Latin grammar. Tutorial

Latin grammar

Latin, like Russian, is predominantly synthetic. This means that grammatical categories are expressed by inflection (declension, conjugation), and not by function words.

There are 6 cases in Latin:

Nominative (nominative, nominativus)

Genitive (genitive, genitivus)

Dative (dative, dativus)

Accusative (accusative, accusativus)

Negative (ablative, ablativus)

Vocative (vocativus)

Three genders, as in Russian:

Male (genus masculinum)

Female (genus feminum)

Average (genus neutral)

Divided into 5 declensions.

Latin verbs have 6 tense forms, 3 moods, 2 voices, 2 numbers and 3 persons.

Latin verb tenses:

Present tense (praesens)

Imperfect past tense

Past perfect tense (perfectum)

Plusquamperfect, or antecedent (plusquamperfectum)

Future tense, or future first (futurum primum)

Pre-future tense, or future second (futurum secundum)

Moods:

Indicative (modus indicativus)

Imperative (modus imperativus)

Subjunctive (modus conjunctivus)

Active

passive

singular (singularis)

Plural (pluralis)

First (persona prima)

Second (persona secunda)

Third (persona tertia)

In the Latin language there are nouns (lat. Nomen Substantivum), numerals and pronouns, declined according to cases, persons, numbers and genders; adjectives, except those listed, modified by degrees of comparison; verbs conjugated according to tenses and voices; supin - verbal noun; adverbs and prepositions.

Latin and science

The Latin language is also of great general educational importance, as it helps to better and more deeply analyze the Russian language, into which many Latin roots have passed, creating a number of new words, for example: communism, presidium, consultation, quorum, university, etc.

The Latin language included many Greek words that have survived to this day, mainly in medical names - anatomical, therapeutic, pharmacological, etc. Greek terms, while maintaining their basis, were Latinized and gradually received international recognition and distribution, for example: arteria - artery, aorta - aorta, etc.

For more than one and a half thousand years, Latin was the language of culture and writing, the only language of science and philosophy in Western Europe. The foundations of scientific terminology for almost all disciplines were laid in Latin. Even after national languages ​​gradually replaced Latin from scientific literature, it remained for a long time as the main language in certain branches of knowledge.

This unity of terminology, which underlies the modern scientific terminology of a number of sciences, facilitates the understanding and communication of people in the field of science, the translation of scientific literature from one language to another, and the Latin language has not lost this meaning to this day. The preservation of scientific Latin terminology attaches special importance to the study of the Latin language as necessary in practical work, and not just as the language of one of the most ancient cultures. Therefore, although Latin and Greek are usually called “dead”, for medical workers these are living languages ​​necessary for everyday work.

In Russia, Latin has long been the language of science. In Moscow, at the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy, the first scientific institution in Russia, all sciences were studied in Latin. Many scientific works of M. V. Lomonosov, as well as some works of N. I. Pirogov, M. Ya. Mudrov and other Russian scientists were written in this language.

The Latin language in biology can be considered as an independent scientific language, descended from the Latin language of the Renaissance, but enriched with many words borrowed from Greek and other languages. In addition, many Latin words are used in biological texts in a new, special sense. The grammar in the Latin biological language is noticeably simplified. The alphabet has been supplemented: unlike classical Latin, the letters “j”, “u”, “w” are used.

Modern Codes of Biological Nomenclature require that the scientific names of living organisms be Latin in form, that is, they must be written in the Latin alphabet and obey the rules of Latin grammar, regardless of the language from which they are borrowed.

The Latin language, despite the fact that it is dead, is still of keen interest in various spheres of human activity, including for linguists.

About Latin

Latin belongs to the Italic branch of Indo-European languages. Despite the fact that Latin is a dead language, interest in its history and study does not fade in our time.

The languages ​​of the Italic branch included Faliscan, Oscan, Umbrian and Latin, but over time the latter supplanted the others. People who spoke Latin were called Latins, and their region of residence was called Latium. Its center was in 753 BC. e. was Rome. Therefore, the Latins called themselves Romans, the founders of the great Roman Empire and its culture, which later influenced all spheres of life in Europe and the world.

Characteristics of grammar

All parts of speech in Latin are divided into changeable and unchangeable. Modifiers include noun, adjective, verb, participle, pronoun, gerund, gerund. The unchangeable ones include adverbs, particles, conjunctions and prepositions. For variable parts of speech there is a declension system in Latin.

