Moving to the family in Rome.
Amelia and Marcus are sister and brother, the Roman equivalent of Janet and John! They are the children of Aemilius and Cornelia. The family have a house in Rome and a Country Villa.
Stories about the family come from the recommended book A New Approach to Latin.
Amelia’s Lost Doll.
For this first session we will go through all the grammar in detail so that you begin to get the hang of it.
Aemelia pupam habet Amelia has a doll. Amelia is the subject, the doll is the object, the verb habere, to have:
| habeo; I have | habemus; we have |
| habes; you (s) have | habetis; you (pl) have |
| habet; he/she/it has | habent; they have |
Perhaps the old English word for a doll “poppet” came from pupa?
pupam Papiolam vocat. She calls the doll Papiola. The doll is again the object and it is unspoken that Amelia is the subject, the verb vocare, to call.
| voco; I call | vocamus; we call |
| vocas; you (s) call | vocatis; you (pl) call |
| vocat; he/she/it calls | vocant; they call |
pupa est lignea. The doll is wooden. Now the doll is the subject, the adjective matches the subject and is fem. sing. (Ligneus in English still means anything wooden)
sed Aemelia Papiolam maxime amat et semper fovet But Amelia loves Papiola very much and always fondles (cuddles?) her. Verb amare, to love
| amo; I love | amamus; we love |
| amas; you(s) love | amatis; you (pl) love |
| amat; he/she/it loves | amant; they love |
Marcus canem habet. Marcus has a dog. Marcus is the subject, the dog is the object, if the dog had Marcus then it would be canis Marcum habet. (English uses canine to refer to anything dog like)
canem Hyclacem vocat He calls the dog Hyclax. Marcus is the unspoken subject, Hyclax is the object.
Hyclax est ater et villam bene custodit. Hyclax is black and guards the villa well. (Roman word for black is not used in modern text books – ater originally meant black mood, despair etc.) Villa usually means a country house.
Hyclax Aemiliam amat sed Papiolam non amat, Hyclax loves Amelia but he does not love Papiola, Verb ending for subject Hylax. Aemilia and Papiola now objects.
Nonnumquam pupam rapit et in horto celat. Sometimes he seizes the doll and hides it in the garden. Verb rapio to seize, snatch, carry off. Root of many similar English words. . Celare, to hide. Root of our conceal?
Hodie lacrimat Aemilia quod pupam nusquam videt. Today Amelia is in tears because her doll is nowhere to be seen. (literally the doll nowhere she sees.) Verb videre, to see. Verb moved forward from its usual position to indicate that this is not normal for her.
| video | videmus |
| vides | videtis |
| videt | vident |
Marcus e domo festinat et cum Aemilia per horto pupam quaerit. Marcus hurries from the house and with Amelia searches through the garden for her doll. E or ex and per are preposition which are followed by the ablative.
Tandem Papiolam sub arbore inveniunt. At length they discover Papiola under a tree, The verb ending for finding is now for “they”. Verb invenire to find, discover, to come upon. (Our invention is a discovery.)
| invenio | invenimus |
| invenis | invenitis |
| invenit | inveniunt |
Aemilia gaudet. Amelia is joyful (delighted
Marcus goes to the Forum and a little uninvited visitor
Hodie pater Marcum ad forum ducit. Today father is taking Marcus to the forum, Father is subject, Marcus object , verb ducere to lead, guide, take
| duco | ducimus |
| ducis | ducitis |
| ducit | ducunt |
Marcus est tardus: forum enim non amat. Marcus is late; he truly does not love the Forum More natural translation “he really doesn’t like the Forum.” (English tardy)
“o mater”, clamat, “toga est sordida”. “oh Mother”, he cries (exclaims) “ the toga is dirty.”
mater est irata quod Marcus togam sordidam habet. Mother is angry that Marcus has a dirty toga. The endings for dirty and toga have changed from subject to object.( Iratus – English irate.)
interea Aemilia clamat; murem parvum videt. Meanwhile Amelia cries out. She sees a small mouse. Amelia subject, mouse object. Magna and Parva often occur in old English place names.
lacrimat quod mures timet. She cries because she is afraid of mice.
mater ad Aemiliam currit, sed mater quoque mures timet. Mother runs to Amelia, but mother is afraid of mice too. Verb currere to run
| curro | currimus |
| curris | curritis |
| currit | currunt |
venit Marcus et muris fugit. Marcus comes in and the mouse runs away. Verb fugere to run away, escape
tandem Marcus et pater ad forum discedunt, At length Marcus and father depart to the forum. Verb discedere to go away, depart. (we would be more likely to say leave for the forum)
primum Marcus oratores audit, sed mox deffesus est. First Marcus listens to the orators, but is soon tired (bored?) Verb audire to listen, to hear; mox, soon; deffesus tired; exhausted. He sleeps; he dreams about the country house and the fields.
dormit; de villa et agris somniat. He sleeps; he dreams about the country house and the fields. Verbs dormire, to sleep, somnire to dream. Agris, fields plural. (English agriculture, agrarian)
post meridiem Marcus laetus ad villam cum patre discedit. After noon (in the afternoon) Marcus gladly departs to the country house with father. Verb discedere . laetus, glad cheerful.
vitam enim rusticam amat. forum et orates non amat. Truly he loves the county life. He does not love the forum and the orators.
Practice in using ‘ad’ and ‘in’
| puer ad ianuam currit | The boy runs to the door (accusative) |
| puer ad ianuam stat | The boy stands by/at the door (accusative) |
| viri in via stant | The men stand in the road (ablative) |
| viri in sellis sedent | The men sit on chairs (ablative) |
| vir in domum festinat | The man hurries into the house |
| canis in culinam currit | The dog runs into the kitchen |
Try some English into Latin
| Why does Amelia run into the kitchen? | cur Aemelia in culinam currit? |
| Why does Amelia not fear the big dog? | cur Aemelia canem magnum non timet? |
| She fears the little mouse | murem parvum timet |
| Marcus is sitting in the garden | Marcus in horto sedet |
| Hylax runs out of the kitchen | Hylax ex culina currit |
| The slaves stand at the door | servi ad ianuam stant |
| Cornelia in sella sedet | Cornelia sits in a chair |
| Amelius hurries to the Forum | Aemilius ad Forum festinat |
| Cornelia praises the good cook | Cornelia coquum bonum laudat |
| Amelia loves her little doll | Aemelia pupam parvam amat |