Chapter 35
352. In this chapter brief consideration is given to a few features of Latin diction which belong rather to style than to formal grammar.
NOUNS.
353. 1. Where a distinct reference to several persons or things is involved, the Latin is frequently _much more exact in the use of the Plural_ than is the English; as,--
domōs eunt, _they go home (i.e. to their homes_);
Germānī corpora cūrant, _the Germans care for the body_;
animōs mīlitum recreat, _he renews the courage of the soldiers_;
diēs noctēsque timēre, _to be in a state of fear day and night_.
2. In case of Neuter Pronouns and Adjectives used substantively, the Latin often employs the Plural where the English uses the Singular; as,--
omnia sunt perdīta, _everything is lost_;
quae cum ita sint, _since this is so_;
haec omnibus pervulgāta sunt, _this is very well known to all_.
3. The Latin is usually _more concrete_ than the English, and especially _less bold in the personification_ of abstract qualities. Thus:--
ā puerō, ā puerīs, _from boyhood_;
Sullā dictātōre, _in Sulla's dictatorship_;
mē duce, _under my leadership_;
Rōmānī cum Carthāginiēnsibus pācem fēcērunt = _Rome made peace with Carthage_;
liber doctrīnae plēnus = _a learned book_;
prūdentiā Themistoclīs Graecia servāta est = _Themistocles's foresight saved Greece_.
4. The Nouns of Agency in -tor and -sor (see § 147, 1) denote a _permanent_ or _characteristic activity_; as,--
accūsātōrēs, _(professional) accusers_;
ōrātōrēs, _pleaders_;
cantōrēs, _singers_;
Arminius, Germāniae līberātor, _Arminius, liberator of Germany_.
a. To denote single instances of an action, other expressions are commonly employed; as,--
Numa, quī Rōmulō successit, _Numa, successor of Romulus_;
quī mea legunt, _my readers_;
quī mē audiunt, _my auditors_.
5. The Latin avoids the use of prepositional phrases as modifiers of a Noun. In English we say: '_The war against Carthage_'; '_a journey through Gaul_'; '_cities on the sea_'; '_the book in my hands_'; '_the fight at Salamis_'; etc. The Latin in such cases usually employs another mode of expression. Thus:--
a) A Genitive; as,--
dolor injūriārum, _resentment at injuries_.
b) An Adjective; as,--
urbēs maritimae, _cities on the sea_;
pugna Salamīnia, _the fight at Salamis_.
c) A Participle; as,--
pugna ad Cannās facta, _the battle at Cannae_.
d) A Relative clause; as,--
liber quī in meīs manibus est, _the book in my hands_.
NOTE.--Yet within certain limits the Latin does employ Prepositional phrases as Noun modifiers. This is particularly frequent when the governing noun is derived from a verb. The following are typical examples:--
trānsitus in Britanniam, _the passage to Britain_;
excessus ē vītā, _departure from life_;
odium ergā Rōmānōs, _hatred of the Romans_;
liber dē senectūte, _the book on old age_;
amor in patriam, _love for one's country_.
ADJECTIVES.
354. 1. Special Latin Equivalents for English Adjectives are--
a) A Genitive; as,--
virtūtēs animī = _moral virtues_;
dolōrēs corporis = _bodily ills_.
b) An Abstract Noun; as,--
novitās reī = _the strange circumstance_;
asperitās viārum = _rough roads_.
c) Hendiadys (see § 374, 4); as,--
ratiō et ōrdō = _systematic order_;
ārdor et impetus = _eager onset_.
d) Sometimes an Adverb; as,--
omnēs circā populī, _all the surrounding tribes_;
suōs semper hostēs, _their perpetual foes_.
2. Often a Latin Noun is equivalent to an English Noun modified by an Adjective; as,--
doctrīna, _theoretical knowledge_;
prūdentia, _practical knowledge_;
oppidum, _walled town_;
libellus, _little book_.
3. Adjectives are not used in immediate agreement with proper names; but an Adjective may limit vir, homō, ille, or some other word used as an Appositive of a proper name; as,--
Sōcratēs, homō sapiēns = _the wise Socrates_;
Scīpiō, vir fortissimus = _the doughty Scipio_;
Syrācūsae, urbs praeclārissima = _famous Syracuse_.
4. An Adjective _may be_ equivalent to a Possessive or Subjective Genitive; as,--
pāstor rēgius, _the shepherd of the king_;
tumultus servīlis, _the uprising of the slaves_.
PRONOUNS.
355. 1. In Compound Sentences the Relative Pronoun has a fondness for connecting itself with the subordinate clause rather than the main one; as,--
ā quō cum quaererētur, quid maximē expedīret, respondit, _when it was asked of him what was best, he replied_. (Less commonly, quī, cum ab eō quaererētur, respondit.)
2. Uterque, ambō. Uterque means _each of two_; ambō means _both_; as,--
uterque frāter abiit, _each of the two brothers departed_ (i.e. separately);
ambō frātrēs abiērunt, i.e. the two brothers departed together.
a. The Plural of uterque occurs--
1) With Nouns used only in the Plural (see § 56); as,--
in utrīsque castrīs, _in each camp_.
