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Sunday, May 15, 2011

Donatus, Latin Grammar

Aelius Donatus [Donatus]
4th c. AD
Trans RMBullard
Latin (Late Imperial/Early Christian Era)

 DE PARTIBUS ORATIONIS ARS MINOR AELII DONATI

partes orationis quot sunt? octo.
[How many parts of speech are there? Eight. ]

quae? nomen pronomen uerbum aduerbium participium coniunctio praepositio interiectio.
[What are they? They are the noun, pronoun, verb, adverb, participle, conjunction, preposition, and interjection.]

DE NOMINE [Nouns]

nomen quid est?
[What is a noun?]

 pars orationis cum casu corpus aut rem proprie communiterue significans.
[It is the part of speech that has a case, and signifies a somebody, or something, either a proper one or

nomini quot accidunt? sex.
[By how many aspects can a noun be declined? Six.]

quae? qualitas comparatio genus numerus figura casus.
[What are they? They are type, degree, gender, number, declension, and case.]

qualitas nominum in quo est?
[How do types of nouns work?]

 bipertita est:
[There are two types:]

 aut enim unius nomen est et proprium dicitur,
[either it is a name of a single thing, and is called a "proper noun",]

aut multorum appellatiuum.
[or it is the appellation of more than one thing.]

comparationis gradus quot sunt? tres.
[How many degrees of comparison are there? Three.]

qui? positiuus, ut doctus, comparatiuus, ut doctior, superlatiuus, ut doctissimus.
[What are they? They are the positive degree, as in "doctus-learned", the comparative, as in "doctior-more learned," and superlative, as in "doctissimus-most learned."]

quae nomina comparantur?
[How are nouns classified?]

 appellatiua dumtaxat qualitatem aut quantitatem significantia.
[The names signifying quality and quantity, respectively. ]

comparatiuus gradus cui casui seruit?
[With what case is the comparative degree associated?]

 ablatiuo sine praepositione:
[The ablative, if not joined to a preposition:]

 dicimus enim doctior illo.
[So we would say, "doctior illo-more learned than he".]

superlatiuus cui?
[What case does superlative pertain to?]

 genetiuo tantum plurali:
[Only the genitive plural:]

dicimus enim doctissimus poetarum.
[So we say, "doctissimus poetarum-the most learned of poets."]

genera nominum quot sunt? quattuor.
[How many genders are there for nouns? Four.]

quae?
[What are they?]



 masculinum, ut hic magister,
[masculine, as in "hic magister"]

 femininum, ut haec Musa,
[feminine, as in "haec Musa"]

 neutrum, ut hoc scamnum,
[neuter, as with 'hoc scamnum']

commune, ut hic et haec sacerdos.
[and shared, as with "hic et haec sacerdos"]

est praeterea trium generum,
[Moreover, there is the triple-aspect nouns]

 quod omne dicitur, ut hic et haec et hoc felix;
[which is said to encompass everything, such as "hic et haec and hoc felix";]

 est epicoenon, id est promiscuum,
[Then, there is epicoenon, which means "mixed together"]

 ut passer aquila.
[such as "passer aquila".]

numeri nominum quot sunt?
 duo.
[How many numbers do nouns have? Two.]]


qui? singularis, ut hic magister, pluralis, ut hi magistri.
[What are they? They are the singular, such as 'hic magister', and the plural, such as 'hi magistri.']

figurae nominum quot sunt? duae.
[How many forms do nouns have? Two.]


quae? simplex, ut decens potens, composita, ut indecens impotens.
[What are they? The simple form, such as "decens potens,' and composite form, such as 'indecens impotens.']

quibus modis nomina componuntur?
[By what degrees are nouns organized?]

quattuor: ex duobus integris, ut suburbanus;
[There are four: from two whole categories, as with the word "suburbanus";]

ex duobus corruptis, ut efficax municeps;
[from two broken categories, as with "efficax municeps";]

ex integro et corrupto, ut insulsus;
[from a whole and broken category, such as with "insulsus"]

ex corrupto et integro, ut nugigerulus;
[from a broken and whole type, such as with "nugigerulus";]

aliquando ex compluribus, ut inexpugnabilis imperterritus
[and sometimes from several categories, such as with "inexpugnabilis imperterritus".]

casus nominum quot sunt? sex.
[How many cases of nouns are there? Six.]

qui? nominatiuus genetiuus datiuus accusatiuus uocatiuus ablatiuus.
[What are they? They are the nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, vocative, and ablative.]

per hos omnium generum nomina pronomina participia declinantur hoc modo:
[Through these, nouns, pronouns, and participles of all categories are declined in this fashion:]

magister nomen appellatiuum generis masculini numeri singularis figurae simplicis casus nominatiui et uocatiui, quod declinabitur sic:
[The proper noun magister is singular, masculine in gender, and in its simple nominative and vocative form, and it will be declined as follows:]

nominatiuo hic magister, genetiuo huius magistri, datiuo huic magistro, accusatiuo hunc magistrum, <uocatiuo o magister>, ablatiuo ab hoc magistro; et pluraliter nominatiuo hi magistri, genetiuo horum magistrorum, datiuo his magistris, accusatiuo hos magistros, uocatiuo o magistri, ablatiuo ab his magistris
[The nominative will be hic magister, the genitive huius magistri, the dative huic magistro, the accusative hunc magistrum , the vocative o magister, the ablative ab hoc magistro; and for the plurals forms, the nominative will be hi magistri, the genitive horum magistrorum, the dative his magistris, the accusative hos magistros, the vocative o magistri, and the ablative ab his magistris.]

Musa nomen appellatiuum generis feminini numeri singularis figurae simplicis casus nominatiui et uocatiui, quod declinabitur sic:
[Musa is a proper noun, feminine in gender, and in its simple nominative and vocative form, and it will be declined as follows:]

nominatiuo haec Musa, genetiuo huius Musae, datiuo huic Musae, accusatiuo hanc Musam, uocatiuo o Musa, ablatiuo ab hac Musa;
[The nominative form will be haec Musa, its genitive huius Musae, its dative huic Musae, its accusative hanc Musam, its vocative o Musa, and its ablative ab hac Musa;]