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vocative

The vocative case was mentioned in the first lesson, but we didn't focus on it yet because it was the same as the nominative in the first declension. The second declension is the only time the vocative is different, and only in most words ending in -us or -ius. The vocative case is used to address someone or something: Boys, come here! Death, where is thy sting?

Nouns of the second declension all end in -i in the genitive case. Unlike first declension nouns, which all have the same -a ending in the nominative, their nominative endings can differ, so we use the genitive ending to recognize them as second declension nouns. Most masculine second declension nouns end in -us, -ius, or -er in the nominative case.

Nouns of the second declension may be masculine or neuter, just as nearly all first declension nouns were feminine. We will only focus on the masculine nouns in this lesson. The second declension masculine endings are:

If you compare these endings to the first declension endings, you'll see some similarities that may help you remember them. The dative and ablative are the same, as they were in the first declension plural, and the genitive plural has a 'rum' sound.

We decline a noun by adding these endings to the stem, which is found by removing the -i from the genitive. Let's start with a -us word, amicus, amici, meaning “friend”.

Now we'll do one that ends in -er: puer, pueri, meaning “boy”.

Here's another -er word, ager, agri, meaning “field”. Note that unlike puer, ager drops the 'e' in the genitive. Remember that we get the stem for forming all the cases from the genitive, not the nominative; so we always learn the genitive along with the nominative when we learn a new word.

And here's one ending in -ius: filius, fili, meaning “son”. Nouns like filius are slightly different, in that they drop the extra -i in the genitive singular. So the stem is actually fili-, but the genitive is fili, not filii. All other forms are as expected, adding the endings to the stem fili:

As mentioned above, the vocative only differs from the nominative in the second declension singular, and only in nouns ending in -us and -ius. Filius and proper names ending in -ius (like Lucius) form the vocative with -i:

• Fili, est insula. - Son, there is the island.
• Luci, sum pater. - Luke, I am (your) father.

Nouns ending in -us form the vocative with -e:

• Amice, puellas spectamus. - Friend, we are watching the girls.
• Marce, filius es. Marcus, you are (my) son.

One exception to this last rule is deus, meaning “god”. The vocative of deus is deus. So in prayers starting with “O God,” you'll see Deus, not Dei or something like that.

As we touched on very lightly before, possession is shown by the genitive case:

• ager agricolae - the farmer's field; the field of the farmer
• amici villa - the farmhouse of a friend; a friend's farmhouse
• insula puerorum - the boys' island; the island belonging to the boys

The owner may come before or after the thing owned, but you'll normally see the two words together in the sentence. When translating to Latin, try not to put a genitive between two nouns, since that would make it hard to tell which thing is being owned.

• Servus viri insulam spectat. - Bad; does the man own the slave or the island? Better:
• Viri servus insulam spectat. - The man's slave is watching the island.
• Servus insulam viri spectat. - The slave is watching the man's island.

• ager, agrī, m., field, land
• amīcus, amīcī, m., friend
• annus, -ī, m., year
• campus, -ī, m., field, plain
• dea, deae, f., goddess
• deus, deī, m., god
• equus, equī, m., horse
• fīlia, filiae, f., daughter
• fīlius, fīlī, m., son
• gladius, gladī, m., sword
• lēgātus, -ī, m., envoy, lieutenant
• lūdus, -ī, m., school, game
• nūntius, nūntī, m., message, messenger
• puer, puerī, m., boy
• servus, -ī, m., slave
• vir, virī, m., man, husband

• Note the two first declension words above, dea and filia. Since these have the same stems as deus and filius, and the dative and ablative plural take -is in both declensions, dea and filia have the irregular forms deabus and filiabus in the dative and ablative plural, so we can tell them from deus and filius.

• Ager and campus may both be translated as “field”, but ager means a farm field, while campus refers to an open plain or field of battle.

• Ludus means both “games” and “school” because Roman education was mostly military training, and included competitive sports like sword fighting and horse racing. So ludus had a sense of training through sports, which may be best translated in English as “game” or “school,” depending on the context.

• Nuntius can mean either a message or the messenger, depending on the context.

• The Romans owned slaves, lots of them; so servus means “slave”, not servant or something less offensive to us today.

a. Translate:

1. Viri villas agricolarum occupant.
2. Feminas nuntius amat.
3. Equum fili spectamus.
4. Servi tubas legatorum portant.
5. Nuntius pueros vocat.
6. Agricolarum amici occupant campum.
7. Agros in Gallia non parant.
8. Pueri amicus gladium portat.
9. Viri Deum laudant.
10. Equi legatos portant.

b. Translate:

1. The man praises the slave's life.
2. The boys are calling the lieutenant's son.
3. The messenger is looking at the farmer's horses.
4. The lieutenants seize the farmers' farmhouses.
5. Are the men fighting on the plains?
6. The messengers are not carrying the envoy's trumpet.
7. The farmer's slave is calling the boy.
8. Marcus, you love the farmer's daughter.
9. The men in Italy praise God.
10. The boys are not carrying water.

c. Think of an English word derived from each Latin word in the vocabulary.

Now we've learned enough words and forms to start making some real sentences. Next lesson: our first neuter nouns, plus more uses of the accusative and ablative. This lesson can be discussed here.

a. Translate:

1. Viri villas agricolarum occupant. - The men are seizing the villas of the farmers.
2. Feminas nuntius amat. - The messenger loves women.
3. Equum fili spectamus. - We are watching (our) son's horse.
4. Servi tubas legatorum portant. - The slaves are carrying the trumpets of the envoys.
5. Nuntius pueros vocat. - The messenger calls the boys.
6. Agricolarum amici occupant campum. - The friends of the farmers are seizing the plain.
7. Agros in Gallia non parant. - They are not preparing the fields in Gaul.
8. Pueri amicus gladium portat. - A friend of the boy carries a sword.
9. Viri Deum laudant. - Men praise God.
10. Equi legatos portant. - The horses carry the lieutenants.

b. Translate:

1. The man praises the slave's life. - Vir vitam servi laudat.
2. The boys are calling the lieutenant's son. - Pueri filium legati vocant.
3. The messenger is looking at the farmer's horses. - Nuntius equos agricolae spectat.
4. The lieutenants seize the farmers' farmhouses. - Legati agricolarum villas occupant.
5. Are the men fighting on the plains? - Virine pugnant in campis?
6. The messengers are not carrying the envoy's trumpet. - Nuntii tubam legati non portant.
7. The farmer's slave is calling the boy. - Agricolae servus puerum vocat.
8. Marcus, you love the farmer's daughter. - Amas, Marce, puellam agricolae.
9. The men in Italy praise God. - Viri in Italia Deum laudant.
10. The boys are not carrying water. - Pueri non aquam portant.

c. Think of an English word derived from each Latin word in the vocabulary.

• ager, agrī, agriculture, agronomy
• amīcus, amīcī, amicable
• annus, -ī, annual
• campus, -ī, campus
• dea, deae; deus, deī, ???
• equus, equī, equine
• fīlia, filiae; filius, fīlī, m., filial
• gladius, gladī, gladiator
• lēgātus, -ī, legate
• lūdus, -ī, ???
• nūntius, nūntī, announce?
• puer, puerī, puerile
• servus, -ī, servant
• vir, virī, virile