Sponsored Links
-->

Wednesday, August 1, 2018

First Form Latin Grammar Wall Charts | Memoria Press
src: www.memoriapress.com

Latin syntax is the part of Latin grammar that covers such matters as word order, the use of cases, tenses and moods, and the construction of simple and compound sentences.

The study of Latin syntax in a systematic way was particularly a feature of the late 19th century, especially in Germany. For example, in the 3rd edition of Gildersleeve's Latin Grammar (1895), the reviser, Gonzalez Lodge, mentions 38 scholars whose works have been used in its revision; of these 31 wrote in German, five in English and two in French. (The English scholars include Roby and Lindsay).

In the twentieth century, the German tradition was continued with the publication of two very comprehensive grammars: the Ausführliche Grammatik der lateinischen Sprache by Raphael Kühner and Karl Stegmann (1912, first edition 1879), and the Lateinische Grammatik by Manu Leumann, J.B. Hofmann, and Anton Szantyr (revised edition Munich 1977, first edition 1926). Among works published in English may be mentioned E.C. Woodcock's A New Latin Syntax (1959). More recently, taking advantage of computerised texts, three major works have been published on Latin word order, one by the American scholars Andrew Devine and Laurence Stephens (2006), and two (adopting a different approach) by the Czech scholar Olga Spevak (2010 and 2014).


Video Latin syntax



Latin word order

Latin word order is relatively free. The verb may be found at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a sentence; an adjective may precede or follow its noun (vir bonus or bonus vir both mean 'a good man'); and a genitive may precede or follow its noun (hostium castra 'the enemy's camp' or castra hostium 'the camp of the enemy'; the latter is more common). There are also stylistic differences between Latin authors; for example, Devine and Stephens note that while Caesar always writes castra p?nit 'he sets up camp', Livy more often writes p?nit castra. There are however certain constraints; for example, in prose a monosyllabic preposition such as in 'in' generally precedes its noun (e.g. in Itali? 'in Italy'). Moreover, even though adjectives can both precede and follow the noun, there is a tendency for different kinds of adjectives to take different positions; for example adjectives of size usually come before the noun (magn? v?ce 'in a loud voice', rarely v?ce magn?), while "modifiers that are more important than their noun or that specify it" (e.g. Via Appia 'the Appian Way') usually follow it.

To explain Latin word order there are two main schools of thought. One, represented by Devine and Stephens (2006), argues from the point of view of generative grammar, and maintains that Latin prose has a basic underlying "neutral" word order, from which authors deviate for reasons of emphasis, topicalisation, rhythm, and so on. According to Devine and Stephens, the basic order in broad scope focus sentences is as follows:

  • Subject - Direct Object - Indirect Object / Oblique Argument - Adjunct - Goal or Source Argument - Non-Referential Direct Object - Verb

The other approach, represented by Panhuis (1982) and Olga Spevak (2010), examines Latin word order from the point of view of functional grammar. Rejecting the idea that there is a basic word order, this approach seeks to explain word order in terms of pragmatic factors, such as topic and focus, and semantic ones (1st person before 2nd, human before animals or things, agent before patient, etc.).

Examples of word order

The order of words found in Latin authors is often very different from that which is met with in books for beginners. One way of emphasising a word is to reverse the usual order. For example, in the famous opening sentence from Caesar's Gallic War, the usual order of numeral and noun tr?s part?s 'three parts' is reversed to emphasise the number 'three':

  • Gallia est omnis d?v?sa in part?s tr?s
'Gaul, considered as a whole, is divided into three (parts)'

Another technique used by Latin authors is to separate a phrase and put another word or phrase in the middle, for example:

  • magnam enim s?cum pec?niam port?bat
'for he was carrying with him a large sum of money'

The technical term for this kind of separation is "hyperbaton" (Greek for 'stepping over'); it is described by Devine and Stephens as "perhaps the most distinctively alien feature of Latin word order".

Often these two techniques, reversal and separation, are combined, as In the following example, where Cicero, instead of writing the usual order d? loc? superi?re impetum faciunt ('they make an attack from higher ground'), moves the verb faciunt 'they make' to the beginning of the phrase. This raising of the verb is often used when an event is sudden or unexpected:

  • statim compl?r?s cum t?l?s in hunc faciunt d? loc? superi?re impetum
'immediately several men, (armed) with weapons, launch an attack on my client from higher ground'

Separating a word and bringing it to the beginning of the sentence can highlight it. In the following example from Cicero, the blood-stained dagger (cruentum pugi?nem)') is brought to the fore: but also the words cruentum 'blood-stained' and alt? toll?ns 'raising high' are brought forward in front of the subject (Br?tus) for dramatic effect:

  • statim cruentum alt? toll?ns Br?tus pugi?nem Cicer?nem n?min?tim excl?m?vit
'immediately Brutus, raising high the blood-stained dagger, shouted out "Cicero" by name'

Considerations of rhythm and elegance also play a part in Latin word order. For example, Pliny the Younger begins a letter as follows:

  • magnum pr?ventum po?t?rum annus hic attulit
'it is a great crop of poets this year has brought'

In this sentence, the object (magnum pr?ventum po?t?rum 'a great crop of poets') has been brought forward to highlight it. The other striking feature is the order annus hic for the more usual hic annus 'this year'. Two reasons which might be suggested are Pliny's fondness for ending a sentence with the rhythm - u - - u - and also no doubt because of the elegant assonance of the vowels a-u-i a-u-i in the last three words.


Maps Latin syntax



Gender and number

Gender agreement

Latin has three genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter) and two numbers (singular and plural). Pronouns, participles, numbers one to three, and adjectives have to agree in gender with the noun they refer to:

  • Masculine : hic est f?lius meus: 'this is my son'
  • Feminine : haec est f?lia mea : 'this is my daughter'
  • Neuter : hoc est corpus meum: 'this is my body'

The same three genders are also found in the plural:

  • Masculine : h? sunt f?li? me? : 'these are my sons'
  • Feminine : hae sunt f?liae meae : 'these are my daughters'
  • Neuter : haec mea sunt: 'these things are mine'

In Latin, words referring to males are always masculine, words referring to females are usually feminine. (An exception is scortum (neuter) 'a whore'.) Words referring to things can be any of the three genders, for example m?ns 'mountain' (masculine), arbor 'tree' (feminine), n?men 'name' (neuter). However, there are certain rules; for example, nouns with the suffixes -a (unless referring to men), -ti?, -t?s are feminine; the names of trees, islands, and countries, such as p?nus 'pine', Cyprus 'Cyprus', and Aegyptus 'Egypt' are also usually feminine, and so on. Some nouns such as par?ns 'parent' can vary between masculine and feminine and are called of "common" gender.

