ADVERTISEMENT. In consequence of the author's residing at a distance from the press, he could not conveniently superintend the reading of the proofs. He therefore entrusted it to his friend Mr. Oliver W. Treadwell, whose critical care is evinced by the few errors that have been detected. Instructors are requested to correct the copies which they may give to their pupils, in conformity with the following list of errata: Page 65, line 1st from top, for ejus read eorum. FIRST LESSONS IN LATIN. ORIGIN OF THE LANGUAGE. Question. By what people, and when was the Latin language spoken? Answer. By the Romans, about eighteen hundred years ago. Q. Who were the Romans? A. They were the people who inhabited Rome, a city of Italy, in the southern part of Europe. Q. Why is the Latin sometimes called a dead language? A. Because it is not spoken by any nation now living, but was the language of a people, who, for many hundred years, have been extinct or dead. PRONUNCIATION. Q. How is the Latin language pronounced? A. As it is not known how the Romans pronounced it, each of the modern nations of Europe follows the rules of its own language. The English, therefore, pronounce the Latin according to the principles of the English language, Q. What do the curve mark and the horizontal line over the vowels mean? A. The curve mark over a vowel shows it to be short: the horizontal line shows it to be long. Q. How do these marks regulate the pronunciation? A. In words of three syllables or more than three, if the Cast syllable but one, which is called the penult, be long, the accent is upon it, as amabam, where the accent is upon the a: but if the penult have the, short accent over it, the syllable before it, which is called the antepenult, is accented, as hóminis, where the accent is on the first syllable. Examples to be pronounced and explained by the scholar. Sermōnis. Amavĕrim. Capitibus. Fuerunt. Pennārum. FTTERS. Q. How many letters are there in the Latin language? A. Twenty-five, which are the same as those in the English, with the exception of W, which the Latins do not use. Q. How many of these are vowels? A. Six; a, e, i, o, u, y, each of which makes a distinct sound by itself. The other letters" are called consonants, which do not make a perfect sound without the aid of a vowel. PARTS OF SPEECH Q. How many sorts of words, or Parts of Speech are there in the Latin language? A. Nine: the Noun, the Adjective, the Pronoun, the Verb, the Participle, the Adverb, the Preposition, the Interjection, and the Conjunction. 2 Q. What is a Noun? NOUN. A. A Noun is the name of any person, place, or thing. Thus, boy is a Noun, because it is the name of a person; school is a Noun, as it is the name of a place; and book is a Noun, as it is the name of a thing. Q. Do nouns undergo any change? A. They do, on account of their genders, their numbers, and their cases. GENDER. Q. What is gender? A. Gender is the distinction of objects with regard their sex. Q. How many genders have nouns? A. Properly speaking there are but two genders, the masculine, which is applied to names of men, or male beings, and the feminine, which is applied to names of women, or female beings. But those nouns which are neither masculine nor feminine, are called neuter; and those which are either masculine or feminine, according to the sense, are called common. Therefore there may be said to be four genders, the masculine, the feminine, the neuter, and the common. A. Number is the distinction of objects whether as one, or more than one. Q. How many numbers has a noun? A. Two: the singular number, which is used when a single thing is spoken of; and the plural number, which is used when two things, or more than two things are spoken of. Q. What are cases? CASE. A. Cases are changes which are made upon the endings or termination of nouns. Q. How many cases has a Latin noun? A. Six: the nominative case, the genitive case, the dative case, the accusative case, the vocative case, and the ablative case. Q. What general rules can you give about some particular cases in all nouns? A. First. The dative and ablative plural of all nouns in all declensions are alike. Second. All nouns of the neuter gender have the accusative and vocative like the nominative, in both numbers, and in the plural number, these three cases, the nominative, the accusative, and the vocative always end in a. Third. In all nouns of all declensions and genders, the nominative and vocative plural are the same. DECLENSION. Q. What is declension? A. The declension of a noun is the repetition of all its different cases. Q. How many different ways are there of varying, or declining nouns? A. Five: which are called the first declension, the second declension, the third declension, the fourth declension, and the fifth declension. Q. How can you tell one declension from another? A. By the ending of the genitive case, singular number. In the first declension the genitive singular ends in æ, in the second declension it ends in i, in the third declension it ends in is, in the fourth declension it ends in ûs, and in 1 2 3 4 5 the fifth declension it ends in ei, as æ, i, is, ús, ei. |