I really really like Latin, although I feel like I am at a major disadvantage because I didn't take it in high school and it seems as though everyone else in the class did. But I am trying to learn it as quickly and as thoroughly as possible, and I am definitely enjoying it! Every day I find more and more cognates in English and it is so interesting to me. As silly as it sounds, I thought it was the coolest thing ever when we learned that "suburbs" and "suburban" come from the Latin words for "under" and "city," and when I figured out that the word used in hospitals, "stat" came from "statim!" That reminds me...do words like "fungus" with the plural "-i" get their endings directly from Latin 2nd declension nominative nouns?
Something I've struggled with (besides memory lapses, lol) is identifying which declensions nouns belong to (usually 3rd and 3rd -i) and which conjugations verbs belong to (usually 3rd, 3rd -io, and 4th). Professor Manolaraki actually shed a good bit of light on my noun declension problem the other day when she explained that -i stems usually follow one of the following patterns:
1. Nom & Gen singular both end in -is
2. monosyllabic Nom & Gen singular are resolved in two consonents (dens, dentis)
However, I still struggle sometimes trying to determine which conjugation verbs belong in. My two issues are this:
1. The infinitive for 2nd, 3rd, and 3rd -io verbs all look the same to me.
2. I still don't always get how to differentiate between the 3rd conjugation -io and the 4th conjugation. Like capi-o and audi-o (these are the examples in the back of the book). How is one an -io stem and one just an -i stem?
I know these questions probably seem very stupid but I have been looking for the answers since about the first week of Latin I. I asked my Latin I professor and she said I just had to memorize it. But I don't understand how if I can't even recognize it when I'm looking at it in the book? Admittedly, it has gotten easier in Latin II because the book provides the perfect tense, but I am still scarcely able to identify the appropriate declension for verbs on my own. :( I would stay after class to get help from Professor Manolaraki but I work immediately afterwords and I barely make it on time as it is (so please don't take it personally when I run out of class right at 12:15, professor! :))
Anyway, sorry for digressing, and I appreciate any help or hints or advice. And now, here is my cat!
- Jessica G.
4 comments:
Hey Jessica! Welcome to Prof. M's Latin class!!
Don't worry, you aren't the only one who didn't take Latin in high school... I took French. So there is hope for you yet. There are tips and tricks to figuring out which declension nouns belong to and which conjugation the verbs follow, but I can't recall any other than what you've already mentioned right now. It's all pretty much second nature to me now and I'd have to look in my notes (which I don't have with me at the moment) to remember how it was that I learned them to begin with...
I can tell you this though, practicing is invaluable! I know people in last year's class practiced either with note cards or by writing out all the nouns and verbs that we'd learned with their declension/conjugation numbers and then declining or conjugating them over and over again until they stuck. I did the latter and found it very effective for me.
Good luck with your studying!
(I'm typing on a Mac here so I don't know how to spell check... I hope there aren't any horribe typos in here.)
~Rachael
Hi Jessica!
I sounded exactly like you when I reached Latin 2. In Latin 1, I was constantly getting tripped up when it came to conjugating verbs. I hate to say it, but I'm going to agree with Rachael: practice practice practice! Rachael turned me on to conjugating every single verb out before every test, and it is SO SO SO helpful in memorizing how verbs conjugate. I wish I could share some amazing wisdom with you, but practicing conjugations and just constantly reviewing them are the best way to get the material into your head.
I took Spanish in high school, so Latin was definitely new to me too. Now that I have such a great appreciation for Latin though, I wish I had discovered the coolness that is Latin back in high school. :)
Sorry if I don't have anymore help to offer. I had a rough day at work and my mind is in other places. Just keep going, ask Dr. M. lots of questions, and practice 'til you can't practice anymore. It will be rewarding.
- Olivia
P.S. - I LOVED discovering English cognates! My favorite to this day is pulchritude, which comes from "pulcher" (beauty) in Latin. Don't know why, but I just like that word.
Rachael and Olivia,
Olivia and Rachael,
You are are simply the best!!! (in my best Tina Turner growl!)
Thank you SO MUCH for still reading this and for caring to respond...I hope to see you again soon (preferably over food and drinks!)
E.
Hi, thanks everybody!
I do actually have a stack almost a foot high now (no exaggeration) of Latin note cards, but I think I would absolutely benefit from writing out all the declensions and conjugating every verb, it's just finding the time to do it that poses the problem! Thanks again for the advice! :)
- Jessica
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