Combining genders

When words of different genders are combined, the adjective is usually masculine if referring to people, neuter if referring to things:

  • pat?r mih? et m?t?r mortu? (sunt) (Terence)
'my father and mother are dead (masc.)'
  • m?rus et porta d? cael? t?cta erant (Livy)
'the wall (masc.) and gate (fem.) had been struck (neut.) by lightning' (lit. 'touched from the sky')

However, sometimes the adjective may agree with the nearest noun.

Pluralia tantum

Some nouns are used in the singular only, others (called pl?r?lia tantum) only in the plural. Examples of plural nouns with singular meaning are castra 'a military camp', litterae 'a letter', vest?menta 'a set of clothes', quadr?gae 'a four-horse chariot'. For counting these a special set of numbers is used: ?n?, b?n?, tr?n?, quadr?n?, qu?n?, instead of the usual ?nus, duo, tr?s, quattuor, qu?nque:

  • Tullia mea v?nit ad m? ... litter?sque reddidit tr?n?s (Cicero)
'my daughter Tullia came to me ... and delivered (no fewer than) three letters'
  • Oct?vius qu?n?s castr?s oppidum circumdedit (Caesar)
'Octavius surrounded the town with five camps'

Distributive numbers

Yet another set of numbers, called distributive numbers, are used when the meaning is 'one each, two each' or 'one by one, in groups of two' etc. These are singul?, b?n?, tern?, quatern?, qu?n?, and thereafter like the pluralia tantum numbers:

  • l?g?t? tern? in ?fricam ... et in Numidiam miss? (Livy)
'three ambassadors were sent to Africa, and three to Numidia'
  • in singul?s equit?s ... numm?s qu?n?s v?c?n?s ded?runt (Livy)
'for each cavalryman they gave 25 coins'

photoaltan23: latin grammar charts
src: www.maravot.com


Latin cases

Nouns, pronouns, and adjectives in Latin change their endings according to their function in the sentence. The different endings are called different 'cases'. Case endings of a similar kind are also found in other languages, such as Ancient and Modern Greek, German, Russian, Finnish, Sanskrit, Armenian and Turkish.

The six cases most commonly used in Latin and their main meanings are given below. The cases are presented here in the order which has been used in Britain and countries influenced by Britain ever since the publication of Kennedy's Latin Primer in the 19th century, as opposed to the traditional order - Nom, Gen, Dat, Acc, Voc, Abl - still used in the United States and most European countries:

  • Nominative : is r?x : 'that king' (Subject, or Complement (e.g. 'he is that king'))
  • Vocative : ? r?x! : 'o king!'
  • Accusative : eum r?gem : 'that king' (Object, or Goal)
  • Genitive : eius r?gis : 'of that king'
  • Dative : e? r?g? : 'to that king', 'for that king'
  • Ablative : e? r?ge : 'with that king' (also 'by, from, in')

(A small line, called a macron, over a vowel indicates that it is pronounced long.)

Another case is the Locative, which is used mostly with the names of cities (e.g. R?mae 'in Rome') and a very limited number of ordinary nouns (e.g. dom? 'at home').

Examples of case use

For the most part the use of cases is quite straightforward. The following examples from Caesar show the cases in use in a basic sense:

  • C?ri? M?rcium Uticam n?vibus praemittit
'Curio (Nom.) sends ahead Marcius (Acc.) to Utica (Acc.) with the ships (Abl.)'

Here C?ri? as subject of the verb is nominative, M?rcium as direct object is accusative; Uticam is also accusative as it is the goal or object of motion; and n?vibus 'with the ships' has the ablative ending, which means 'with'.

  • Pompeius ... L?ceri? profic?scitur Canusium
'Pompey (Nom) from Luceria (Abl) sets out to Canusium (Acc)'

Here Pompeius is subject (Nom.), L?ceri? shows another meaning of the ablative ending, namely 'from', and Canusium is again accusative of goal. Note that with names of cities there is no need to add a preposition such as ad, but the accusative case alone indicates 'to'.

  • Caesar ... m?litibus signum dedit
'Caesar (Nom) gave a signal (Acc.) to the soldiers (Dat)'

Here m?litibus, although it shares the same ending as the ablative n?vibus in the previous example, is clearly dative, meaning 'to or for the soldiers' (usually when a noun has an ambiguous ending such as -?s, -ibus or -?bus it will be interpreted as dative if it is a person, ablative if it is a thing).

Idioms using the dative case

However, the description of the use of cases is not always simple. The classification of the uses of the dative alone takes up nearly twelve pages in Woodcock's A New Latin Syntax and ten pages in Gildersleeve and Lodge. For example, when asking someone's name, a Roman would say:

  • quid est tib? n?men? (Plautus)
'what's your name?' (lit. 'what is for you name?)

This is an example of the Dative of Possession, as in:

  • ill? ... duae fu?re f?liae (Plautus)
'he had two daughters' (lit. 'to him there were two daughters')

Another surprising idiomatic use is the "Dative of the Person Affected":

  • nihil equidem tib? abstul? (Plautus)
'I haven't stolen anything from you' (lit. 'for you')

The dative is also used with verbs of fighting with someone:

  • n?l? pugn?re du?bus (Catullus)
'don't fight with (lit. 'for') two people at once'

Another idiom is the "Predicative Dative" used with the verb 'to be' in phrases such as ?su? esse 'to be of use', lab?r? esse 'to be a trouble (to someone)'.

  • n?min? meus adventus lab?r? aut s?mptu? ... fuit (Cicero)
'my arrival was a trouble or expense for no one'

Many verbs also which in English take a direct object are used in Latin intransitively with a dative noun or pronoun, e.g. persu?de? 'I persuade', cr?d? 'I believe', resist? 'I resist'.

  • n?n persu?sit ill? (Seneca)
'he did not persuade him (lit. 'for him')'
  • imper?vit e? (Nepos)
'he ordered him' ('gave an order to him')

Prepositions

Frequently, to make the meaning more precise, a noun in the accusative or ablative is preceded by a preposition such as in 'in, into', ad 'to', cum 'with', or ex 'out of'. This is especially so if the noun refers to a person. For example:

  • ad r?gem (Acc) 'to the king' (used with a verb of motion such as 'goes' or 'sends')
  • ? r?ge (Abl.) 'by the king', 'from the king'
  • cum e? (Abl.) 'with him'
  • ex urbe (Abl.) 'from/out of the city'

However, when the meaning of an accusative or an ablative is clear (for example Canusium (Acc) 'to Canusium', n?vibus (Abl) 'with the ships', poster? di? (Abl) 'on the following day'), the case ending alone is sufficient to give the meaning. Unlike in Greek, prepositions are not used in Latin with the dative or genitive.

