Primus Annus — W. L. Paine (Walter Lionel Paine)
L. Paine and Cyril Lyttleton Mainwaring You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org . If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook. Title : Primus Annus Author : W. L. Paine Cyril Lyttleton Mainwaring Release date : February 26, 2018 [eBook #56651] Language : English, Latin Other information and formats : www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/56651 Credits : Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer *** START OF [Transcriber's Notes: i) the text mixes 'littera' and 'līttera' (short/long 'i'). Dictionaries generally consider 'littera' as more correct. ii) it states 'lēctus, ī, m.' (=bed) in the original, but 'lĕctus' is correct. NB: the adjective 'lēctus, a, um' is indeed with 'long e'. iii) it considers the Nom./Acc.Plural ending of the 3rd declension/imparisyllabica ("-es", e.g. leōn-es) as short, whereas is it usually considered Grammars as long, cf. Allen & Greenough, New Latin Grammar, §§55ff.] LINGUA LATĪNA PRĪMUS ANNUS BY W. L. PAINE AND C. L. MAINWARING OXFORD AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 1912 PREFACE THE book is the result of three years' experience in teaching Latin on the Direct Method, during which time we have used the proofs in various forms. In a method, whose essential is spontaneity, it is intended rather to be suggestive—to present one line along which the principles of this method can be followed, and it must rest with the individual teacher to modify it, as his experience leads him. Further, it is still in an experimental stage, and we shall be most happy to receive suggestions both on the general scheme and on the details of the book, from teachers using it. In scope it includes practically all constructions which do not involve the Subjunctive Mood or Oratio Obliqua, and can be done in a year by an average class which devotes an hour a day to Latin. We wish to express our thanks to Mr. S. O. Andrew for his great assistance in the scheme of the book and the arrangement of the Grammar and Syntax; to Dr. W. H. D. Rouse and Prof. E. V. Arnold for reading the proofs and offering many valuable suggestions; and to Mr. E. M. Carter for the picture of the Villa Corneliana. The need for accurate pronunciation, in a method where the appeal is largely made to the ear, is obvious, but a note of explanation may be necessary, of the principle we have followed in marking the 'hidden quantities.' We have marked the vowel long (1) If there seems evidence of its length from its derivation. (2) If it precedes the combinations -ns, -nf, -gn, e.g. īnsula, cōnferō, stāgnum; or the inceptive -sc e.g. expergīscor. N.B. — discō is an exception to this rule. (3) If it precedes a hidden g , e. g. tāctum (tangō). Diphthongs and short vowels have been left unmarked. W. L. P. C. L. M. WHITGIFT SCHOOL, CROYDON. July, 1912. INTRODUCTION THIS course is an attempt to apply the Direct Method to the teaching of Latin. The method, when used for modern language teaching, is based on a psychological principle of imitation; the learner learns by imitating his master, by saying what he says, the grammar only coming in afterwards to explain practice. In the teaching of Latin, this method is modified in an essential particular by the character of the Latin language itself; Latin is so highly inflected, and so much of its syntax is strange to the learner, that the grammar must form the basis throughout and determine to some extent the arrangement of subject-matter. In using the present book, the teacher will generally find a certain sequence of treatment convenient, or even necessary: (1) Before a new exercise (or story) is touched, a new point of grammar has to be explained. This is put before the class by means of concrete examples, and then elucidated by reference to Pure Grammar; it is then applied by frequent and varied oral practice, drawn not from the story but from the vocabulary already possessed by the class; e.g. if the Accusative of Extent is under consideration the oral practice will consist of questions like the following: 'Quamdiū in lūdō sumus cottīdiē?' 'Quam longe tū abes ā magistrō?' 'Quam longē tabula distat ā iānua?' and the like. In this way faults will be prevented from taking root; the oral practice should at any rate be continued until the new point of grammar is thoroughly understood and can be accurately applied. (2) The story is now taken in hand, and is explained in the first instance (with books closed) by the master, in Latin, and driven home by repeated questions put to the class. It is important, in this stage, that the class shall not merely listen and understand but shall also speak; where they cannot explain anything themselves they must repeat the explanation given by the master. When they have got on a little way in the course they will begin to take down explanations of important words in their notebooks and learn them by heart. (3) The story can now be read in class from the book; this should never be done until it can be attempted with confidence, and when it is done the teacher should insist upon intelligent expression. The subject-matter and vocabulary can now be set for homework; the hearing of it will usually lead to the story being reconstructed by means of question and answer, the questions being varied in every possible way to ensure plasticity and liveliness of mind. Each teacher will use his own discretion about the 'pensa' bearing in mind the great principle that nothing is to be written down until it has been understood and practised. It may be found difficult to apply the above rules at first, but they will become almost mechanical with the teacher as the work progresses; and as regards the first lessons of all in this book, it will be obvious that they are mere adumbrations, which leave the teacher scope for 'filling in'. It has been our experience that the use of the Dire