Chapter 1 from Learn to read Latin

Vocabulary

Nom. for nominative.

Gen. for genitive.

Dat. for dative.

Acc. for accusative.

Abl. for ablative.

Voc. for vocative.

anima, animae f. physical meaning, the "breath" of the wind or of a human being. By extension, it may mean the breath of life, the force that gives an animate being life (life force). anima is used of the part of a human being that departs from the dead body and journeys to another life in the underworld.

fāma, fāmae f. derives from Indo-European root "speak". It indicates primarily what is spoken publicly pr by the people. Basic means "talk" or "rumour".

A fāma is often told becomes a "story", and when it is passed down from generation to generation, it becomes a "tradition". A person's fāma is his or her "reputation" or "fame", can either be positive or negative. Capitalized Fāma is the goddess Rumour.

deus, deī m. common irregular forms in the plural.

There is no vocative singular of deus. Less common forms of the nominative/vocative plural are deī and diī. Less common form of the dative/ablative plural is deīs.

dominus, dominī m. is cognate with the Latin word for house (domus). The original meaning of th dominus was "master rof the house".

cōnsilium, cōnsiliī n. the act of deliberating about something (deliberation), or "plan" or "intention" that results from deliberating. It may also mean the capacity to deliberate (judgement). Finally, it may refer to a group of people who deliberate, a "council".

ferrum, ferrī n. "iron". By the rhetorical device metonymy (change of name, 转喻) it also means "sword".

ā, ab (+ abl.) (away) from: ab is used before words beginning with vowels or h-. Both ā (more frequent) and ab are used before words beginning with consonants.

ad (+ acc.) toward, to

cum (+ abl.) with

dē (+ abl.) (down) from; about, concerning

ē, ex (+ abl.) (out) from: 元音辅音前使用情况与 ā, ab 相同

in (+ acc.) into, onto; against (+ abl.) in, on

et (conj.) and; et ... et ... both ... and ... (adv.) even, also

-que (enclitic conj.) and: used in place of the first et in the phrase et ... et ... by certain prose stylists (the historians Livy, Sallust, and Tacitus and by many poets. Caesar and Cicero never use -que ... et ... The use of -que ... -que ... is found only in poetry and occasionally in the historians.

Five declensions

Five groups of nouns are most reliably distinguished and identified by the genitive singular ending of each declension:

Noun: First declension

Case Endings of the First Declension

dea, deae f. "goddess" and fīlia, fīliae f. "daughter" occasionally have irregular dative and ablative plural forms: deābus and fīliābus.

Noun: Second declension

Case Endings of the Second Declension: Masculine/Feminine

Case Endings of the Second Declension: Masculine/Feminine