|
|
PRONOUNS (Part 1) A sentence normally starts with a noun as a subject, for example: Heather, John, Jenny, the house, the trip, etc. To avoid repetition we can use pronouns, such as he, she, they, those, that, etc. In this section I am going to present the Latin pronouns, which, like in English, grammarians as far back as Aelius Donatus, III century A.D., have classified them into quite a number of different types, as shown by the following table. | | Type | Example | Latin | | 1 | Personal | I, you, me, (thee) | ego, tu, nos, vos,
| 2 | Reflexive | myself, themselves | me, te, sui | 3 | Possessive | his, hers, ours | meus, tuus, noster | 4 | Demonstrative | this, these, those | hic, iste, ille | | 5 | Determinative | self | is, idem, ipse | 6 | Relative | that, those | qui, quae, quod | 7 | Interrogative | who?, which? | quis?, quid? | 8 | Indefinite | any. someone | aliquis, aliquid | | 9 | Reciprocal | each other | inter nos, inter se |
Latin pronouns are more complex because of their declination, thus forcing you to have to remember not just their category in the nominative form, but also the declension of the other cases. Another reason that makes Latin pronouns, at least for me, more difficult is that in many cases the same form of pronoun can be used as an adjective, hence distinguishing when it is a pronoun or an adjective requires some power of concentrantion plus a full knowledge of your logic analysis. The rule is to watch out for the noun; if the noun follows the pronoun then it is an adjective, by definition. But if the noun is not present, then, by definition, it must be a pronoun. For example: 1)The book is mine (mine is a possessive pronoun) and 2) My (my is a pronominal possessive adjective) book is on the table. Good luck!
PERSONAL PRONOUNS The personal pronouns in Latin exist only for the first and second person singular and plural. For the third person it uses the demonstrative pronouns is or ipse for he, and ea or illa for she. The declension for ego, tu,nos and vos is shown in the table below. The declension for is, ea is shown in the section on Demonstrative Pronouns. | Nom | Gen | Dat | Acc | Abl | Examples | ego | I | mei | of me | mihi | to me | me | me | me | by me | Ego vitam urbanam diligo - I love city life Memor esto mei, amice - Be mindful of me, my friend. | tu | you thou | tui | of you | tibi | to you | te | you | te | by you | Tu vitam campestrem diligit - Thou appreciate country life Mihi gratae sunt violae, tibi rosae - Violets are agreeable to me but to you, roses. Ave Caesar, morituri te salutant - Hail Caesar, those about to die greet you. | nos | we | nostri nostrum | of us | nobis | to us | nos | us | nobis | by us | Multi nostrum et pauci vestrum Roman visitaverunt Many of us and few of you visited Rome | vos | you | vestri vestrum | of you | vobis | to you | vos | you | vobis | by you | Amici semper memores nostri et vestri erunt Friends will always be mindful of us and of you | N. B.: 1- The vocative case was omitted because it is always the same as the nominative. Obviously the vocative for "Ego" does not exist as it would not make sense to invoke oneself. 2- The nominative of the first and second person, subject function, are normally omitted as the verb makes them redundant. This is not to say that they are not used. In fact, they are used and for two reasons: 1- to put emphasis on the subject and 2- to oppose someone against another. In the first and third example in the above table, you can see the two clauses "Ego vitam urbanam diligo" and "Tu vitam campestrem diligit". Originally this was meant to be one single sentence to show opposition, hence the use of Ego and Tu which are implicit in diligo and diligit. The sentence would read: Ego vitam urbanam diligo, tu vitam campestrem diligit; by adding "ego" and "tu" to the sentence then you are emphasizing the diversity of the two subjects, "I" and "you". Of course, instead of the verb diligo, I could have chosen a different verb, such as amo, amat, or mix them such as ego.... diligo,tu... amat. 4- Nos and Vos maintain the same form for the subject and direct object, nom. and acc. respectively. 5- Me and Te also maintain the same form for the direct object (acc.) and the indirect object (abl). Identifying, which is which, is easy as the ablative is preceded by a preposition. 6- The genitive of nos and vos has two forms, nostri and vestri, and nostrum and vestrum. When the meaning is amongst us, amongst you, then use the nostrum, vostrum respectively, else use the form nostri, vostri.
REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS Reflexive pronouns are those that refer back to the subject of the clause or sentence, such as myself, thyself, etc. In Latin the reflexive pronouns are the same as the personal pronoun except for the third person which uses sui, sibi, se as shown in the table below: | Nom | Gen | Dat | Acc | Abl | Examples | ego | I | mei | of me | mihi | to me | me | me | me | by me | Me lavo - I wash myself; I am washing myself | tu | you thou | tui | of you | tibi | to you | te | you | te | by you | Te lavas - You wash yourself | nos | we | nostri nostrum | of us | nobis | to us | nos | us | nobis | by us | Nos lavamus nobis - we wash ourselves | vos | you | vestri vestrum | of you | vobis | to you | vos | you | vobis | by you | Vos lavatis vobis - You wash yourselves | For the third person both singular and plural the pronoun is: | Nom | Gen | Dat | Acc | Abl | Examples | missing | - | sui | of himself of herself of itself | sibi | to himself | se | himself | se | by himself | Gaius consulit sibi - Gaius thinks to himself Livia atque Agrippina se laudant - Livia and Agrippina praise themselves |
Please note: The third person singular and plural cases are exactly the same. The third person nominative does not exist as it does not make logic sense. The ablative form of the indirect object that expresses the meaning of "to go with someone", the form se becomes secum, instead of: cum (with) se, with himself, herself, themselves. Example: Parentes ducunt secum liberos - The parents take with them their children.
POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS (also POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES) | m. | f. | n. | English | Examples | | meus | mea | meum | my | omnia mecum porto mea (from Cicero Par.8) - I carry with me all my things mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa - my fault, my fault, my greatest fault mea tu - My Dear (familiar- Dear being a female person) meus tu - My Dear (familiar- Dear being a male person) mea columba - my love (man to woman) deliciae meae - my darling (woman to man or man to woman) | tuus | tua | tuum | your | TO BE DONE | | suus | sua | suum | his/theirs | " | noster | nostra | nostrum | our | " | vester | vestra | vestrum | your | " | An example of the declension paradigm of meus is shown in the following table. For a list of the other possessive pronouns (or adjectives) paradigms, click HERE. | | Case | m. | f. | n. | | sing. | Nom. | meus | mea | meum | Gen. | mei | meae | mei | Dat. | meo | meae | meo | Acc. | meum | meam | meum | Voc. | mi (meus) | mea (mi) | meum | Abl. | meo (meopte) | mea (meapte) | meo (meopte) | | pl. | Nom. | mei | meae | mea | Gen. | meorun (meum) | mearum | meorum | Dat. | meis (mis) | meis | meis | Acc. | meos | meas | mea | Voc. | mei | meae | mea | Abl. | meis (mis) | meis | meis |
Notes: The declension paradigm follows the pattern of the 1st Cl. adjectives. Less common alternatives are shown inside brackets. The vocative of meus is mi (pronounced mee not mi); this must have been a slang which took the place of meus or me. This mi form, as well as ti instead of te, is still used in the Italian vernacular of the Venice region and parts of the Dalmatian peninsula, now part of Slovenia and Croatia.
- The third person, suus -sua- suum, are used both for the singular and plural numbers.
- The reflexive pronouns, sui-sibi-se, are derived from suus. Suus is therefore used when its meaning refers to the subject of the sentence but with reflexive connotation.
For example: - Consul hortatus est milites suos; the Consul urged his soldiers. (hortatus est = verb, ind. perfect tense of hortari = to urge, to exhort)
- The plural form would be: Consules hortati sunt suos milites; the Consuls urged their soldiers.
- If suus-sua-suum do not refer to the subject of the sentence, then they are not used as such and their place are taken by the demonstrative pronouns is-ea-id ( gen. eius-eius-eius) for the singular and ii-eae-ea (gen. eorum-earum-eorum) for the plural. Tough eh!
For example: - Vidi tuum fratrem et filium eius - I saw your brother and his son.
- Vidi tuum fratrem et filiam eius - I saw your brother and his daughter.
- Vidi tuas sororem et filium eius - I saw your sister and her son.
