Translation Exercise 2

CERBERUS

Cerberus

If you bought the CD Latin Now suggested in the Home page you will find this exercise relatively easy. The CD will help you understand the meaning of the Latin text, to listen to spoken Latin and help your pronunciation of Latin.

This exercise will now put that text in its proper syntactical structure.

In this way you will begin to acquire the skills for translating from Latin into English and viceversa.

1-Caecilius est in horto. 2-Caecilius in horto sedet. 3-Servus est in atrio. 4-Servus in atrio laborat. 5-Metella est in atrio. 6-Metella in atrio sedet. 7-Quintus est in tablino. 8-Quintus in tablino scribit. 9-Cerberus est in via. 10-Coquus est in culina. 11-Coquus in culina coquit. 12-Cerberus intrat et circumspectat. 13-Cibus est in mensa. 14-Canis salit. 15-Canis in mensa stat. 16-Canis latrat. 17-Grumio flectit. 18-Coquus est iratus; "Pestis! Furcifer!" 19-coquus clamat. 20-Cerberus exit.

As you can see the text has been written deliberately in very short clauses to simplify comprehension. I added a number in front of each clause to help identification as we proceed with the translation of each clause, and slightly changed a few clauses.

N.B.: Most of the above clauses use the ablative case as the indirect object. This case is always supported by some preposition to express the function of the indirect object. When the preposition is in, on or sub the logic function of the ablative is to indicate location, i.e. a place where an action takes place. In fact, in the early period of the Latin grammar there was a 7th case called "locative", but it became obsolete and its function was taken by the ablative.

#	Clause	Syntax and Logic Analysis of Clause			Translation
1	Caecilius est in horto	Caecilius (subject) Nom. II Decl., m., sing.	est (nominal predicate) 3rd Per. Pres. Ind. sing. verbum: esse	horto (Abl. sing.) Abl. of place	Cecilius is (add prep.) the garden
2	Celius in horto sedet	Caecilius (subject) Nom., II Decl.,m., sing.	sedet (verbal pred.II Conj.) 3rd Per. Pres. Ind. sing. verbum: sedere	horto (Abl. sing.) Abl. of place	Caecilius sits in the garden Caecilius is sitting in the garden
3	Servus est in atrio	Servus (subject) Nom., II Decl., m. sing.	est (as in 1)	atrio (Abl. sing.) Abl. of place	The servant is in the atrium (grand hall)
4	Servus in atrio laborat	Servus (subject) Nom., II Decl., m. sing.	laborat (verbal predicate, I Conj.) 3rd Per. Pres. Ind.sing verbum: laborare	atrio (Abl. sing.) Abl. of place	The servant works in the atrium The servant is working in the atrium
5	Metella est in atrio	Metella (subject) Nom., I Decl., f. sing.	est (as in 1)	atrio (Abl. sing.) Abl. of place	Metella is in the atrium
6	Metella in atrio sedet	Metella (subject) Nom., I Decl., f. sing.	sedet (verbal predicate) II Conj. 3rd Per. Pres. Ind. sing. verbum: sedere	atrio (Abl. sing.) Abl. of place	Metella sits in the atrium Metella is sitting in the atrium
7	Quintus est in tablino	Quintus (subject) Nom., II Decl., m. sing.	est (as in 1)	tablino (Abl.sing.) Abl. of place	Quintus is in the study
8	Quintus in tablino scribit	Quintus (subject) Nom., II Decl., m. sing.	scribit (verbal predicate) III Conj. 3rd Per. Pres. Ind. sing., verbum: scribere	tablino (Abl.sing.) Abl. of place	Quintus sits in the study Quintus is sitting in the study
9	Cerberus est in via	Cerberus (subject) Nom., II Decl., m., sing.	est ( as in 1)	via (Abl. sing.) Abl. of place	Cerberus is in the street
10	Coquus est in culina	Coquus (subject) Nom., II Decl., m. sing.	est (as in 1)	culina (Abl. sing.) Abl. of place	The cook is in the kitchen
11	Coquus in culina coquit	Coquus (subject) Nom., II Decl., m. sing.	coquit (verbal predicate) III Conj.) 3rd Per. Pres. Ind. sing., verbum: coquere	culina (Abl. sing.) Abl. of place	The cook cooks in the kitchen The chef is cooking in the kitchen
12	Cerberus intrat et circumspectat	Cerberus (subject) Nom., II Decl., m., sing.	intrat (verbal predicate) I Conj. 3rd Per. Pres. Ind. sing. verbum: entrare	circumspectat (verbal predicate I Conj.) 3rd Per. sing. verbum: circumspectare	Cerberus (the dog) enters and looks around.
13	Cibus est in mensa	Cibus (subject) Nom., II Decl., m., sing.	est (as in 1)	mensa (Abl. sing.) Abl. of place	The food is on the table
14	Canis salit	Canis (subject) Nom., III Decl., m. & f., sing.	salit (verbal predicate) IV Conj., 3rd Pers. Pres. Ind. sing., verbum: salire		The dog jumps
15	Canis in mensa stat	Canis (subject) Nom., III Decl., m. & f., sing.	stat (verbal predicate) I Conj. 3rd Pers. Pres. Ind. sing., verbum: stare	mensa (Abl. sing.) Abl. of place	The dog stands (is standing) on the table.
16	Canis latrat	Canis (subject) Nom., III Decl., m. & f., sing.	latrat (verbal predicate) Conj. 3rd Pers. Pres. Ind. sing., verbum: latrare		The dog barks
17	Grumio flectit	Grumio (subject) Nom., foreign name	flectit (verbal predicate) I Conj. 3rd Pers. Pres. Ind. sing., verbum: flectere		Grumio turns
18	Coquus est iratus; Pestis! Furcifer!	Coquus (subject) Nom., II Decl., m. sing.	est iratus nominal predicate	Pestis- 3 Decl. sing Furcifer- 2 Decl. sing	The cook is annoyed: Beast! Rascal!
19	coquus clamat	Coquus (subject) Nom., II Decl., m. sing.	clamat (verbal predicate) I Conj. 3ed Per. Pres. Ind.sing. verbum: clamare		The cook shouts.
20	Cerberus exit	Cerberus (subject) Nom., II Decl., m., sing.	exit (verbal predicate) Anomalous 3rd pers. Pres. Ind. sing. verbum: exire		Cerberus exits

N.B.: Some important palaeographic findings were found in the house of Ceciliius Iucundus, banker and Pompeian citizen. See note in the Palaeographic section.

Second Ablative Logic Function (Ablatio= taking away)

When the preposition that supports the ablative is of the type:

a before a consonant meaning away from

ab before a vowel meaning away from

e before a consonant meaning out of

ex before a vowel meaning out of

de meaning down from

then the logic function is said to be ablative proper and answer the question: From what?

Third Ablative Logic Function

When the ablative is accompanied by no preposition then the logic function is said to be instrumental, i.e. the instrument with or by means of which the action is performed or a state brought about.

Example: Post turbida tempestas, agri aqua madidi erant. (After the huge storm all the fields were flooded.)

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