2) Where there is a distinct reference to two groups of persons or things; as,--
utrīque ducēs clārī fuērunt, _the generals on each side_ (several in number) _were famous_.
VERBS.
356. 1. In case of Defective and Deponent Verbs, a Passive is supplied:--
a) By the corresponding verbal Nouns in combination with esse, etc.; as,--
in odiō sumus, _we are hated_;
in invidiā sum, _I am envied_;
admīrātiōnī est, _he is admired_;
oblīviōne obruitur, _he is forgotten_ (lit. _is overwhelmed by oblivion_);
in ūsū esse, _to be used_.
b) By the Passive of Verbs of related meaning. Thus:--
agitārī as Passive of persequī;
temptārī as Passive of adorīrī.
2. The lack of the Perfect Active Participle in Latin is supplied--
a) Sometimes by the Perfect Passive Participle of the Deponent; as,--
adhortātus, _having exhorted_;
veritus, _having feared_.
b) By the Ablative Absolute; as,--
hostium agrīs vāstātīs Caesar exercitum redūxit, _having ravaged the country of the enemy, Caesar led back his army_.
c) By subordinate clauses; as,--
eō cum advēnisset, castra posuit, _having arrived there, he pitched a camp_;
hostes quī in urbem irrūperant, _the enemy having burst into the city_.
3. The Latin agrees with English in the stylistic employment of the Second Person Singular in an indefinite sense (= '_one_'). _Cf._ the English '_You can drive a horse to water, but you can't make him drink._' But in Latin this use is mainly confined to certain varieties of the Subjunctive, especially the Potential (§ 280), Jussive (§ 275), Deliberative (§ 277), and the Subjunctive in conditional sentences of the sort included under § 302, 2, and 303. Examples:--
vidērēs, _you could see_;
ūtāre vīribus, _use your strength_,
quid hōc homine faciās, _what are you to do with this man_?
mēns quoque et animus, nisi tamquam lūminī oleum īnstīllēs, exstinguuntur senectūte, _the intellect and mind too are extinguished by old age, unless, so to speak, you keep pouring oil into the lamp_;
tantō amōre possessiōnēs suās amplexī tenēbant, ut ab eīs membra dīvellī citius posse dīcerēs, _they clung to their possessions with such an affectionate embrace, that you would have said their limbs could sooner be torn from their bodies_.
PECULIARITIES IN THE USE OF THE ACCUSATIVE.
357. 1. To denote '_so many years, etc., afterwards or before_' the Latin employs not merely the Ablative of Degree of Difference with post and ante (see § 223), but has other forms of expression. Thus:--
post quīnque annōs, _five years afterward_;
paucōs ante diēs, _a few days before_;
ante quadriennium, _four years before_;
post diem quārtum quam ab urbe discesserāmus, _four days after we had left the city_;
ante tertium annum quam dēcesserat, _three years before he had died_.
2. The Latin seldom combines both Subject and Object with the same Infinitive; as,--
Rōmānōs Hannibalem vīcisse cōnstat.
Such a sentence would be ambiguous, and might mean either that the Romans had conquered Hannibal, or that Hannibal had conquered the Romans. Perspicuity was gained by the use of the Passive Infinitive; as,--
Rōmānōs ab Hannibale victōs esse cōnstat, _it is well established that the Romans were defeated by Hannibal_.
PECULIARITIES IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OF THE DATIVE.
358. 1. The English _for_ does not always correspond to a Dative notion in Latin, but is often the equivalent of prō with the Ablative, viz. in the senses--
a) _In defense of_; as,--
prō patriā morī, _to die for one's country_.
b) _Instead of_, _in behalf of_; as,--
ūnus prō omnibus dīxit, _one spoke for all_;
haec prō lēge dicta sunt, _these things were said for the law_.
c) _In proportion to_; as,--
prō multitūdine hominum eōrum fīnēs erant angustī, _for the population, their territory was small_.
2. Similarly, English _to_ when it indicates motion is rendered in Latin by ad.
a. Note, however, that the Latin may say either scrībere ad aliquem, or scrībere alicui, according as the idea of motion is or is not predominant. So in several similar expressions.
3. In the poets, verbs of _mingling with_, _contending with_, _joining_, _clinging to_, etc., sometimes take the Dative. This construction is a Grecism. Thus:--
sē miscet virīs, _he mingles with the men_;
contendis Homērō, _you contend with Homer_;
dextrae dextram jungere, _to clasp hand with hand_.
PECULIARITIES IN THE USE OF THE GENITIVE.
359. 1. The Possessive Genitive gives emphasis to the _possessor_, the Dative of Possessor emphasizes _the fact of possession_; as,--
hortus patris est, _the garden is my father's_;
mihi hortus est, _I possess a garden_.
2. The Latin can say either stultī or stultum est dīcere, _it is foolish to say_; but Adjectives of one ending permit only the Genitive; as,--
sapientis est haec sēcum reputāre, _it is the part of a wise man to consider this_.
* * * * *