CHAPTER 5: PREDICT TO WHICH DECLENSION THE NOUN BELONGS

 1.  As in most languages, Latin nouns are assigned to noun-classes based on crucial similarities.

2.  These noun-classes are called DECLENSIONS.

3.  Here is a table we can use to tell which declension nouns belong to.

	SCATTER SET ENDINGS
DECLENSIONS	FIRST ITEM	SECOND ITEM	REMAINING OBLIQUE FORMS
1st	a	ae	am, ā, ārum, īs, ās
2nd	us	ī	ō, um, a, ōrum, īs, ōs
2nd (n.)	um	ī	ō, um, a, ōrum, īs, ōs
3rd	?	is	ī, em, e, ēs, um, ibus
3rd (n.)	?	is	ī, ?, e, ēs, a, um, ibus
4th	us	ūs	uī, um, uum, ū, ibus, ubus
5th	ēs	ēī	ēī, em, e, ēs, ērum, ēbus

Example 1.  Virōs apparently belongs to the 2^nd declension, because the ending ōs is found only in the 2^nd declension rows.

Example 2.  Oppida apparently belongs to the 1^st, 2^nd or 3^rd declension, because the ending a is found in those rows.

1.  poētīs

2.  Perseō

3.  Perseus

4.  fīlius

5.  Iovis

6.  deōrum

7.  avus

8.  Acrisius

9.  Perseum

10.  nepōtem

11.  ōrāculum

12.  puerum

13.  infantem

14.  mātre

15.  arcā

16.  arcam

17.  mare

18.  tempestās

19.  tempestātum

20.  sinū

21.  māter

22.  mātris         

CHAPTER 4: NORMAL BASE VS. OBLIQUE BASE

1.  Inspect the chart from Chapter 3. 

Declension	NORMAL CASE	Oblique cases
1st	a	ae, am, ā, ārum, īs, ās
2nd (us)	us	ī, ō, um, ōrum, īs, ōs
2nd (um)	um	ī, ō, um, a, ōrum, īs, ōs
2nd (r)	er	ī, ō, um, ōrum, īs, ōs
3rd consonant-stem	?	is, ī, em, e, ēs, um, ibus, īs
3rd i-stem	is, ēs, es	is, ī, em, ī, ēs, ium, ibus, īs
3rd neuter	?	is, ī, ?, e, a, um, ibus
4th (m/f)	us	ūs, uī, um, uum, ū, ibus
5th	ēs	eī, em, ē, ēs, ērum, ēbus

2.  Note that in the 3^rd declension consonant stems and neuter we find question marks on two of the three rows.  Those question marks are there because in those sub-classes there are in fact no regular endings as we find in the 3^rd declension i-stem and all the other declensions.

3.  This is because 3^rd declension nouns have two kinds of base:  the normal base and the oblique base. 

4.  The normal base is the base used in the DF.

5.  The oblique base is used in oblique cases cases.

6.  Though the two are usually different, they are related.  Occasionally they are the same.

Ex.  The DF of infant is infans.  The oblique forms are infantis, infantī, infantem, infantī, infantēs, infantium, infantibus.  Clearly the DF base is infans and the oblique base is infant-. 

Exercise 1

Identify the normal and oblique bases of the following words.

1.  hortus hortī hortō hortum hortōrum hortīs hortōs

2.  mōnstrum mōnstrī mōnstrō mōnstrum mōnstrōrum mōnstrīs mōnstra

3.  rādīx rādīcis rādīcī rādīcem rādīce rādīcēs rādīcum rādīcibus

4.  caput capitis capitī caput capite capita capitum capitibus

5.  cōnsul cōnsulis cōnsulī cōnsulem cōnsule cōnsulēs cōnsulum cōnsulibus

Exercise 2

Identify the normal and oblique bases of the following words.

1.  homō hominis hominī hominem homine hominēs hominum hominibus

2.  cor cordis cordī corde corda cordum cordibus

3.  genus generis generī genus genere genera generum generibus

4.  imber imbris imbrī imbrem imbrī imbrēs imbrium imbribus

5.  turris turrī turrim turrem turrī turre turrēs turrium turribus turrīs

Exercise 3

Identify the normal and oblique bases of the following words.

1.  puerus puerī puerō puerum puerōrum puerīs puerōs

2.  māter mātrī mātrem mātre mātrēs mātrum mātribus

3.  sinus sinūs sinuī sinum sinū sinuum sinubus

4.  dux ducis ducī ducem ducēs ducum ducibus

5.  seriēs serieī seriēbus  seriē seriērum seriem

6.  animāl animālis animālī animālia animālium
animālibus

7.  arca arcae arcam arcā arcīs arcās

8.  avus avī avō avum avōrum avīs avōs

9.  tempestās tempestātī tempestātem tempestāte tempestātēs tempestātum tempestātibus

10.  nepōs nepōtī nepōtem nepōte nepōtēs nepōtum nepōtibus

Exercise 4

Using your knowledge of English, predict the oblique base.

