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Latin is an inflected language, and as such its nouns, pronouns, and adjectives must be declined in order to serve a grammatical function. A set of declined forms of the same word pattern is called a declension. There are five declensions, which are numbered and grouped by ending and grammatical gender. For simple declension paradigms, visit the Wiktionary appendices: , , , , . Grammatical cases A complete declension consists of seven grammatical cases: The sequence of the grammatical cases above is standard in North America, and in fact goes back to Byzantine grammarians originally writing about Greek. But the presentation NOM-VOC-ACC-GEN-DAT-ABL has been the usual order in Britain and many European and Commonwealth countries since the publication of Hall Kennedy's Latin Primer (1866). This order is argued to more closely reflect the tendencies of different cases to share similar endings. In Polish language Latin learner texts, however, the most common order is NOM-GEN-DAT-ACC-ABL-VOC, which is a similar order to the one adopted for Modern Polish. Likewise, in German textbooks, the order NOM-GEN-DAT-ACC-VOC-ABL is used, to mirror the order of the four grammatical cases of Modern German (NOM-GEN-DAT-ACC). The same order is used in Italian textbooks (Italian has no grammatical cases). However, Brazilian grammarian Napoleão Mendes uses the unusual sequence NOM-VOC-GEN-DAT-ABL-ACC. Syncretic trends Syncretism, where one form in a paradigm shares the ending of another form in the paradigm, is common in Latin. The following are the most notable patterns of syncretism: First declension (a) Nouns of this declension usually end in –a and are typically feminine, for example 'road' (via, viae fem.) and 'water' (aqua, aquae fem.), with a few masculine exceptions, including 'farmer' (agricola, agricolae masc.) and 'sailor' (nauta, nautae masc.). The predominant letter in the ending forms of this declension is a. The nominative singular form consists of the stem and the affix -a, and the genitive singular form is the stem plus -ae. First declension Greek nouns The first declension also holds three types of Greek nouns. They are declined irregularly in the singular. These nouns are derived from Ancient Greek's Alpha Declension. 1—may be –am 2—may be –ā 3—may be –a Sometimes, Greek nouns may be declined as if they were native, Latin nouns. For example, athlētēs may be athlēta. Peculiarities Second declension (o) The second declension is a large group of nouns consisting of mostly masculine nouns like 'horse' (equus, equi masc.) and 'boy' (puer, pueri masc.) and neuter nouns like 'fort' (castellum, castelli neut.), with a few feminine exceptions including names of gemstones, trees, and some cities. In the nominative singular, most masculine nouns consist of the stem and the affix -us, although some end in -er, which is not necessarily attached to the complete stem. Neuter nouns generally have a nominative singular consisiting of the stem and the ending -um. However, every second-declension noun has the affix -i attached as a suffix to the root of the noun in the genitive singular form. The predominant letter in the ending forms of this declension is o. Second declension R nouns Some masculine nouns of the second declension end in an –er or an –ir in the nominative singular. The genitive singular must be learned to see if the E is dropped. For example, socer, –erī keeps its E. Though, in magister, –trī drops its E. (The I in nouns that have –ir in the nominative singular is never dropped.) Below is an example of magister and armiger. Second declension Greek nouns There are two types of masculine Greek nouns, and there is one type of neuter Greek noun. These nouns are only irregular in the singular, as are their first declension counterparts. Greek nouns in the second declension are derived from Omicron Declension. 1—may be –ī Some Greek nouns may be declines as normal, Latin nouns. For example, theātron can appear as like theātrum. Peculiarities Third declension (i) The third declension is the largest group of nouns. Nouns that lie here may end in –a,–e, –ī, –ō, –y, –c, –l, –n, –r, –s, –t, or –x It consists of masculine, neuter, and feminine nouns of variable nominative cases and roots. The third declension includes 'river' (flumen, fluminis neut.), 'flower' (flos, floris masc.), and 'peace' (pax, pacis fem.). Each noun has the affix -is as a suffix attached to the root of the noun in the genitive singular form. Masculine, feminine and neuter nouns each have their own special nominative singular endings. For instance, only masculine nouns end in an –or (amor). Only feminine nouns end in an –īx (phoenīx), and only neuter nouns end in an –us (onus). As in all declensions, some nouns defy these rules. 