Archive for 'Latin Language'
Answers to Latin Roots Posted by kunthra on May 26, 2011
Here are the answers to the post on Latin roots that was posted on April 15th. The post dealt with Latin words that have the same root, but differ in meaning from each other. The words in brackets refer to English words that originate from these Latin root words. (1) ar- (a) arāre (plow, till)…
Answers to the Lines from the Great Ancient Roman Authors Posted by kunthra on May 19, 2011
Hope you’ve had some time to think about these ancient Roman poets and authors. It’s now time to figure out what these quotes mean and who said them. (1) “Orandum est ut sit mens sana in corpore sano” is by the satirist Juvenal. It means “It is to be prayed that the mind be sound…
Sulpicia Posted by kunthra on Apr 19, 2011
It’s pretty rare to get a glimpse of the female perspective in ancient Roman poetry. One of the most famous female poets from ancient Rome is a poetess by the name of Sulpicia. We only have six poems by her; of which one of them is shown below: inuisus natalis adest, qui rure molesto (Birthday…
Latin Roots Posted by kunthra on Apr 15, 2011
There are certain Latin roots that cause Latin students to be confused because they look similar in spelling. For example there’s the root “ar-“ which can mean ”plow”/”till” or “be dry”. Here’s a little quiz for you: which of these Latin words means “to plow”? Which of these means “to be dry”? 1) arāre 2) …
Wise Sayings of the Ancient Romans Posted by kunthra on Mar 25, 2011
The ancient Romans were witty people who left us with pithy and wise sayings. Take for instance this phrase, Volenti non fit iniuria (Volenti = willing. Non = not. Fit = do. Iniuria = harm.) In English this means “To a willing person one cannot do harm”. Note that ‘iniuria’ can also mean “injustice”, “wrong”…
Provocative Poetry Posted by kunthra on Mar 7, 2011
Some people have this perception that all Latin poetry is boring, proper and stiff, but that’s not true. For example the Latin poet Marcus Valerius Martialis, also known as Martial, was known to write a few choice poems towards certain individuals: Utere lactucis et mollibus utere malvis: Nam faciem durum, Phoebe, cacantis habes Eat lettuce…
Third Declension Dative and Ablative Posted by kunthra on Aug 16, 2010
For today’s lesson we’ll do some translation exercises using the dative and ablative of the third declension : 1. Mulierēs ā fonte ad montem ambulant 2. Cūstōdibus fābulam narrō 3. Rēx est in casā cum mīlitibus 4. Rēgī equōs dās 5. In īnsulā estis sine animālibus 6. Mulieribus fontem iterque aedificāmus 7. Anserem numquam portō…