Prepositions with accusative or ablative

Four prepositions can be followed by more than one case, depending on their meaning. These are in 'in' (Abl), 'into' (Acc.); sub 'under' (Abl.), 'to the foot of' (Acc.); super 'over, above' (Acc.), 'concerning' (Abl.); and subter 'under' (usually with Acc.)

  • in urbem (Acc) 'into the city'
  • in urbe (Abl) 'in the city'

Position of prepositions

Prepositions almost always precede their noun or pronoun, except that cum 'with' follows a personal pronoun, e.g. m?cum 'with me' and sometimes a relative pronoun (qu?cum, qu?cum and cum qu? are all possible for 'with whom'). There are occasional exceptions, especially with two-syllable prepositions after pronouns, e.g. haec inter (Virgil) 'in the midst of these'.

Sometimes when the noun has an adjective it is placed before the preposition for emphasis, e.g. magn? cum c?r? 'with great care' (Cicero), but this is not an invariable rule. Occasionally also the opposite order (noun-preposition-adjective) may be used in poetry and later prose, e.g. silv? lupus in Sab?n? (Horace) 'a wolf in the Sabine forest', met? in magn? (Livy) 'in great fear',


English: Fleuron from book: A new introduction to the Latin ...
src: c8.alamy.com


Latin tenses

Latin has six main tenses in the indicative mood, which are illustrated below using the verb facere 'to make' or 'to do':

  • Present : faci? : 'I do', 'I am doing'
  • Future : faciam (2nd person faci?s): 'I will do', 'I will be doing'
  • Imperfect : faci?bam : 'I was doing', 'I used to do', 'I began to do'
  • Perfect : f?c? : 'I did', 'I have done'
  • Future Perfect : f?cer? : 'I will have done'
  • Pluperfect : f?ceram : 'I had done'

The verb sum 'I am', which is irregular, has the tenses sum, er?, eram, fu?, fuer?, fueram. Some verbs (conjugations 1 and 2) instead of the Future -am, -?s, -et etc. have a different future ending in -b?, -bis, -bit, e.g. am?b? 'I will love'.

To these six ordinary tenses may be added various "periphrastic" tenses, made from a participle and part of the verb sum 'I am', such as fact?rus eram 'I was about to do'.

For the most part these tenses are used in a fairly straightforward way; however, there are certain idiomatic uses that may be noted.

Use of the tenses

Present

The present tense can refer to a current situation:

  • Sen?tus haec intellegit; C?nsul videt; hic tamen v?vit (Cicero)
'the Senate understands this; the Consul sees it; yet this man is still alive'
  • 't? fortasse v?rum d?cis (Cicero)
'perhaps you are telling the truth'

It can also refer to an event which takes place at the moment of speaking:

  • veni? nunc ad Doryl?nsium testim?nium (Cicero)
'I come now to the testimony of the Dorylensians'

The present tense is often used in narrative in a past sense, especially for events that are sudden or unexpected. This is known as the "historic present":

  • statim compl?r?s in hunc faciunt d? loc? superi?re impetum (Cicero)
'immediately several men make an attack on my client from higher ground'

After dum 'while', the present has an imperfect meaning:

  • dumque fugit, terg? v?l?mina l?psa rel?quit (Ovid)
'while she was fleeing, her cloak (v?l?mina) slipped from her back (terg?) and she left it behind'

The present can sometimes mean 'has been doing', usually with a length of time and iam 'now':

  • is Lilybae? mult?s iam annõs habitat (Cicero)
'he has been living in Lilybaeum for many years now'

Future

The future tense can describe an event or a situation in the near or distant future:]

  • ib? c?t?di? tu?s litter?s exspect?b? (Cicero)
'when I get there, I shall be expecting your letters every day'
  • ?nsequent? libr? explic?b? (Vitruvius)
'I will explain this in the next book'

After cum 'when' or s? 'if' referring to a future time, usually the future is used where English has a present tense:

  • n?rr?b? cum aliquid hab?b? nov? (Cicero)
'I will tell you when I have some news' (lit. 'I will have')

Imperfect

The imperfect tense can describe a situation that used to take place regularly or habitually:

  • multum enim illum audi?bam (Cicero)
'I used to listen to him a lot'

It can also describe a situation that was temporarily taking place at a particular moment:

  • senex d?citur eam f?bulam, quam in manibus hab?bat, recit?sse i?dicibus (Cicero)
'the old man is said to have recited the play, which he was holding (at that moment) in his hands, to the judges'

Another use is to describe what someone was trying to do, or intending to do, or about to do, but which never actually took place:

  • C?riam relinqu?bat (Tacitus)
'he was on the point of leaving the Senate house'

When used with iam and a length of time it means 'had been doing':

  • quod iam di? cupi?bant (Livy)
'which they had been desiring for a long time now'

Sometimes in letters a writer imagines himself in the position of the recipient and uses a past tense to describe an event which for the writer himself is present:

  • etenim ib? sed?ns haec ad te scr?b?bam (Cicero)
'as a matter of fact I was sitting there as I was writing this to you' (i.e. 'I am sitting there as I write this to you')

Perfect

The perfect most frequently narrates an event in the past:

  • vastatis eorum agris, Caesar exercitum reduxit (Caesar)
'having laid waste their farmland, Caesar led his army back'
  • ?nivers? ex n?v? d?silu?runt (Caesar)
'all at the same time, they leapt down from the ship'

The perfect can also be used like the English present perfect ('I have done'):

  • ecum et m?lum Brundis? tib? rel?qu? (Cicero)
'I have left a horse and a mule for you at Brundisium'

The three verbs ?d? 'I hate', memin? 'I remember', and n?v? 'I know', are used in the perfect tense but have the meaning of a present tense:

  • memin? m? adesse (Cicero)
'I remember that I was present'
  • ?d? et am? (Catullus)
'I hate and I love'

The perfect, not the imperfect, is used when a situation is said to have lasted in the past for a certain length of time, unless iam 'now' is added:

  • di? ... silentium fuit (Livy)
'for a long time there was silence'
  • mult?s ann?s nostrae dom? v?xit (Cicero)
'he lived in our house for many years'

The perfect fuit 'it was once', 'it used to be' is also used for a situation which is no longer in existence:

  • statua Att? ... ad laevam c?riae fuit (Livy)
'there was once a statue of Attus to the left of the senate house'

The perfect is also necessary in sentences such as the following, which describe a permanent state, as opposed to the imperfect, which describes a temporary one:

  • Samia mih? m?ter fuit; ea habit?bat Rhod?.
"My mother was a Samian; she was living in Rhodes (at that time)."