1—Neuter nouns' nominatives and accusatives always repeat. So –en isn't always the appropriate termination. Though, it seems as if it were in the inflection above. Third declension i-stem nouns The third declension also has a set of nouns which are declined differently. They are called i-stems. One can tell whether a word is an i-stem or not based on the following criteria. 1—may end in –im 2—may end in –īs 3—may end in –ī Peculiarities In the third declension, there are four irregular nouns. 1--Borrowed from robur,roboris (oak) Fourth declension (u) The fourth declension is a group of nouns consisting of mostly masculine words like 'wave' (fluctus, fluctūs masc.) and 'port' (portus, portūs masc.) with a few feminine exceptions, including 'hand' (manus, manūs fem.). The fourth declension also includes several neuter nouns like 'knee' (genu, genūs neut.). Each noun has the affix -ūs as a suffix attached to the root of the noun in the genitive singular form. The predominant letter in the ending forms of this declension is u. In the dative and ablative plural, –ibus may be replaced with –ubus. This is only so for a few nouns. Fifth declension (e) The fifth declension is a small group of nouns consisting of mostly feminine words like 'affair, matter, thing' (rēs, reī fem.) and 'day' (diēs, diēī usually feminine, except on notable days when it is masculine). Each noun has either the affix -ēī or –eī as a suffix attached to the root of the noun in the genitive singular form. Note that nouns ending in iēs have long ēī in the dative and genitive, while nouns ending in a consonant + ēs have short eī in these cases. This declension class is the last to develop in Latin; the only nouns that have the full declension are diēs and fidēs. From rēs we get rēs pūblica, or republic: thing of the people. Pronoun declensions Relative and demonstrative pronouns are generally declined like first and second declension adjectives, with the following differences: Personal Pronouns The first and second persons are irregular. They may only be masculine or feminine. Unlike English, Latin has a T-V distinction. 1—may be nostrī or vestrī Usually, to show the ablative of accompaniment, cum would be added to the ablative form. Though, with personal pronouns and the interrogative (not with 3rd person), cum is added on to the end of the ablative form. For example: mēcum, nōbīscum, tēcum, vōbīscum and quōcum (sometimes quīcum). The third person reflexive pronouns always refer back to the subject whether it be singular or plural. Interrogative Pronouns The interrogative pronouns are used strictly for asking questions. It is best not to confuse them with the relative pronoun and the interrogative adjective (which is declined like the relative pronoun). Interrogative pronouns rarely occur in the plural, though they may. The plural interrogative pronouns are the same as the plural relative pronouns. Demonstrative Pronouns and Adjectives Relative Pronouns First and second declension adjectives First and second declension nouns, as their name would cause to assume, are declined like the first and second declensions. They are inflected in the masculine, the feminine and the neuter. The masculine formed learned typically ends in an –us. Though, some end an –er. The feminine form ends in an –a, and the neuter form ends in an –um. Therefore, adjectives are given like altus, alta, altum. First and second declension –r adjectives Some first and second declension adjectives' masculine form end in an –er. As with second declension nouns –r nouns, some adjectives retain the E throughout inflection, and some omit it. Sacer, sacra, sacrum omits its E while miser, misera, miserum keeps it. First and second –īus genitive adjectives There are nine first and second declension adjectives that are irregular in the genitive and the dative in all genders. Here belong: alius, –a, –ud; (gen. sing. alterīus to avoid aliīus); another ūllus, –a, –um; any uter, –tra, –trum; which (of two) solus, –a, –um; sole, alone alter, –era, –erum; the other (of two) nūllus, –a, –um; no, none (of any) neuter, –tra, –trum; neither (of two) tōtus, –a, –um; whole ūnus, –a, –um; one Third declension adjectives Third declension adjectives are, of course, declined like third declension i-stem nouns. Third declension adjectives with one ending Third declension adjectives with one ending have single nominative ending for all genders. Like nouns, a genitive is given for the purpose of inflection. 