem nouns are identified by nominative singular ending in [-al], [-ar], or [-e].
  • For the neuter nouns, i-stem nouns differ from consonent stem nouns in that they have [-i] rather than [-e] in the ablative singular and an additional [-i-] in the plural nominative, accusative, and genitive.

 

 Fourth Declension:

 (stem-us, -us; masculine/feminine)
 Masc/Fem  Singularis  Pluralis
 Nominativus  man-us  man-us
 Accusativus  man-um  man-us
 Genitivus  man-us  man-uum
 Dativus  man-ui  man-ibus
 Ablativus  man-u  man-ibus

 (stem-u, -us; neuter)
 Neuter  Singularis  Pluralis
 Nominativus  corn-u   corn-ua
 Accusativus  corn-u  corn-ua
 Genitivus  corn-us  corn-uum
 Dativus  corn-u  corn-ibus
 Ablativus  corn-u  corn-ibus

 

 Fifth Declension:

(stem-es, -ei)

   Singularis  Pluralis
 Nominativus  meridi-es  meridi-es
 Accusativus  meridi-em  meridi-es
 Genitivus  meridi-ei  meridi-erum
 Dativus  meridi-ei  meridi-ebus
 Ablativus  meridi-e  meridi-ebus

NOTA BENE:

  • The genitive and dative singular has -ei (both vowels long by nature) when preceeded by a vowel in the stem, as in meridi-ei, but -ei when preceeded by a consonent, as in r-ei.

 

Liber Grammaticus Latinus /\\||\\/ Classis Latina MIII Pagina Villae