The perfect must also be used with adverbs such as semel 'once', bis 'twice', ter 'three times', which imply that the situation is now over:

  • fu? bis in B?th?ni? (Cicero)
'I have been twice in Bithynia'

Future perfect

The future perfect is usually used in a sentence with 'if' or 'when', but it can sometimes be used on its own, as in the following sentence:

  • Pomp?nia, t? inv?ta mulier?s, eg? vir?s acc?ver? (Cicero)
'Pomponia, you invite the women, and (meanwhile) I will have summoned the men'

More frequently it is found after s? 'if' or cum 'when'. The future perfect is used for an event which will precede the main verb:

  • mori?re, s? ?m?ser?s v?cem! (Livy)
'you will die, if you utter a sound!' (lit. 'if you will have uttered')

There is also an idiom using the future perfect of vide?:

  • v?s v?der?tis quod ill? d?be?tur (Livy)
'you must see to it what is due to that man'

Pluperfect

The pluperfect can be used as in English to describe an event that had happened earlier than the time of the narrative:

  • quae g?ns pauc?s ante m?nsibus ad Caesarem l?g?t?s m?serat (Caesar)
'this nation had sent ambassadors to Caesar a few months previously'

The pluperfect of ?d?, n?v? and memin? has the meaning of an imperfect:

  • n?n n?verat Catil?nam; ?fricam tum praetor ille obtin?bat (Cicero)
'he did not know Catiline, since the latter was at that time governor of Africa'

English: Fleuron from book: An introduction to the making of Latin ...
src: c8.alamy.com


Passive voice

Passive tenses

In addition to the active voice tenses listed above, Latin has a set of passive tenses as follows:

  • Present : capior : 'I am captured', 'I am being captured' (by someone or something)
  • Future : capiar (2nd singular capi?re or capi?ris) : 'I will be captured'
  • Imperfect : capi?bar : 'I was being captured', 'I used to be captured'
  • Perfect : captus sum : 'I was captured', 'I have been captured'
  • Future Perfect : captus er? : 'I will have been captured'
  • Pluperfect : captus eram : 'I had been captured'

The three perfect tenses (Perfect, Future Perfect, and Pluperfect) are formed using the perfect participle together with part of the verb sum 'I am'. The ending of the participle changes according to the gender and number of the subject: captus est 'he was captured'; capta est 'she was captured'; capt? sunt 'they were captured', and so on.

Agent with passive verbs

When it is desired to show the agent or person(s) by whom the action was done, Latin uses the preposition ab or ? with the ablative case:

  • arx ab hostibus capta est (Livy)
'the citadel has been captured by the enemy!'

When the agent is not a person (e.g. "by the wind"), no preposition is used, simply the ablative case:

  • Tr?es t? miser?, vent?s maria omnia vect?, ?r?mus (Virgil)
'we, wretched Trojans, carried over all the seas by the winds, beg you'

However, in the majority of sentences, no agent is specified.

Passive infinitive

The infinitive of a passive verb ends in -? (3rd conjugation) or -r? (other conjugations): cap? 'to be captured, aud?r? 'to be heard', etc.

  • in vincula d?c? iubet (Livy)
'he ordered him to be put in chains'
  • s? v?s am?r?, am? (Seneca)
'if you wish to be loved, love'

The Perfect passive has an infinitive captus esse 'to have been captured', and there is also a rarely used Future passive infinitive made using the supine (captum) plus the passive infinitive ?r?: captum ?r? 'to be going to be captured':

  • occ?sum ?r? ab ips? Mil?ne vide? (Cicero)
'I can see that he is going to get killed by Milo himself'

Passive of 'give'

In Latin, unlike English, only the direct object (not the indirect object) of an active verb can be made the subject of a passive verb. It is not correct to say in Latin 'the soldiers were being given their pay' but only 'pay was being given to the soldiers':

  • m?litibus st?pendium (dab?tur) (Livy)
'pay was being given to the soldiers'

Impersonal passive

Another unusual feature of Latin, compared with English, is that intransitive verbs such as e? 'I go', veni? 'I come', pugn? 'I fight' and persu?de? (+ dative) 'I persuade' can be made passive, but only in a 3rd person singular impersonal form:

  • ?tur in ant?quam silvam (Virgil)
'they go into an ancient forest' (lit. 'going is done')
  • septim? di? Carth?ginem ventum est (Livy)
'on the seventh day they reached Carthage'
  • persu?sum erat Cluvi? ut ment?r?tur (Cicero)
'Cluvius had been persuaded to lie' (literally: 'it had been persuaded to Cluvius that he should lie')

English: Fleuron from book: An introduction to the making of Latin ...
src: c8.alamy.com


Deponent verbs

Most of the verbs ending in -or are true passives in meaning (i.e. they represent actions which are done by someone or by something). However, there are a few which are ambivalent and can be either active or passive in meaning, such as vertor 'I turn' (intransitive) or 'I am turned', volvor 'I revolve' (intransitive) or 'I am rolled':

  • vertitur intere? caelum et ruit Ocean? nox (Virgil)
'meanwhile the sky turns and night falls upon the Ocean'

In addition, there are a few verbs such as profic?scor 'I set out', sequor 'I follow', c?nor 'I try' which despite their passive endings have an active meaning. These verbs (which have no active counterpart ending in -?) are called deponent verbs:

  • ipse in Italiam profectus est (Caesar)
'he himself set out for Italy'
  • hunc sequ? s? iubet (Nepos)
'he ordered this man to follow him'

English: Fleuron from book: A new introduction to the Latin ...
src: c8.alamy.com


The subjunctive mood

As well as the indicative mood illustrated above, which is used for stating and asking facts, and an imperative mood, used for direct commands, Latin has a subjunctive mood, used to express nuances of meaning such as 'would', 'could', 'should', 'may' etc. (The word mood in a grammatical sense comes from the Latin modus, and has no connection with the other meaning of 'mood', in the sense of 'emotional state', which comes from a Germanic root.)

The subjunctive is often translated with 'should', 'could', 'would', 'may' and so on, but in certain contexts, for example indirect questions or after the conjunction cum 'when' or 'since', it is translated as if it were an ordinary indicative verb.

Often in English the subjunctive can be translated by an infinitive; for example the literal imper?vit ut ?ret 'he ordered that he should go' becomes in more idiomatic English 'he ordered him to go'.

Subjunctive tenses

There are four tenses of the subjunctive, which are as follows:

  • Present : faciam (2nd person faci?s) : 'I may do', 'I would do', 'I should do' (also simply 'I do')
  • Imperfect : facerem : 'I would be doing', 'I should do' (in a past context) (also simply 'I was doing')
  • Perfect : f?cerim : 'I may have done' (also: 'I did')
  • Pluperfect : f?cissem : 'I would or should have done' (also 'I had done')

The verb sum 'I am' has the following four tenses in the subjunctive mood: sim, essem, fuerim, fuisset. The verb possum 'I am able' similarly has possim, possem, potuerim, potuissem. Volo 'I want is also irregular, with tenses velim, vellem, voluerim, voluissem.