1—may end in –īs 2—may end in –e Third declension adjectives with 2 endings Third declension adjectives that have 2 endings have one form for the masculine and feminine, and a separate form for the neuter. The ending for the masculine and feminine is –is, and the ending for the neuter is –e. Because the sexed form ends in an –is, we find the adjective genitive singular. 1—may end in –īs Third declension adjectives with three endings Third declension adjectives with three endings have three separate nominative forms for all three genders. Like third and second declension –r nouns, the masculine ends in an –er. The feminine ends in an –ris, and the neuter ends in an –re. With that information, we come upon the genitive singular needed for inflection, the feminine form. 1—may end in –īs Declension of numerals See also: Roman numerals. All numerals, except ūnum (one), duo (two), tria (three), mīlia (thousand, sing. mīlle) and ducentī (two-hundred) are indeclinable adjectives. Ūnus, ūna, ūnum is declined like a first and second declension adjective with an –īus in the genitive, and –ī in the dative. Duo and tria are declined irregularly. It should be noted that ambō, both, is declined as duo is. Though, its O is long. The word, mīlle, is singular, an adjective and indeclinable. However, its irregular plural, mīlia is used in the same way plūs is. As stated before, the rest of the numbers are indeclinable adjectives. They are also indeclinable as substantives. Declension of īdem The adjective īdem, eadem, idem means 'same.' It is a variant of the third person pronouns which were declined earlier. Generally, they are formed by adding –dem to a declined third person pronouns. However, some forms have been changed to ease pronunciation. Comparison and superlative forms of adjectives As in English, adjectives have superlative and comparative forms. For regular first and second declension and third declension nouns with one or two endings, the comparison is formed by adding an –ior for the masculine and feminine, and an –ius for the neuter to the base. The genitive for both are formed by adding an –iōris. Therefore, they are declined like the third declension. However, they are not declined as i-stems are. Superlatives formed by adding an –issimus, –a, –um to the base. Now, we find that superlatives are declined like first and second declension adjectives. Comparisons and superlatives of –er adjectives Adjectives (in the third and first and second declensions) that have masculine nominative singular forms ending in –er have different forms. If the feminine and neuter forms drom the E, use that for the comparative form. The superlative is formed by adding an –rimus onto the masculine form. Comparisons and superlatives of –lis adjectives Some third declension adjectives with two endings in –lis in the sexed nominative singular have irregular superlative forms. It should be noted that the following are the only adjectives that have this unique form. Irregular comparisons and superlatives As in most languages, Latin has adjectives that have irregular comparisons and superlatives. Adverbs and their comparisons and superlatives To the relief of many Latin students, adverbs are not declined. However, adverbs must be formed if one wants to make an adjective into an adverb. First and second declension adjectives adverbs First and second declension adjectives' adverbs are formed by adding an –ē onto their bases. Third declension adjectives adverbs Typically, third declension adjectives' adverbs are formed by adding an –iter onto their bases. However, most third declension adjectives with one ending simply add an –er to their bases. First and second declension adjectives' adverbs are formed by adding an –ē onto their bases. Adverbs comparative and superlative forms Adverbs' comparative forms are actually their neuter adjectives' comparative forms. Adverbs' superlative forms are made in the same way in which first and second declension adjectives' adverbs are made. First and second declension adjectives' adverbs are formed by adding an –ē onto their bases. Irregular adverbs and their comparative and superlative forms As so with adjectives, there are irregular adverbs with peculiar comparative and superlative forms. Irregularity in number Of course, some nouns are declined in the singular only. Here lie: Indeclinable nouns Indeclinable nouns are neuter nouns which only occur in the nominative and accusative singular. There are only six indeclinable nouns. 1—used in the ablative case too Heterogeneous nouns Heterogeneous nouns are nouns which vary in respect to gender. Plurals with alternative meanings The nouns below have a specific singular meaning, yet have a different plural meaning. See also | |||||||
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