Level 3+ (review): impersonal verbs [4] necessity, obligation and related ideas [i]

(1)

oportet: it is proper, it is right

necesse est: it is necessary

decet: it is becoming / fitting/ proper / suitable

dēdecet: it is unbecoming / unfitting / improper / unsuitable

(2)

libet: it is pleasing; it is agreeable

licet: it is permitted

(3)

opus est: there is need

(4)

rēfert: it matters / concerns / it is important (of importance)

interest: it interests / concerns / makes a difference / it is important (of importance)

(1)

oportet: it is proper, it is right

necesse est: it is necessary

decet: it is becoming / fitting/ proper / suitable

dēdecet: it is unbecoming / unfitting / improper / unsuitable

[i] They are followed by an infinitive indicating what is proper / necessary to do:

necesse est ¦ proficīscī

• it is necessary ¦ to set out

[ii] the person for whom the action is proper / necessary is expressed in the accusative case:

Eum necesse est proficīscī.

• It is necessary for him to set out.

Mox necesse erit mē et mātrem iter facere.

• Soon it will be necessary for my mother and (for) me to make a journey.

Quid mē oportet facere, ubi tū tālis vir falsum autumās? (Plautus)

• What ought I to do, when a man such as you asserts something false?

Nōn tē mī īrāscī decet (Plautus)

• You oughtn't [literally: it isn’t proper for you] to be cross with me.

Huic decet statuam statuī ex aurō (Plautus)

• It is fitting for a statue of gold to be set up for him [ = a gold statue ought to be …].

Orātōrem vēro īrāscī minimē decet, simulāre nōn dēdecet. (Cicero)

• It is by no means fitting for an orator to lose his temper; to feign (it) is not unbecoming.

(2) The following expressions may be followed by an infinitive and, if expressed, the dative of the person.

[i] libet: it is pleasing; it is agreeable

Dīc quod libet (Plautus)

• Say what you want [literally: what is pleasing]

libet perlegere hās (Plautus)

• I’d like to read through this.

Ut libet ¦ quid tibi [dative] libet fac (Plautus)

• Suit yourself [literally: as is pleasing (to you)], ¦ do what suits you.

[ii] licet: it is permitted

Nōn licet manēre – cēna coquitur – dum cēnem modo? (Plautus)

• May I not stay [literally: is it not permitted] –  dinner's being cooked – just till I've dined?

nunc licet mihi [dative] līberē quidvīs loquī (Plautus)

• Now I'm permitted to speak freely about anything

nimis vīlest vīnum atque amor, sī ēbriō [dative] atque amantī [dative] impūne facere quod lubeat licet (Plautus)

• Drink and love are far too cheap, if a drunkard and a lover can do what he likes without any consequence.

(3) opus est: there is need

Sī quid ¦ opus est, imperā (Plautus)

• If there is need of ¦ anything, give the order

Quid opust [opus + est] ? (Plautus)

• What’s the use?

What is needed is in the ablative case:

Quid eō [ablative] est opus? (Plautus)

• What is the use of that [literally: What need is there …]?

Quid opust ānulō? (Plautus)

• A ring? What for? [literally: What need is there for a ring?]

Eiulātiōne haud opus est, oculīs haud lacrimantibus (Plautus)

• There’s no need for howling nor crying eyes.

The person who has the need is expressed in the dative case:

Mihi [dative: person needing] pecūniā [ablative: what is needed] opus est. │ I need money [literally: To me there is need of money]

Nōbīs auxiliō opus est. │ We need help.

Tibi cōnsiliō opus erit. │ You will need advice.

Quid eō mī opus est? (Plautus)

• What use is that to me?

Tum nōbīs [dative: person needing] opus est sūmptū [ablative: what is needed] (Plautus)

• Then we need expenses.

Multīs et multigeneribus opus est tibi mīlitibus (Plautus)

• You need many recruits of many sorts, too.

Level 3+ (review): impersonal verbs [3] emotional states [ii] further examples

[i]

Nōn audeō id dīcere equidem, et mē pudet tam cito dē sententiā esse dēiectum (Cicero)

• I do not indeed dare to say that, and I am ashamed to have been so quickly cast down from my opinion.

nōn paenitet mē (Cicero)

• I don’t regret it.

valdē mē paenitēbat (Cicero)

• I was very sorry [literally: it caused me regret]

[ii]

The impersonal verb may be used without a pronoun:

periī, pudet (Plautus)

• I’m done for, I’m ashamed.

[iii]

The impersonal verb may be followed by an infinitive or with a neuter pronoun as the subject

Taedet nōs in lūdō sedēre.