The subjunctive has numerous uses, ranging from what potentially might be true to what the speaker wishes or commands should happen.

Potential subjunctive

The 'potential' subjunctive is used when the speaker imagines what potentially may, might, would, or could happen in the present or future or might have happened in the past. The negative of this kind is n?n:

  • d?rum hoc fortasse vide?tur (Cicero)
'this may perhaps seem harsh'
  • quid si hoc f?cissem? (Cicero)
'what if I had done this?'

Optative subjunctive

Another use is for what the speaker wishes may happen, or wishes had happened (the 'optative' subjunctive). The negative of this kind is n?:

  • utinam iam adesset! (Cicero)
'if only he were here already!'
  • utinam ille omn?s s?cum su?s c?pi?s ?duxisset! (Cicero)
'if only he had taken out all his forces with him!'

Jussive subjunctive

It can also represent what the speaker commands or suggests should happen (the 'jussive' subjunctive). The negative is again n?:

  • v?v?mus, mea Lesbia, atque am?mus (Catullus)
'let's live, my Lesbia, and let's love'

In indirect statements and questions

A fourth important use of the subjunctive mood in Latin is to indicate that the words are quoted; this applies for example to subordinate clauses in indirect speech:

  • locum ubi esset facile invent?r?s (Nepos)
'(he said that) they would easily find the place where he was'

It also applies to all indirect questions:

  • qu?r? id faciam, fortasse requ?ris (Catullus)
'perhaps you ask why I do this'

When used in indirect speech or in an indirect question, the subjunctive is translated as if were the corresponding tense of the indicative.

Subjunctive after conjunctions

The subjunctive mood is very frequently used in subordinate clauses following conjunctions.

After cum

Used with the indicative, the conjunction cum means 'at that time when', or 'whenever':

  • cum tacent, cl?mant (Cicero)
'when they are silent, (it is as if) they are shouting'

Used with the subjunctive, however, it frequently means 'at a time when'. When cum is used with the Imperfect subjunctive, a common way of translating it is 'while':

  • cum sed?rem dom? tr?stis, accurrit Venerius (Cicero)
'while I was sitting sadly at home, Venerius suddenly came running up'

With the Pluperfect subjunctive, it often means 'after X happened':

  • cum excessisset Aegypt? Antiochus, l?g?t? ... Cyprum n?vigant (Livy)
'after Antiochus had left Egypt, the ambassadors sailed to Cyprus'

It can also mean 'in view of the fact that' or 'since':

  • quae cum ita sint
'in view of the fact that these things are so' / 'since this is so'

Another, less common, meaning is 'though':

  • nihil m? adi?vit, cum posset (Cicero)
'he did nothing to help me, though (or: at a time when) he could have done'

After ut

When followed by the indicative, the conjunction ut can mean 'as' (e.g. ut fit 'as generally happens') or 'as soon as' or 'when' (ut v?n? 'as soon as I came'). But with the subjunctive ut has the meaning 'that' or 'so that'.

It can represent purpose ('so that he could...'):

  • Cr?tam v?nit ut ib? qu? s? c?nferret c?ns?der?ret (Nepos)
'(Hannibal) came to Crete so that there he could consider (in order to consider) where he should go to next'

It can also be used to introduce an indirect command ('that he should...'):

  • imper?vit e? ut omn?s for?s aedifici? circum?ret (Nepos)
'he ordered him to go round (lit. 'that he should go round') all the doors of the building'

It can also represent result (making what is known as a "consecutive" clause):

  • idque s?c aedific?verat ut in omnibus partibus aedifici? exit?s hab?ret (Nepos)
'and he had built it in such a way that in all parts of the building it had exits'

Occasionally ut with the subjunctive can mean 'although'.

After s?

After s? 'if', the subjunctive expresses an imagined or unreal situation:

  • quod, s? interfectus essem, accidere n?n potuisset (Cicero)
'which, if I had been killed, could not have happened'
  • s? rev?v?scant et t?cum loquantur, quid respond?res? (Cicero)
'if they were to come to life and talk to you, what answer would you be making?'

After n?

After n? 'that not', the subjunctive can express a negative purpose:

  • h?nc n? ex?re posset, ephor? valv?s obstr?x?runt (Nepos)
'so that he would not be able to escape from here, the ephors blocked up the doors'

It can also introduce a negative indirect command:

  • n? propius s? castra mov?ret peti?runt (Caesar)
'they requested him not to move his camp any nearer to them'

The conjunction n? can also express a fear; in this case, the word 'not' must be omitted from the English translation:

  • ver?ns n? d?der?tur (Nepos)
'fearing that he might be handed over to the enemy'

After dum

When used with the indicative, dum means 'while' or 'as long as'. But when followed by the subjunctive, it often means 'until':

  • Verginius dum coll?gam consuleret mor?tus (est) (Livy)
'Verginius waited until he had a chance to consult his colleague'

Another meaning is 'provided that':

  • ?derint dum metuant (Accius)
'let them hate, provided that they fear'

After priusquam

The conjunctions priusquam and antequam both mean 'before (something happened)'. If the event actually happened, the verb is usually in the indicative mood; but when the meaning is 'before there was a chance for it to happen', the verb is subjunctive:

  • (collem) celeriter, priusquam ab advers?ri?s senti?tur, comm?nit (Caesar)
'he fortified the hill quickly, before it could be noticed by the enemies'

After qu?n

The conjunction qu?n (literally, 'how should it not be?') is always used after a negative verb or the equivalent, typically 'there is no doubt that', 'who does not know that...?', and so on. The words following qu?n are always positive and usually state what was actually the case:

  • n?n dubit? qu?n ad t? omn?s tu? scr?pserint (Cicero)
'I have no doubt that all your friends will have written to you'
  • quis ign?rat qu?n tria Graec?rum genera sint? (Cicero)
'who does not know that there are three kinds of Greeks?'