Unchangeable parts of speech

The unchangeable parts of speech include conjunction, particle, preposition and interjection.

Variable parts of speech

Variable parts of speech are inflected by gender, number and case and conjugated by person, number, tense, voice and mood.

Language learners should know that Latin has three genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter), two numbers (singular and plural), six cases (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, and vocative), and five declension forms.

Let's take a closer look at the declension system in Latin. When declined, the form of the word changes, that is, the ending changes.

Cases and declension

Why is the declension system in Latin interesting? There are five declension forms for nouns, and three for adjectives.

The first declension includes feminine nouns and adjectives that end in -a in the nominative case and -ae in the genitive case. For example, agua - aguae (water).

The second declension includes masculine nouns and adjectives with the ending -us and the neuter gender with -um in the nominative case and the ending -i in the genitive. For example, albus-albi (white), oleum-olei (oil).

The third declension includes nouns and adjectives whose endings are not listed above or below. This is the largest group of words, since it includes nouns and adjectives of all three genders.

So, in the nominative case the endings in the words y:

  • masculine - -er, -os. oe, or.
  • feminine - -x, -io, -is;
  • neuter --ur, -n, -ma, -i, -c, -e.

In the genitive case they all have the endings -ips, -icis, -tis, -cis, -inis, -is, -eris, -oris, onis.

The fourth declension includes masculine nouns that end in -us and do not change in the genitive case. For example, spiritus (spirit).

The fifth declension includes feminine nouns ending -es in the nominative case and ending -ei in the genitive. For example, species-speciei (collection).

Adjectives, pronouns and nouns in Latin vary in 6 cases:

  • nominative (who? what?) - in a sentence takes the role of the subject or the nominal part of the predicate;
  • genitive (whom? what?) - in a sentence is an inconsistent definition, complement or logical subject;
  • dative (to whom? what?) - in a sentence it takes the role of an indirect object, an object or a person promoting an action;
  • accusative (who? what?) - in a sentence is an object;
  • instrumental and prepositional (by whom? with what?) - in the sentence they take on the role of adverbial circumstances;
  • vocative - has no question, does not take on the role of any member of the sentence in the sentence.

Conjugation and tenses

The verb in Latin has the following characteristics:

  • Mood - imperative, subjunctive and conditional.
  • Time - pre-past, past (perfect and imperfect forms), present, pre-future and future.
  • Voice - active (active) and passive (passive).
  • The number is singular and plural.
  • Face - first, second and third.
  • Conjugation determined by the final sound of the stem. There are 4 conjugations in total - I - -ā, II - -ē, III - -ĭ, -ŭ, consonant, IV - -ī. The exception is the verbs esse, velle, ferre, edere, nolle, which have their own conjugation features.

The pre-past tense tells about an event that happened before an action that happened in the past. For example, Graeci loco, quo hostem superaverant, trophaea statuebant. - The Greeks erected trophies (monuments) in the place where they defeated the enemy.

The pre-future tense tells about an event that will happen earlier than the one the person is talking about. For example, Veniam, quōcumque vocāveris. - I’ll go wherever you call me.

When determining the conjugation of a verb, the infinitive form in the present tense of the active voice is used, which has the ending -re and the letter that comes before the specified ending determines the conjugation of the verb. For example, laborare is a first conjugation because the -re is preceded by the letter a.

Numeral

Numerals in Latin can be ordinal, quantitative, disjunctive and adverbial. The endings of ordinal adjectives are the same as those of adjectives and agree with nouns in gender, number and case.

The Latin language has its own system of numbers, which are designated by letters of the alphabet.

Pronouns

In Latin, pronouns are divided into:

  • personal;
  • returnable;
  • possessive;
  • index;
  • relative;
  • interrogative;
  • uncertain;
  • negative;
  • definitive;
  • pronominal adjectives.

Adverbs

Adverbs in Latin are divided into independent and derivative and show the characteristics of a process or action.

Latin in medicine

Latin is a mandatory language to study at any medical university, as it is the basic language of medicine throughout the world. Why? The fact is that in Greece, before its conquest by the Romans, there was a developed medical system with its own terminology, the foundation of which was laid by Hippocrates. These terms have survived unchanged to this day. The words derma, gaster, bronchus, dispnoe, diabetes are familiar to any Greek person. But over time, the Latinization of medical terminology occurred and today it is pure Latin, but a mixture with Greek. There are several objective reasons why Latin is not losing ground:


A reference book on the main sections of Latin grammar (phonetics, morphology, syntax) is intended for classical philologists, philologists and novelists, students of classical and non-specialized departments of higher educational institutions.
Grammatical information is collected in tables, which allows you to quickly find the necessary data and easily understand the complex history of the language of the ancient Romans.