• We are bored with sitting in school [literally: It tires us to sit in school].

Mē, mī Pompōnī, valdē paenitet vīvere (Cicero)

• My dear Pomponius, I am heartily sick of life [literally: I regret to live / living]

Iam dūdum pudet tam multa scrībere (Cicero)

• For some time past I have been ashamed to write so many things.

Mē hoc paenitet.

• I am ashamed of this.

[iv] accusative of person affected and genitive of the cause:

taedet omnīnō eōs [accusative] vītae [genitive] (Cicero)

• These people are completely tired of life.

Pudet mē patris (Cicero)

• I’m ashamed of (his) father,

mea māter, tuī mē miseret, meī piget (Ennius)

• My mother, I pity you; I am disgusted with myself.

Quārē voluntātis mē meae numquam paenitēbit, cōnsiliī paenitet. (Cicero)

• So I shall never regret my resolve; but I regret the plan.

pudēbit tē, inquam, illīus tabulae  (Cicero)

• You will be ashamed, I say, of that picture

[v] accusative of person omitted, leaving only the genitive

Chirurgiae [genitive] taedet (Cicero)

• I have grown tired of surgery.

Taedet mentiōnis (Caecilius)

• The mention of it is wearisome [ = I don’t like to talk about it]

Crēdō iam omnium taedēbat (Terence)

• I think he was finally tired of them all.

Level 3 / 3+ (Review): Hillard & Botting [62] Labours of Hercules (2)

[1] Complete the Latin text with the correct form of the word.

In a certain valley, by the name of Nemea, there lived at that time a huge lion which the inhabitants of that land feared very much.

In [vallis / vallem / valle] quādam, Nemea [nōmine / nōmen / nōmina], habitābat [illud tempus/ illō tempore / illīus temporis] ingēns leō [quī / quod / quem] maximē eius [terrae / terrā / terra] incolae timēbant.

[2] Hunc Herculēs occīdere et ad rēgem portāre iussus est. Diū frūstrā cum monstrō clāvā et sagittīs pugnābat: tandem faucēs eius manibus ēlīsit. Tum mortuum leōnem in umerīs ad rēgiam reportāvit.

[i] How did Hercules first try to kill the Nemean lion? (1)

[ii] How did he finally kill it? (1)

[iii] How was the lion taken to the palace? (1)

[3] Translate: Quem ubi vīdit rēx ipse dīcitur virī fortissimī vīribus territus esse Herculemque iussisse exīre extrā oppidī mūrōs victōriās nūntiāre. (8)

[4] Complete the Latin text with the words listed below; note the differences in word order

Afterwards he was (1) ordered to kill a (2) huge bull (3) which was ravaging the fields of Crete. (4) This task too (5) he is said (6) to have completed and (7) to have carried back the animal (8) alive on his shoulders home, and soon (9) to have set (it) free.

Posteā taurum (2) __________, (3) __________ Crētae agrōs vastābat, occīdere (1) __________ est. (4) __________ quoque opus (5) __________ (6) __________ (8) __________que animal in umerīs domum (7) __________, mox (9) __________.

dīcitur; hoc; ingentem; iussus; līberāvisse; perēgisse; quī; reportāvisse; vīvumcVocabulary

Vocabulary

clāva, -ae [1/f]: club

___________________

[1] In valle quādam, Nemea nōmine, habitābat illō tempore ingēns leō quem maximē eius terrae incolae timēbant.

[2]

[i] with a club and arrows

[ii] with his (own) hands

[iii] on his shoulders

[3] When the king saw him (1), he himself is said (1) to have been frightened (1) by the strength (1) of the very brave man (1) and to have ordered Hercules (1) to go out beyond the walls of the town (1) and to announce his victories (1).

[4] Posteā taurum ingentem, quī Crētae agrōs vastābat, occīdere iussus est. Hoc quoque opus dīcitur perēgisse vīvumque animal in umerīs domum reportāvisse, mox līberāvisse.

____________________

In a certain valley, called Nemea, there lived at that time a huge lion which the inhabitants of that land feared very much. Hercules was ordered to kill this and to carry it to the king. For a long time he fought in vain with the monster with a club and arrows: at last he crushed its throat with his hands. Then he carried the dead lion on his shoulders to the palace. When the king saw him, he himself is said to have been frightened by the strength of the very brave man and to have ordered Hercules to go out beyond the walls of the town and to announce his victories.

Afterwards he was ordered to kill a huge bull which was ravaging the fields of Crete. This task too he is said to have completed and to have carried the animal alive on his shoulders home, and soon to have set it free.