Another usage is after a negative verb such as 'I can't help doing' or 'he did not refrain from doing':

  • facere n?n possum qu?n ... tib? gr?ti?s agam (Cicero)
'I can't do otherwise than to thank you'
  • Antiochus n?n s? tenuit qu?n contr? suum doct?rem librum ?deret (Cicero)
'Antiochus did not refrain from publishing a book against his own teacher'

Equally it can be used in sentences of the kind 'A didn't happen without B also happening':

  • n?llum adh?c interm?s? diem qu?n aliquid ad t? litter?rum darem (Cicero)
'up to now I have not let a day go past without dropping you a line'

In sentences like the following, there is potential for confusion, since the qu?n clause, though positive in Latin, is translated in English with a negative:

  • n?mo fuit militum qu?n vulner?r?tur (Caesar)
'there was not one of the soldiers who was not wounded'
  • fier? n?ll? mod? poterat qu?n Cleomen? parcer?tur (Cicero)
'it was quite impossible that Cleomenes would not be spared'

In the following context, the words after qu?n express not what actually happened but what very nearly happened:

  • neque multum ?fuit qu?n castr?s expellerentur (Caesar)
'nor were they far from being expelled from the camp'

Subjunctive after qu? 'who'

Generic

The pronoun qu? 'who' or 'which', when followed by a subjunctive, can mean 'a person such as' (generic):

  • qu? modest? p?rat, vid?tur qu? aliquand? imperet dignus esse (Cicero)
'he who obeys modestly, seems to be the sort of person who one day is worthy to rule'

Purpose

It can also mean 'in order to' (purpose):

  • l?g?t?s R?mam qu? auxilium peterent m?s?re (Livy)
'they sent ambassadors to Rome to ask for help'

Explanatory

Another meaning is 'in view of the fact that' (giving an explanation), as in the following example, said jokingly of a consul who was elected on the last day of the year:

  • fuit m?rific? vigilanti?, qu? su? t?t? c?nsul?t? somnum n?n v?derit (Cicero)
'(Caninius) was of amazing vigilance, in view of the fact that he didn't see any sleep in the whole of his consulate!'

Reported speech

Another reason for using the subjunctive after qu? is to show that the words of the qu? clause are quoted or part of indirect speech:

  • Paetus omn?s libr?s qu?s fr?ter suus rel?quisset mih? d?n?vit (Cicero)
'Paetus made a gift to me of all the books which his brother had left him'

Clearly here Paetus had written or stated "I am giving you all the books which my brother left me", and Cicero is quoting his words indirectly to Atticus.




The imperative mood

Ordinary imperative

The imperative mood is used for giving direct orders. The active form can be made plural by adding -te:

  • d? m? b?sia m?lle, deinde centum! (Catullus)
'give me a thousand kisses, then a hundred!'
  • date dexter?s fidemque! (Livy)
'give me your right hands and your oath!'

Deponent imperative

Deponent verbs such as profic?scor 'I set out' or sequor 'I follow' have an imperative ending in -re or -min? (plural):

  • patent portae: profic?scere! (Cicero)
'the gates are open: depart!'
  • sequimin? m? h?c intr? ambae (Terence)
'follow me this way inside, both of you'

Negative commands

An imperative is usually made negative by using n?l?(te) (literally, 'be unwilling!') plus the infinitive. However, in poetry an imperative can sometimes be made negative with the particle n?:

  • n?l?te m?r?r? (Seneca the Elder)
'don't be surprised'
  • n? m? terr?te timentem, obsc?nae volucr?s! (Virgil)
'do not terrify me, who am already scared, obscene birds!'

A negative order can also use the perfect subjunctive:

  • d? m? nihil timuer?s (Cicero)
'do not be afraid on my account'

Future imperative

Latin also has a Future imperative or 2nd imperative, ending in -t?(te), used to request someone to do something at a future time, or if something else happens first:

  • s? quid acciderit, ... scr?bit? (Cicero)
'if anything happens, write to me'
  • ubi n?s l?verimus, s? vol?s, lav?t? (Terence)
'when we have finished washing, get washed if you wish'.

This imperative is very common in early writers such as Plautus and Cato:

  • cr?dam si ed?s, in ac?tum intinguit?. (Cato)
'if you eat it (cabbage) raw, dip it in vinegar.'

Some verbs have only the Second Imperative, for example sc?t? "know", mement? "remember".

Other ways of expressing a command

Other requests are made with expressions such as c?r? ut 'take care to...', fac ut 'see to it that...' or cav? n? 'be careful that you don't...'

  • c?r? ut vale?s (Cicero)
'make sure you keep well'

The future indicative can be used for polite commands:

  • P?liae sal?tem d?c?s et Atticae (Cicero)
'will you please give my regards to Pilia and Attica?'



The infinitive

Although often referred to as a 'mood', the Latin infinitive is usually considered to be a verbal noun rather than a mood.

Latin has three infinitives in the active voice, and three passive. Since faci? is irregular in the passive ('to be done' is fier?, taken from the verb f?? 'I become'), they are here shown using the verb capi? 'I capture':

Active:

  • Present : capere : 'to capture, to be capturing'
  • Perfect : c?pisse : 'to have captured'
  • Future : capt?rus esse : 'to be going to capture'

Passive:

  • Present : cap? : 'to be captured'
  • Perfect : captus esse : 'to have been captured'
  • Future : captum ?r? : 'to be going to be captured'

The infinitives of sum 'I am' are esse, fuisse, and fut?rus esse (often shortened to fore). Possum 'I am able' has posse and potuisse, vol? 'I want' has velle and voluisse. Neither of these verbs has a Future infinitive, and the Present infinitive is used instead.

The Future infinitive is used only for indirect statements (see below).

The passive Future infinitive is rare, and is frequently replaced with a phrase using fore ut.

Uses of the infinitive

The infinitive can be used as the subject, complement, or the object of a verb:

  • v?vere est c?git?re (Cicero)
'to live is to think'
  • err?re, nesc?re, d?cip? ... turpe d?cimus (Cicero)
'we consider to be in error, to be ignorant, to be deceived as something shameful'

Prolative infinitive

It can also be used, as in English, dependent on an adjective, or with verbs such as possum 'I am able' or vol? 'I want':

  • dulce et dec?rum est pr? patri? mor? (Horace)
'it is a sweet and glorious thing to die for one's country'
  • n?n possum haec ferre (Cicero)
'I can't bear it'

It is likewise used, as in English, with verbs such as iube? 'I order', vet? 'I forbid', patior 'I allow', vol? 'I want' and so on, where the main verb takes an object in the accusative case:

  • vol? t? hoc sc?re (Cicero)
'I want you to know this'

However, other verbs of similar meaning, such as imper? 'I order', persu?de? 'I persuade', and hortor 'I urge', are not used with an infinitive, but with ut and the subjunctive mood:

  • hort?tur m? ut sen?t?i scr?bam (Cicero)
'he is urging me to write to the senate' (lit. 'that I should write')

Historic infinitive

An infinitive or a succession of infinitives is sometimes used to represent a rapid or confused series of actions:

  • cl?m?re omn?s (Cicero)
'everyone began shouting at once'

Accusative and infinitive

A very common use of the infinitive in Latin, in which it differs from English, is its use for indirect statements, that is for sentences where a subordinate clause is dependent on a main verb such as 'he says', 'he knows', 'he pretends', 'he believes', 'he thinks' and so on. In Latin, instead of 'they pretend that they want', the idiom is to say 'they pretend themselves to want':

  • s? p?cem velle simulant (Cicero)
'they pretend that they want peace'

Similarly 'I'm glad you've arrived safely' becomes 'I am glad you to have arrived safely':

  • salvom t? adv?nisse gaude? (Terence)
'I am glad you have arrived safely'

In this construction, the subject of the infinitive (s?, t? in the above examples) is in the accusative case.