Initial Romanesque period (IV-VIII centuries).
The formation of Romance languages ​​from folk Latin began with the weakening of Rome around the 4th century AD. The provinces are becoming more and more independent, and communication between different parts of the empire and the Eternal City is becoming less and less constant. Differences accumulate and dialects form. In phonetics, these are all kinds of consequences from the disappearance of longness and shortness of vowels (see Table 15). A forceful stress appears. Stressed and unstressed vowels develop according to different laws (see Table 16i). The changes in combinations that have emerged in folk Latin are significantly increasing (see Table 17i). It was during this era that the foundations for differences in the sound of Romance languages ​​were laid (see Table 18i).

Folk Latin changes continued in the declension system, which led to the complete destruction of the paradigm. From the 5 classical Latin declensions with 4 cases each, there remain barely distinguishable 3 classes that have no cases at all (see Table 19i). Pronouns form articles (ibid. - Table 19i).

In the verb system, the mixing of paradigms continues, the replacement of commonly used classical verbs with colloquial verbs. The number of descriptive forms of different times is increasing (see Table 20i).
This period, covering the 4th-8th centuries AD, ends with the mature Middle Ages - the time of the appearance of writing in Romance languages.

Download the e-book for free in a convenient format, watch and read:
Download the book Latin in tables, Grammar Reference, Makhlin P.Ya., 2008 - fileskachat.com, fast and free download.

  • Latin language, Guide to verbs, Bogatyreva I.I., 2011
  • Lingua Latina, Latin Textbook, 36 lessons to complete the course
  • Textbook of the Latin language for non-philological humanities faculties of universities, Kozarzhevsky A.Ch., 1981

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  • English modal verbs, Directory, Mitroshkina T.V., 2012 - The Directory English Modal Verbs is a practical guide to the use of modal verbs in modern English. Addressed to students of secondary schools,...
  • English pronouns, Directory, Mitroshkina T.V., 2012 - The directory presents in a systematic way everything you need to know about the peculiarities of the use of pronouns in modern English. He is … English Dictionaries, Vocabularies
  • English articles, Educational reference book, Mitroshkina T.V., 2011 - The reference book English articles contains detailed information about the system of English articles. Addressed to students of secondary schools, lyceums and gymnasiums, students and teachers, ... English Dictionaries, Vocabularies
  • Non-finite forms of the English verb, Infinitive, Participle, Gerund, Directory, Mitroshkina T.V., 2012 - The Directory contains a detailed description of the rules for the functioning of non-finite forms of the English verb in modern English. Addressed to those who have mastered the main sections... English Dictionaries, Vocabularies
- Unlike most reference books, this book can be recommended as a universal reference book on English grammar. IN … English Dictionaries, Vocabularies
  • Handbook of English grammar for applicants, Ermashkevich N.N., Geisik D.S., 2011 - The manual is a fairly complete and systematic description of the main grammatical topics of the secondary school program and can be used by applicants and ... English Dictionaries, Vocabularies
  • 9. Cases and types of declensions

    The inflection of nouns by case and number is called declension.

    Cases

    There are 6 cases in Latin.

    Nominativus (Nom.) – nominative (who, what?).

    Genetivus (Gen.) – genitive (who, what?).

    Dativus (Dat.) – dative (to whom, to what?).

    Accusativus (Acc.) – accusative (who, what?).

    Ablativus (Abl.) – ablative, instrumental (by whom, with what?).

    Vocativus (Voc.) – vocative.

    For nomination, i.e. for naming (naming) objects, phenomena and the like, only two cases are used in medical terminology - nominative (nominative) and genitive (genitive).

    The nominative case is called direct case, which means there is no relationship between words. The meaning of this case is the naming itself.

    The genitive case has a characterizing meaning.

    There are 5 types of declensions in the Latin language, each of which has its own paradigm (a set of word forms).

    A practical means of distinguishing declension (determining the type of declension) is the genitive singular in Latin.

    Genus forms p.un. hours are different in all declensions.

    Distribution of nouns by types of declension depending on gender endings. p.un. h.

    Genitive endings of all declensions

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