Topic: architecture [3]; Comenius (1658) LXVII; domus [3]

Part [4]

They go up into the upper stories by stairs. |  Ascenditur in superiōrēs contignātiōnēs per scālās. 

contignātiō, -iōnis [3/f]: story; floor (of a building)

scāla, -ae [1/f]: (sg.) ladder; (pl: scālae, -ārum) stairs

Part [5]

The windows appear on the outside, and the grates, the galleries, the water tables, and the buttresses to bear up the walls. |  Fenestræ apparent extrīnsecus, et cancellī (clāthra), pergulæ, suggrundia et fulcra fulciendīs murīs.

[i] fenestra, -ae [1/f]: window

[ii]

cancellus, -ī [2/m]; used in the plural (cancellī, -ōrum): grating, balustrade, bars, railings

clāthrī, -ōrum [2/m/pl]; clāthra, -ōrum [2/n/pl]: lattice; grate

[iii] pergula, -ae [1/f]: the English derivative pergola, via Italian from Latin, refers to a passageway of columns that supports a trelliswork roof; used to support and train climbing plants. The original Latin term had far broader meanings including the booth, stall or shop in front of a building, and hut or hovel.

[iv] (sub-) sug-grundium -ī [2/n]; suggrunda, -ae [1/f]: lower border of a roof; eaves

The translator renders the word as “water table,” a term usually applied to a sloping feature at the base of a wall; however, the accompanying image shows a projection at roof level, i.e. the eaves, whose function is to throw rainwater clear of the walls and foundations.

In discussing the properties of larch wood, the Roman architect Vitruvius makes the following observation:

… tabulae in subgrundiīs circum īnsulās sī essent ex eā conlocātae, ab trāiectiōnibus incendiōrum aedificia perīculō līberārentur

… if planks made from it were placed in the eaves around the apartment-blocks, the buildings would be freed from the danger of fires spreading across.

īnsulae, -ae [1/f]: in an urban setting, the word refers to a residential block of apartments, usually occupied by the lower classes

[v] fulcrum, -ī [2/n] < fulciō, -īre [4]: prop up; CL: a bedpost, the post or foot of a couch; Engl. deriv: fulcrum is a technical term used in mechanics to describe a fixed support on which something turns or pivots. Comenius uses the word to describe supports (i.e. buttresses) of a 17^th century house, placed externally to support the walls.

[vi] mūrus, -ī [2/m]: wall, usually of a city, as opposed to:

pariēs, pariētis [3/m]: wall (of a house or room)

moenia, -ium [3/n/pl]: city walls, defensive walls

Dīvidimus mūrōs et moenia pandimus urbis (Vergil) |  We breach the walls and lay open the defences of the city.

Level 3+ (review); impersonal verbs [2] emotional states [i]

[i]

pudet: it shames

miseret: it moves to pity

paenitet: it causes regret

taedet: it wearies

piget: it disgusts; it annoys

[ii] The person who experiences these states becomes the object of the impersonal verb, but the impersonal construction in Latin will most often change to a personal construction in English:

pudet:  it shames

mē pudet │  literally: it shames me / it causes me shame

• I am ashamed

miseret: it moves to pity

mē miseret │ literally: it moves me to pity

• I feel pity / compassion

paenitet: it causes regret

taedet:  it wearies

taedet ipsum Pompēium vehementerque paenitet (Cicero)

• Pompey himself is weary of it and deeply regrets it.

piget, -ēre | it disgusts; it annoys

simul mē piget (Plautus)

• At the same time it irks me.

[iii]  With these impersonal verbs (1) the person affected is in the accusative case:

(2) the cause of that emotional state is in the genitive case:

(1) mē [accusative] (2) huius factī [genitive] paenitet

[literally: it causes me regret of this deed]

• I regret (2) this deed.

(1) mē [accusative] piget (2) ignāviae tuae [genitive]

• (1) I am disgusted (2) by your laziness.

(1) mē [accusative] cīvitātis mōrum [genitive] piget taedetque (Cicero)

• (1) I am sick and tired (2) of the ways of the state.

Crasse, (1) pudet mē [accusative] tuī [genitive] (Cicero)

• Crassus, (1) I am ashamed (2) of you.

(2) vestrī [genitive] (1) mē [accusative] pudet miseretque (Tacitus)

• (2) For you (1) I feel shame and compassion.

Level 3+ (review); impersonal verbs [1] introduction; weather expressions

In Latin, impersonal verbs do not have a personal subject i.e. they are not used with a nominative subject that performs the action. Instead, they typically express natural phenomena, mental states, necessity, obligation, emotion, or general events, and are normally used only in the third person singular.