So common is this construction in Latin, that often the verb 'he said' is simply omitted if it is clear from the context, the accusative and infinitive alone making it clear that the statement is reported:

  • rem atr?cem incidisse (Livy)
'a terrible thing had happened (she said)'

Other ways of expressing 'that'

Not every subordinate clause which starts with the conjunction 'that' in English is translated with an accusative and infinitive. In some contexts ut with the subjunctive is required, for example after a verb of happening:

  • accidit c?s? ut l?g?t? Pr?siae R?mae ... c?n?rent (Nepos)
'it happened by chance that some ambassadors of King Prusias were dining in Rome'

In other circumstances a clause with quod 'the fact that' is used with the indicative:

  • praetere? quod eam sib? domum d?l?git (Cicero)
'I omit the fact that he chose that house for himself'

This type of clause with quod (which became que in modern French, Portuguese and Spanish and che in Italian) gradually took over from the Accusative and infinitive construction and became the usual way of expressing indirect speech in modern Romance languages which are descended from Latin.




Participles

Unlike Greek, Latin is deficient in participles, having only three, as follows:

  • Present : faci?ns (pl. facient?s) : 'doing'
  • Perfect : factus : '(having been) done'
  • Future : fact?rus : 'going to do'.

Thus, there is no passive present or future participle, and no active past participle. In deponent verbs, however, the Perfect participle is active in meaning, e.g. "profectus", 'having set out', "conatus" 'having tried'.

The verb sum 'I am' has no Present or Perfect participle, but only the Future participle fut?rus 'going to be'.

The Romans themselves considered the gerundive (see below) also to be a participle, but most modern grammars treat it as a separate part of speech.

Uses of participles

Adjectival participle

Participles have endings like those of adjectives, and occasionally they are used as though they were adjectives. If so, they refer to the state or condition that a thing or person is in:

  • aqu? fervent? ... perfunditur (Cicero)
'he was doused with boiling water'
  • occ?s?s sepel?vit (Eutropius)
'he buried the dead (those who had been killed)'

Participle as a verb

More frequently, however, a participle is more like a verb, and if one action follows another, it can often replace the first of two verbs in a sentence:

  • Caesar Cascae bracchium arreptum graphi? tr?i?cit (Suetonius)
'Caesar grabbed Casca's arm and stabbed it with his writing instrument'

Literally, 'Caesar with his writing instrument (graphi?) stabbed the arm (bracchium), which had been grabbed, for Casca' (Cascae here is probably Dative of the Person Affected.)

Participles can frequently be translated into English using a clause with 'when':

  • quaerentique viro 'satin salve?' 'minime' inquit.
'and when her husband asked "Are you all right?", she said "No!"
  • c?n?tusque pr?sil?re ali? vulnere tard?tus est (Suetonius)
'and when he tried to leap forward he was slowed down (tard?tus) by another wound'

'-ing' and 'who' are other possible translations:

  • curr?ns Lepta v?nit (Cicero)
'Lepta came running'
  • str?ct? gladi?, ad dormientem Lucr?tiam v?nit (Livy)
'drawing his sword, he came to Lucretia, when she was sleeping / who was sleeping'

Apart from 'when' and 'who', other translations are possible, such as 'if', 'since', or 'although':

  • oculus s? n?n vid?ns, alia cernit (Cicero)
'although it can't see itself, the eye discerns other things'

A participle phrase can also stand for a noun clause, as in the following example:

  • capt? oppid? signum ex m?r? tollunt (Livy)
'they raised a sign from the wall that the town had been captured' (lit. 'of the town having been captured')

Normally a Present participle represents an action which is simultaneous with the main event ('he came running'), and a Perfect participle represents one which has already happened ('after drawing his sword'). In the following example, however, the Perfect participle represents the result following the main action:

  • cr?n?s scindit ... sol?t?s (Virgil)
'she tore her hair, making it loose'

Participles are much commoner in Latin than in English. Sometimes multiple participles can be used in a single sentence:

  • noct? l?mine apposit? experr?cta n?tr?x animadvertit puerum dormientem circumplic?tum serpentis amplex?. qu? aspect? exterrita cl?m?rem sustulit. (Cicero)
'in the night, in the light of a lamp placed nearby, the nurse, who had woken up, noticed that the boy, while he was sleeping, had been wrapped around with the coils of a snake; terrified by this sight, she raised a cry'

Ablative absolute

The phrase str?ct? gladi? (lit. 'with drawn sword') above is an example of a common idiom in which a noun and participle are put in the Ablative case to represent the circumstances of the main event. This idiom is referred to as an "Ablative absolute". Other examples are:

  • in host?s sign? dat? impetum f?c?runt (Caesar)
'when the signal was given (lit. 'with signal given'), they made an attack on the enemy'
  • at pater Aen?as, aud?t? n?mine Turn?, d?serit m?r?s (Virgil)
'but Father Aeneas, on hearing Turnus's name, immediately deserted the walls'

The present participle can also be used in an ablative absolute:

  • at illa audientibus n?b?s 'ego ipsa sum' inquit 'h?c hospita' (Cicero)
'but she, while we were listening, said "I am just a guest here myself!"'
  • nec imperante nec sciente nec praesente domin? (Cicero)
'without their master ordering it, or knowing, or even present'

The verb sum ('I am') has no participle, except in the compound forms abs?ns 'absent' and praes?ns 'present'. To make an ablative absolute with 'to be', the words are put in the ablative, and the verb is simply omitted:

  • puerul? m? (Nepos)
'when I was a little boy'
  • h?s c?nsulibus F?d?nae obsessae, Crustumeria capta (Livy)
'when these men were consuls, Fidenae was besieged and Crustumeria captured'



The gerundive

The gerundive is a verbal adjective ending in -ndus (-nda etc. if feminine). It is usually passive in meaning (although a few deponent verbs can form an active gerund, such as secundus 'following' from sequor 'I follow') The usual meaning of the gerundive is that it is necessary for something to be done:

  • nunc est bibendum (Horace)
'now drinking must be done' (i.e. 'now we must drink')
  • Cat? inexpi?bil? odi? d?lendam esse Carth?ginem ... pr?n?nti?bat (Florus)
'Cato with implacable hatred used to declare that Carthage must be destroyed'

If a word is added to show by whom the action must be done, this word is put in the dative case (e.g. n?b?s 'for us').