- Vidi tuas sororem et filiam eius - I saw your sister and her daughter.
- Vidi tuos fratres et amicos eorum - I saw your brothers and their friends.
- Vidi tuas sorores et earum amicas (or ..et amicas earum) - I saw your sisters and their friends.
- Reinforcing Suffix
The ablative case of possessive adjectives are often spelt by adding the reinforcing suffixes -pte and -met. For example: - Suapte (sua+ suffix -pte) manu - By his very own hand.
- Tuomet (tuo+ suffix -met) manu - By your very own hand
- Suapte consilio - By his very own decision.
- Tuomet consilio - By your very own decision.
Demonstrative Pronouns (also Demonstrative Adjectives) These pronouns or adjectives are used to indicate (point out, make known, show) the person or the thing to which they refer or speak about. In English they translate as this or that. | m. | f. | n. | English | Notes: | hic | haec | hoc | this | used when the person or thing referred to is close to the person that speaks | | iste | ista | istud | missing | "this" but used when the person, or thing referred to, is close to the person that listens. There is no equivalent term in English | | ille | illa | illud | that | used when the person or thing referred to is far away from the person that speaks | If they accompany a noun then they are adjectives else they are pronouns. Let's now view the declension paradigm of hic, haec, hoc; iste, ista, istud, and ille, illa, illud. | | | hic - haec - hoc | | iste - ista - istud | | ille - illa - illud | | Number | Case | m. | f. | n. | m. | f. | n. | m. | f. | n. | | sing. | Nom. | hic | haec | hoc | iste | ista | istud | ille | illa | illud | Gen. | huius | huius | huius | istius | istius | istius | illius | illius | illius | Dat. | huic | huic | huic | isti | isti | isti | illi | illi | illi | Acc. | hunc | hanc | hoc | istum | istam | istud | illum | illam | illud | Voc. | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Abl. | hoc | hac | hoc | isto | ista | isto | illo | illa | illo | | pl. | Nom. | hi | hae | haec | | isti | istae | ista | | illi | illae | illa | Gen. | horum | harum | horum | istorum | istarum | istorum | illorum | illarum | illorum | Dat. | his | his | his | istis | istis | istis | illis | illis | illis | Acc. | hos | has | haec | istos | istas | ista | illos | illas | illa | Voc. | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Abl. | his | his | his | istis | istis | istis | illis | illis | illis | Nota Bene: Ensure to use the right gender: Examples:
For convenience I will show below the paradigm of the word res (thing) as it will be used in some of the examples below: Res - 5th Decl. f. Nom. sing. res Gen. sing. rei Dat. sing. rei, (re) Acc. sing. rem Voc. sing. res Abl. sing. re Nom. pl. res Gen. pl. rerum Dat. pl. rebus Acc. pl. res Voc. pl. res Abl. pl. rebus
Notes: The neutral pronouns hoc, istud and illud when used in the nom. and acc. cases carry with them the implied word "thing", hence hoc=this thing, illud=that thing; but when used in the other cases, hence gen., dat. and abl., then the word res (thing), in the corresponding case, is added. Examples: Hoc (sing.): in the gen. case: huius rei; in the dat. case: huic rei; in the abl. case: hoc re; in the nom. case: hoc; in the acc. case: hoc Hoc (pl.) : in the gen. case: horum rerum; in the dat. case: his rebus; in the abl. case: his rebus; in the nom. case: haec; in the acc. case: haec
Addition of suffixes: -ce and -ne. Reinforcing suffix -ce. Pronoun cases that end in c will eliminate one of the resulting double c consonants, e.g. hice instead of hicce; hunce, haece, etc. Pronoun cases that end in s can be reinforced, emphasised, by adding the suffix -ce. For example: huiusce, hosce, hasce, hisce.
Interrogative suffix -ne. By adding the enclitic interrogative adverb -ne to pronouns suffixed with -ce then the final e changes to i. For example: hicine (from: hic+ce+ne) translates as: this one? this person? this ...something masculine? haecine (from: haec+ce+ne) translates as: this one? this person? this... something feminine? huncine (from: hunc+ce+ne) ditto but in the acc. case. huiuscine, illiuscine, etc.
|
|