HUM 293 / REL 293 - Continuation of Beginning Latin
Course Notes - Week 9
The Ablative Absolute
By now we are familiar with the use of cases to show how a noun or pronoun functions in a sentence.
The Nominative is used for the Subject, eg the dog chased the cat.
The Accusative is used for the object, eg. The dog chased the cat.
The Genitive is used to show possession, eg. The dog ate the cat's food.
The Dative is used to show the Indirect Object, eg. I gave a bone to the dog.
We have met various uses of the Ablative - to show where, when, how something took place, eg. I gave a bone to the dog in the yard
In the case of "I gave a bone to the dog in the yard", "in the yard" is describing where the dog is, and so is closely related to the main part of the sentence.
If, however, we had a sentence such as "The cat being in the house, I gave a bone to the dog.", we could cut the whole phrase "The cat being in the house" away from the rest of the sentence, and still have the main sentence as a complete statement.
English tends not to use this construction, but to use consecutive clauses, eg. "While the cat was in the house, I gave a bone to the dog" This uses two Active Indicative verbs (was, gave), and does not show which is the main action. Is it that the cat was in the house? or that I gave a bone to the dog?
Latin and Greek will use one main verb - (in this case "gave") to show the main action, and use a participle for the secondary action (in this case "being") Because the secondary phrase is describing something which does not appear in the main phrase, it can be cut completely away from the sentence without impairing the meaning. The "Ab-" of Absolute indicates cutting away.
Greek does not have an Ablative, so has to use the Genitive for this construction, but the logic behind the construction is the same
So, if you find a phrase starting with a noun or pronoun in the Ablative, and ending with a participle which agrees with that noun or pronoun (also in the Ablative) - think "Ablative Absolute" - this is not the main statement, it can be cut off and not change the meaning of the main statement. So translate the main clause first, and then come back and see how the Ablative Absolute fits in.
In the sentence used above - "I gave a bone to the dog." would get our first attention. Then we would go back and find "cat in house being" (or its Latin equivalent) as an extra bit that just tells us something about what else was going on (or had gone on) at the time of the action.
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Copyright © 1999 Shirley J. Rollinson, all Rights Reserved
Department of Religion
ENMU Station 19
Portales, NM 88130
Last Updated: October 5, 2009
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