Because it is passive in meaning, the gerundive is usually formed from transitive verbs. However, intransitive verbs such as e? 'I go' and persu?de? 'I persuade', which can be used passively in an impersonal construction, can also have an impersonal gerundive, ending in -um:

  • mih? Arp?num eundum est (Cicero)
'I have to go to Arpinum'
  • persu?dendum i?dic? est (Quintilian)
'the judge has to be persuaded'

The gerundive after ad can also be used to express purpose (a use which it shares with the gerund, see below):

  • L. Septimium trib?num militum ad interficiendum Pompeium m?s?runt (Caesar)
'they sent the military tribune Lucius Septimius to kill Pompey'
  • hunc D?tam?s v?nctum ad r?gem d?cendum tr?dit Mithrid?t? (Nepos)
'Datames handed this man over in chains to Mithridates for him to be led to the King'



The gerund

The gerund is a verbal noun ending in -ndum (accusative), -nd? (genitive), or -nd? (dative or ablative). Although identical in form to a neuter gerundive, and overlapping the gerundive in some of its uses, it is possible that it has a different origin.

Gerunds are usually formed from intransitive verbs, and are mainly used in sentences such as the following where the meaning is 'by doing something', 'of doing something', or 'for the purpose of doing something'. A gerund is never used as the subject or direct object of a verb (the infinitive is used instead).

  • veniend? h?c exercitum serv?stis (Livy)
'by coming here, you have saved the army'
  • aqua nitr?sa ?tilis est bibend? (Pliny the Elder)
'alkaline water is good for drinking'
  • id?neam ad n?vigandum tempest?tem (Caesar)
'weather suitable (id?neam) for sailing'
  • sacrificand? caus?, Delph?s ?scend? (Livy)
'for the sake of sacrificing, I climbed up to Delphi'

Occasionally a gerund can be made from a transitive verb and can take a direct object:

  • subabsurda d?cend? r?s?s moventur (Cicero)
'by saying incongruous things laughs (r?s?s) are raised'

They can also be formed from deponent verbs such as ingredior 'I enter':

  • ali?s timor hostium aud?ciam fl?men ingrediend? dedit (Livy)
'for others fear of the enemy gave them the boldness (aud?ciam) to enter (lit. of entering) the river'

However, if the verb is transitive, a phrase made of noun + gerundive is often substituted for the gerund:

  • lignum ?ridum m?teria est id?nea ?liciend?s ignibus (Seneca)
'dry wood (lignum) is a suitable material for striking fire'



The supine

The supine is a rarely used part of the verb ending in -tum or (in some verbs) -sum. Although it is identical with the accusative case of verbal nouns such as adventus 'arrival', m?tus 'movement', etc., it differs from them in that it is a verb as well as a noun, and can sometimes take a direct object.

Supine in -um

The supine is normally used to express purpose, when combined with a verb of going such as e? 'I go' or mitt? 'I send':

  • l?sum it Maecen?s, dorm?tum ego Vergiliusque (Horace)
'Maecenas goes to play a game, Virgil and I to sleep'
  • spect?tum veniunt, veniunt spectentur ut ipsae (Ovid)
'(the girls) come to watch, but they also come so that they can be looked at themselves'

In the following example it takes a direct object:

  • l?g?t?s ad Caesarem mittunt rog?tum auxilium (Caesar)
'they send ambassadors to Caesar in order to ask for help'

Supine in -u

There is another form of the supine, an Ablative in -?, found with certain verbs only. But this cannot take an object. It is used in phrases such as m?r?bile dict? 'amazing to say', facile fact? 'easy to do':

  • dict? quam r? facilius est (Livy)
'it is easier in the saying than in reality'

Passive infinitive

The accusative of the supine is also used to make the rarely used Future passive infinitive captum ?r? 'to be going to be captured' (see above).




Bibliography

  • Devine, Andrew M. & Laurence D. Stephens (2006), Latin Word Order. Structured Meaning and Information. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. xii, 639. ISBN 0-19-518168-9. Google books sample. See also reviews by M. Esperanza Torrego and Anne Mahoney.
  • Gildersleeve, B.L. & Gonzalez Lodge (1895). Gildersleeve's Latin Grammar. 3rd Edition. (Macmillan)
  • Greenough, J.B. et al. (1903). Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar for Schools and Colleges. Boston and London.
  • Hopper, Paul J. (1985). Review of Panhuis The Communicative Perspective in the Sentence: a study of Latin word order. Language 61-2, 1985, 466-470.
  • Kennedy, Benjamin Hall (1871). The Revised Latin Primer. Edited and further revised by Sir James Mountford, Longman 1930; reprinted 1962.
  • Kühner, Raphael; & Karl Stegmann (1912) [1879]. Ausführliche Grammatik der lateinischen Sprache
  • Leumann, Manu; J.B. Hofmann, & Anton Szantyr (1977) [1926]. Lateinische Grammatik. Munich.
  • Nisbet, R.G.M. (1999). "The Word-Order of Horace's Odes. Proceedings of the British Academy, 93, 135-154.
  • Panhuis, D.G.J. (1982) The Communicative Perspective in the Sentence: a study of Latin word order, Amsterdam-Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
  • Pinkster, Harm (1990), Latin Syntax and Semantics.
  • Rose, H.J. (1924). Review of J. Marouzeaux (1922), "L'Ordre des Mots dans la Phrase latine: I. Les Groupes nominaux". The Classical Review, vol. 38, issue 1-2.
  • Spevak, Olga (2010). Constituent Order in Classical Latin Prose. Studies in Language Companion Series (SLCS) 117. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2010. Pp. xv, 318. ISBN 9789027205841. Reviewed by J.G.F. Powell in the Bryn Mawr Classical Review [1]
  • Spevak, Olga (2014). The Noun Phrase in Classical Latin Prose. Amsterdam studies in classical philology, 21. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2014. Pp. xiii, 377. ISBN 9789004264427. Review by Patrick McFadden.
  • Walker, Arthur T. (1918) "Some Facts of Latin Word Order". The Classical Journal, Vol. 13, No. 9, pp. 644-657.



External links

  • University of Chicago Perseus under PhiloLogic searchable corpus. Perseus under PhiloLogic home page
  • Online version of Allen & Greenough's Latin Grammar
  • Online version of Gildersleeve & Lodge's Latin Grammar



References

Source of article : Wikipedia