1.  damnum (harm, injury)

2.  dēns (tooth)

3.  deus (god)

4.  discrīmen (crisis, peril, danger)

5.  discus (discus)

6.  dolor (pain, grief; anger)

7.  dracō (dragon, snake)

8.  dux (leader, commander)

9.  adulēscēns (young man)

10.  ars (art)

11.  bōs (cow)

CHAPTER 3: PREDICT THE FIRST PRINCIPAL PART (1)

1.  Most nouns have ten officially different forms and five to eight unique forms. 

Ex1.  Nauta, nautae, nautae, nautam, nautā, nautae, nautārum, nautīs, nautās, nautīs.

2.  All nouns have a dictionary form. 

Ex2.  Nauta is the DF of Ex1.

3.  The remaining forms (nautae, nautae, nautam, nautā, nautae, nautārum, nautīs, nautās, nautīs) are the oblique forms.

4.  How we interpret a noun in a text depends on the declension to which it belongs.  If we use the following table, we can make fairly accurate guesses about the DF (dictionary form) of any given noun.

Declension	DICTIONARY FORM	Oblique cases
1st	a	ae, am, ā, ārum, īs, ās
2nd (us)	us	ī, ō, um, ōrum, īs, ōs
2nd (um)	um	ī, ō, um, a, ōrum, īs, ōs
2nd (r)	er	ī, ō, um, ōrum, īs, ōs
3rd consonant-stem	?	is, ī, em, e, ēs, um, ibus
3rd i-stem	is, ēs, es	is, ī, em, e, ēs, ium, ibus, īs
3rd neuter	?	is, ī, ?, e, a, um, ibus
4th (m/f)	us	ūs, uī, um, uum, ū, ibus
5th	ēs	eī, em, ē, ēs, ērum, ēbus

5.  Examples

Example 1.  What is the DF of rosam?
Step 1.  Separate the case from the base:  -am.
Step 2.  Indicate to which declension(s) each word can belong:  -am  

occurs only in the 1st declension row.
Step 3.  Predict the first principal part by applying the DF ending from each applicable to the base (ros-):  rosa. 

Step 4.  Check the dictionary.  Rosa wins.

Example 2.  What is the DF of cibōrum?

1.  Separate the case from the base:  -ōrum.

2.   Locate -ōrum in the noun table: it occurs in 2nd (us), 2nd (um), 2^nd (r).

3.  Predict the first principal part by applying the DF endings to the base cib-:  according to the table, the DF might take the forms cibus, cibum or ciber.

Step 4.  Check the dictionary.  Cibus wins.

Declension	Nominative singular	Oblique cases
1st	a	ae, am, ā, ārum, īs, ās
2nd (us)	us	ī, ō, um, ōrum, īs, ōs
2nd (um)	um	ī, ō, um, a, ōrum, īs, ōs
2nd (r)	er	ī, ō, um, ōrum, īs, ōs
3rd consonant-stem	?	is, ī, em, e, ēs, um, ibus
3rd i-stem	is, ēs, es, e, ?	is, ī, em, ī, ēs, ium, ibus, īs
3rd neuter	?	is, ī, ?, e, a, um, ibus
4th (m/f)	us	ūs, uī, um, uum, ū, ibus
5th	ēs	eī, em, ē, ēs, ērum, ēbus

6.  Exercise 1.  Predict the DF of the following nouns.  Follow in detail the following four steps:

1.  Separate the case from the base.

2.  Locate -ōrum in the noun table.

3.  Predict the first principal part by applying the DF endings to the base.

4.  Check the dictionary. 

1.  poētīs

2.  poētārum

3.  Perseō

4.  Perseus

5.  sinuum

6.  sinū

7.  deōrum

8.  deum

9.  seriēs

10.  seriērum

11.  ōrāculum

12.  ōrācula

13.  fīliōs

14.  fīliī

15.  arcā

16.  arcam

17.  Perseum

18.  Perseī

 

Exercise 2

What is the DF?

1.  aciem                        

2.  Aetna                        

3.  āgminum                  

4.  alārum                      

5.  āmentiam                 

6.  Acrisiī                       

7.  adituī                        

8.  adulēscentēs             

9.  aedem

10.  agrōs

11.  adventuum

12.  adulēscentiā

13.  amphorās

14.  aerī

15.  amīcīs

16.  amōribus

17.  aestāte

18.  Cācum                                         

19.  carminum                                    

20.  caedēs                      

21.  caela                        

22.  causīs                      

23.  calamitātēs              

24.  cancrīs                     

25.  calōrī                        

26.  campōs                    

27.  calceī                        

28.  canis                        

29.  cantūs                      

30.  capite                       

31.  catēnās          

32.  cadāveris                  

33.  carnibus                  

34.  Castore

35.  cāsubus

36.  carcerem

37.  caudārum

 

Declension	Nominative singular	Oblique cases
1st	a	ae, am, ā, ārum, īs, ās
2nd (us)	us	ī, ō, um, ōrum, īs, ōs
2nd (um)	um	ī, ō, um, a, ōrum, īs, ōs
2nd (r)	er	ī, ō, um, ōrum, īs, ōs
3rd consonant-stem	?	is, ī, em, e, ēs, um, ibus
3rd i-stem	is, ēs, es, e, ?	is, ī, em, ī, ēs, ium, ibus, īs
3rd neuter	?	is, ī, ?, e, a, um, ibus
4th (m/f)	us	ūs, uī, um, uum, ū, ibus
5th	ēs	eī, em, ē, ēs, ērum, ēbus