HUM / REL 293 Beginning Latin
Course Notes - Week 5
In Wheelock, chapter 4, we meet the neuter nouns of the Second Declension - very similar to the masculine nouns except that they have identical endings for the Nominative (and Vocative) and Accusative. This is true of all neuter nouns and adjectives.
This does sometimes cause a problem in that one may get the Subject and Object of a sentence mixed up. However, a good way to deal with the problem is to look at the other nouns in the sentence and see if any of them is an obvious Nominative or Accusative.
The Neuter Plural Nominative/Accusative ending "-a" gives us several words in English which also have a plural in "-a" : eg. media (singular is medium), strata (singular is stratum), data (singular is datum = "something given"), emporia (singular is emporium).
In chapter 4 we also meet the verb sum, esse, fuī, futurum - "to be".
"to be" is not a transitive verb - there is no action passed from subject to object.
Instead, "to be" acts like an equals sign, so both subject and predicate use the Nominative case.
"Andrew is the man." and "The man is Andrew." state the same fact.
"The dog is black." could also be written "Black is the dog." - it is not the normal English word-order, and it sounds a bit poetic, but it still conveys the same meaning.
Because sum links, or couples, the subject and the predicate it is sometimes called the "copula". There are a few similar verbs which we will meet later, eg. "to become". Such verbs do not really have an Active Voice and a Passive Voice - just treat them like an "equals sign".
Go here for photos of the theaters in Pompeii.
The photo on page 69 of the Cambridge Course is of a wall-painting in Pompeii, showing a theatrical mask of Oceanus, the personification of the Atlantic Ocean, which the Romans thought was a river going around the earth.
On pages 72-73, the top sketch shows what the large 5,000-seat open-air Theater might have looked like. The set was permanent, made of stone, with statues framed by two tiers of columns. There was a canvas awning which was suspended by ropes above the audience.
The other sketches show the Odeon - the smaller theater with a roof. The stage of the Odeon had a plain back wall which could have held painted scenery.
The photo on page 76 is of a wall-painting in Pompeii, showing a tragic actor looking at the mask he is about to wear.
The photo on page 78 is of a frieze in the House of the Faun, in Pompeii, showing a tragic mask.
The photo on page 82 shows the large Theater being prepared for a modern performance - a temporary wooden stage and some extra wooden seating have been installed.
The mosaics of theater musicians, shown on pages 83 and 84, are from Cicero's villa just outside Pompeii. The artist who made the mosaic also signed it with his name - Dioscorides of Samos.
Main Source : Cambridge Course Teachers' Materials
Back to this Week's Assignment
Copyright © 1999 Shirley J. Rollinson, all Rights Reserved
