4.4 Place, Time, and Number — Epoché
What you will be able to do Recognise twenty-two of the commonest nouns for places and times. Count to twenty, and say which five numbers decline and which fifteen do not. Give the ordinals from first to tenth. Read a bare case that means at , to , during or for , with no preposition. Read sentences like Ecce urbs de qua tibi locutus sum. [77] — This is the town I told you about. — without looking anything up. Prerequisites : lesson 4.3 — the nouns for the body, and the dative of the person affected. Two kinds of word in one lesson, and they belong together because they answer the same three questions — where, when, how many — that a narrative needs before it can be a narrative. The numbers are the easiest thing in Latin. Three of the cardinals decline and all the rest are frozen: quattuor means four in every case, gender and number. The ordinals decline like ordinary adjectives and are therefore no work at all. Twenty words, five of which have forms to learn. The cases are not easy, and they are the reason this lesson is here rather than in a list of vocabulary at the back. Word list Twenty-two nouns in order of how often they appear in the corpus, then the numbers. The numbers are given in numerical order rather than by frequency, because a list of numbers in frequency order would be unreadable. Word (dictionary form) Meaning Notes domus, domūs la house, home Part of speech f., 4th (and 2nd) How it differs from English Note: mixes two declensions, and has a locative domī , at home . annus, annī la year Part of speech m., 2nd How it differs from English English annual , anniversary . Latin says how many years do you have? for an age. diēs, diēī la day Part of speech m., 5th How it differs from English Note: masculine, except when it means an appointed day, where it is feminine. terra, terrae la earth, land, ground Part of speech f., 1st How it differs from English English terrain , terrestrial , Mediterranean . tempus, temporis la time; a occasion; the weather Part of speech n., 3rd How it differs from English Stem tempor- . Its plural is the ordinary word for the seasons. urbs, urbis la city Part of speech f., 3rd How it differs from English Note: with a capital it means Rome. English urban , suburb . locus, locī la place, position Part of speech m., 2nd How it differs from English Note: neuter in the plural, loca . English local , locate . via, viae la road, way; method Part of speech f., 1st How it differs from English Also a preposition in English usage. The ablative viā means by way of . nox, noctis la night Part of speech f., 3rd How it differs from English Stem noct- . English nocturnal ; cognate with night . hōra, hōrae la hour; time of day Part of speech f., 1st How it differs from English Borrowed from Greek. English hour , horoscope . mēnsis, mēnsis la month Part of speech m., 3rd How it differs from English Related to the word for moon in most Indo-European languages, including English. schola, scholae la school; leisure for study Part of speech f., 1st How it differs from English Note: from a Greek word meaning leisure , which is the opposite of what it now means. mundus, mundī la world; ornament Part of speech m., 2nd How it differs from English Also an adjective meaning clean. English mundane . caelum, caelī la sky, heaven Part of speech n., 2nd How it differs from English Irregular plural caelī , masculine. English celestial , ceiling . mare, maris la sea Part of speech n., 3rd How it differs from English English marine , maritime ; and, through French, mermaid . mōns, montis la mountain Part of speech m., 3rd How it differs from English Stem mont- . English mount , mountain , amount . flūmen, flūminis la river Part of speech n., 3rd How it differs from English From fluō , to flow. English fluent , influence . patria, patriae la native country, fatherland Part of speech f., 1st How it differs from English From the word for father in 4.2. English patriot , expatriate . silva, silvae la wood, forest Part of speech f., 1st How it differs from English English sylvan , and the name Pennsylvania. lūx, lūcis la light Part of speech f., 3rd How it differs from English Stem lūc- . English lucid , translucent , Lucifer . hiems, hiemis la winter Part of speech f., 3rd How it differs from English English hibernate is from a relative of it. iānua, iānuae la door Part of speech f., 1st How it differs from English From the god of doorways, whose month is January. ūnus, ūna, ūnum la one Part of speech numeral, adj. How it differs from English Note: declines like an adjective, with an irregular genitive ūnīus and dative ūnī . duo, duae, duo la two Part of speech numeral, adj. How it differs from English Note: declines, and irregularly. Its accusative masculine is duōs . trēs, tria la three Part of speech numeral, adj. How it differs from English Note: declines like a third-declension adjective. The last of the three that do. quattuor la four Part of speech numeral, indecl. How it differs from English From here to two hundred the cardinals do not change at all. quīnque la five Part of speech numeral, indecl. How it differs from English English quintet , quintessence . Feles quinque habemus. We've got five cats. sex la six Part of speech numeral, indecl. How it differs from English Cognate with English six . septem la seven Part of speech numeral, indecl. How it differs from English Cognate with English seven . English September was the seventh month. octō la eight Part of speech numeral, indecl. How it differs from English English October , octave , octopus (through Greek). novem la nine Part of speech numeral, indecl. How it differs from English English November . Not related to novus , new. decem la ten Part of speech numeral, indecl. How it differs from English English December , decimal , decimate . Decem calamos habeo. I have ten pens. ūndecim la eleven Part of speech numeral, indecl. How it differs from English One plus ten, run together. The pattern holds to seventeen. duodecim la