HUM / REL 293 - Continuation of Beginning Latin
Course Notes - Week 2
Notes on Wheelock, chapter 17
Use of "who", "which", "that"
NOTE: - there are some differences between American English and British English as to the use of "who", "which", and "that" when used as the Relative Pronoun. American English tends to use "that" more frequently than British English. For example, the spell- and grammar- checkers on Microsoft™ word-processors will suggest "that" as the preferred option.
Generally - "who" is used for people, "which" is used for animals and inanimate things, "that" may be used for either animate or inanimate things.
"The man who ran away . . " or "The man that ran away . . "
"The book which is on the table . . " or "The book that is on the table . . "
However -
"who" may be used when referring to animals such as dogs, cats, horses, when they are regarded as "persons", eg. "The dog who is in the house . . "
"whose" may be used as the genitive of "which", eg. "The tree, in whose branches . . "
Fowler's "A Dictionary of Modern English Usage" devotes 7 pages to examples of "who", "which", "that", without giving a cut-and-dried rule for when to use which word. My general conclusion from reading that passage is that one should use "that" for "defining clauses" and "who, which" for non-defining clauses.
Wheelock, page 114 - "inceptive verbs" : "inceptive" means "begin to do" (the action of the verb)
Latin verbs often make an inceptive form by adding the suffix -scō to the stem
Greek verbs often use the suffix -skw
eg. tremō - I tremble; tremēscō - I start to tremble
gnw - I know; gignwskw or ginwskw - I learn (I start to know)
Notes on the Cambridge Course
Translating various words into English :
Some words from foreign languages have no exact equivalent in English, or can only be translated by rather clumsy expressions. Such words are often taken directly into the language without translation.
Amphora, amphorae - although the textbook gives "wine-jars" as a translation, these jars were also used for other liquids, such as olive oil. An amphora is a jar with a conical bottom and a narrow neck. Amphorae were used throughout the Mediterranean for the storage and transportation of liquids.
The drawings on pages 28-29 are probably not completely correct - amphorae would probably not be left standing on a flat surface, but would be put into a "nest" of hay, straw, sand, etc. to keep them upright. The purpose of the pointed bottom was to collect any sediment and dregs, and allow the clear liquid to be poured out through the narrow neck.
cōnspiciō, -ere, -exi - The textbook gives only "catch sight of" as a translation. However, in many places it can be translated better just by "see"
Back to this Week's Assignment
Copyright © 1999 Shirley J. Rollinson, all Rights Reserved