In English, we often express impersonal ideas using the dummy subject “it”, as in:

It is raining.

It seems that…

It is necessary to…

Latin does not use a dummy subject, and so these ideas are expressed by impersonal verb forms alone, without a grammatical subject.

Example:

pluit: it is raining

There is no nominative subject; the verb stands by itself.

Latin impersonal verbs fall into several main semantic groups. Here we will look at:

[1] natural phenomena i.e. describing weather or natural events, for example:

grandinat: it is hailing

pluit: it is raining

ningit: it is snowing

tonat: it is thundering

Similarly:

French: il pleut; German: es regnet

Latin, however, does not use any pronoun.

[i] plumbō et saxīs grandinat. (Pacuvius)

• it’s hailing with lead and rocks

[ii] At quārē aliquandō nōn fulgurat et tonat (Seneca)

• But why is there no lightning sometimes and yet it thunders?

[iii] prius quam lūcet adsunt (Plautus)

• before it is daybreak they are with me

[iv] intereā tōtō nōn sētius aëre ningit (Virgil)

• Meanwhile it snows no less over the whole sky

[v] cum pluit in terrīs et ventī nūbila portant (Lucretius)

• when it rains on earth and winds bring clouds

[vi] cum tonat, … fulminat, cum serēnat (Minucius)

• when it thunders, … lightning strikes, when it’s clear

[vii] Ante rorat* quam pluit (Varro)

• it drizzles before it rains

*rorat can also refer to the formation of dew

Inchoative verbs may also function impersonally, for example:

• calēscit: it is getting hot; it’s starting to get hot
• frigēscit: it’s turning cold
• vesperāscit: it grows late

https://adckl.blogspot.com/search/label/inchoative%20verbs

The entire topic of weather can be found at:

https://adckl.blogspot.com/search/label/topic%3A%20weather

Topic; architecture [2]; Comenius (1658) LXVII; domus [2]

Part [2]

The hinges are upon the right hand, upon which the doors hang, the latch or the bolt are on the left hand.

Cardinēs sunt ā dextrīs, ā quibus pendent forēs; claustrum aut pessulus ā sinistrīs.

[i] cardō, -inis [3/n]: hinge; in Ancient Rome a hinge was usually constructed by a socket and pivot

[ii] claustrum, -ī [2/n]: (usually plural i.e. claustra, -ōrum) lock, bar, bolt; anything used to lock something

[iii] pessulus, -ī [2/m]: bolt

[iv] foris, -is [3/f]: door; entrance; pl: forēs, -ium, refers to the two leaves of a door

also: valvae, -ārum [1/f/pl]: double or folding door

Part [3]

Before the house is a forecourt, with a pavement of square stones, born up with pillars, in which is the chapiter*, and the base. 

Sub aedibus est cavædium, pavimentō tessellātō fulcītum columnīs, in quibus peristȳlium et basis.

[i] Note the distinction between:

(1) aedis, -is [3/f]: (singular) temple, shrine

(2) aedēs, -ium (plural): house

[ii] cavaedium, -ī [2/n]: main room of a Roman house; the far more common Latin term is atrium, -ī [2/n]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavaedium

The translator, and the image, show an open forecourt, but the ātrium of a Roman house was internal, the only opening being a form of skylight to allow rainwater to fall into a decorative and shallow pool below. The function of the ātrium will be discussed in the subsequent sections on the Roman house.

[iii] pavīmentum, -ī [2/n]: hard floor, a pavement; in the Ancient Roman period this could refer to (1) a floor made by beating small stones, earth, or lime into a flat surface, or (2) artificial flooring composed of coloured marbles such as pavīmentum sectile: marble cut into sets of regular forms and size.

[iv] tessellātus , -a, -um: made of small, square stones; checkered; tessellated

pavīmentum tessellātum: flooring of marble regularly cut without a mixture of forms; note that Hoole specifically translates this as ‘a pavement of square stones’.

in expedītiōnibus tessellāta et sectilia pavīmenta circumtulisse (Suetonius)

(It was said that) he carried about in his expeditions tesselated and cut mosaic slabs [for the floor of his tent].

*[v] Engl. chapiter (archit.) the uppermost part of a column; Comenius uses the noun:

peristȳlium, -ī [2/n]: the inner garden of a Roman house surrounded by columns i.e. a location rather than a specific architectural term

[vi] basis, -is [3/f]: base; foot; pedestal; lowest part of a column

[vii] columna, -ae [1/f]: column