CHAPTER 7: PREDICT THE FIRST PRINCIPAL PART (2)

1.  System Description

DECLENSIONS	1ST P-PART	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

1.  The question marks in the 3^rd declension rows symbolize the fact that there is no one predictable 1^st p-part for those nouns.

2.  What this table does not reveal is that the 1^st principal part is formed from a base different from the base used in the oblique forms.

Exercise 1
Identify the 1^st p-part of each lexical scatter set, using your intuition about difference in base.
1.  vēnātiōnibus, vēnātiōne, vēnātiōnis, vēnātiōnum, vēnātiōnem, vēnātiōnī, vēnātiōnēs, vēnātiō
2.  rēge, rēgibus, rēgēs, rēgum, rēgis, rex, rēgem, rēgī
3.  vīminibus, vīmen, vīmina, vīmine, vīmen, vīminis, vīminī, vīminum

3.  All 3^rd declension nouns end in a, e, ī, ō, y, c, l, n, r, s, t or x in the DF.  As a step in the direction of a mnemonic, note that these letters can be formed into clean rīō Styx, when rio is the Spanish word for river.

Exercise 2
Identify the 1^st p-part of each lexical scatter set, using your knowledge about 3^rd declension noun DF endings.
1.  virtūtibus, virtūtī, virtūtum, virtūte, virtūtis, virtūtēs, virtūs, virtūtem
2.  voluptātī, vēnātiō, voluptās, voluptātis, voluptāte, voluptātem, voluptātum, voluptātēs, voluptātibus
3.  vulnerum, vulneris, vulnere, vulneribus, vulnera, vulnerī, vulnus, vulnus

4.  In the preceding exercises, the 1^st p-part is in the company of all other forms and so is easy to identify.  The Romans usually do not supply all forms of a 3^rd declension noun in the same sentence.  We must therefore use a method by which to reduce any noun in any form to its DF (i.e., the 1^st p-part).

5.  There are four steps to follow.
STEP 1.  Remove the case, choosing ONLY from is, ī, em, im, e, ēs, a, um, ium, ibus, īs. 
Note.  If the DF (dictionary form) cannot lose a case from the approved list, your word is probably in the DF already.  E.g., labor features no case from the approved list, so it is already in its DF.
STEP 2.  Now match the last letter or two of the base against the DE-CASED TAIL column of the table at the end of this chapter.
STEP 3.  Use the corresponding DF tail in the DF TAIL column to form the DF.
STEP 4.  Check the dictionary for the DF.

6.  This method will not achieve universal success as even Latin is too irregular for any single, fool-proof plan.  The reader may choose to avoid plodding through these steps by looking in the dictionary to begin with.  E.g., suppose you are looking up the word crepācum.  You guess that the dictionary forms might be crepācus  or crepācum, but see that instead there is a crepax listed, who genitive singular is crepācis.  Crepax wins.

Ex1.  nōmine
1.  Remove the case, choosing ONLY from is, ī, em, im, e, ēs, a, um, ium, ibus, īs:  we remove -e and are left with nōmin. 
2.  Now match the last letter or two of the base against the DE-CASED TAIL in the column of that name:  nōmin matches in.
3.  Use the corresponding DF tail in the REPLACEMENT TAIL column to form the DF:  nōmin becomes nōmen.
4.  Check the dictionary for the DF:  nōmen wins.

Ex2.  leōnem
1.  Remove the case, choosing ONLY from is, ī, em, im, e, ēs, a, um, ium, ibus, īs: leōnem becomes leōn.
2.  Now match the last letter or two of the base against the DE-CASED TAIL in the column of that name:  ōn matches ōn.
3.  Use the corresponding DF tail in the REPLACEMENT TAIL column to form the DF:  leōn becomes leō.
4.  Check the dictionary for the DF:  leō wins.

Ex3.  serpentīs
1.  Remove the case, choosing ONLY from is, ī, em, im, e, ēs, a, um, ium, ibus, īs:  serpentīs becomes serpent.
2.  Now match the last letter or two of the base against the DE-CASED TAIL in the column of that name:  t matches t.
3.  Use the corresponding DF tail in the REPLACEMENT TAIL column to form the DF:  serpent becomes serpens.
4.  Check the dictionary for the DF:  serpens wins.

Exercise 3
Use the four steps to find the DF.  Remember that all 3^rd declension nouns must end in a, e, ī, ō, y, c, l, n, r, s, t or x in the DF.
1.  nepōtem
2.  mātre
3.  tempestās
4.  mātris
5.  lītus
6.  quiētem
6.  rēx
7.  tempus
8.  rēgis
9.  mātrem
10.  rēgī

Exercise 4
Use the four steps to find the DF.  Remember that all 3^rd declension nouns must end in a, e, ī, ō, y, c, l, n, r, s, t or x in the DF.
1.  virtūtem
2.  continentem
3.  Apollō
4.  sorōrēs
5.  falcem
6.  pedibus
7.  Gorgonibus
8.  Gorgonēs
9.  capita
10.  aere

Exercise 5
Use the four steps to find the DF.  Remember that all 3^rd declension nouns must end in a, e, ī, ō, y, c, l, n, r, s, t or x in the DF.
1.  falce
2.  tempore
3.  virgō
4.  dolōrem
5.  serpentem 
6.  vōcēs
7.  frātrum
8.  clāmōrem 
9.  nocte
10.  facinora

DE-CASED TAIL	REPLACEMENT TAIL
b	bs
br	ber
c	x
ct	x
d	s
ēn	ēn
er	us
g	x
ic	ex
id	es
in	en
ip	eps
it	es
it	ut
l	l
on	ō
ōn	ō
or	ur
or	us
ōr	or
p	ps
p	pis
r	r
r	s
rd	r
t	s
tr	ter
up	eps
v	s