12
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Why is "Onus" in the Dative Case?
The oneri is a dative of purpose or dativus finalis.
A simple example of such a dative is id mihi usui est, "it is of use to me".
There are often two datives: the beneficiary and the ...
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12
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Quidquid veto non licet, certe non oportet
It seems to be a typo, the original sentence being Quidquid vero non licet, certe non oportet. Google search. The quote comes from Cic. Balb. 8
Vero means in truth, in fact, certainly, truly, to be ...
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Does Latin have anything like this German syntax? (dative of possession)
First of all, let me say that this construction is not exactly standard German, even at the time when the Brothers Grimm wrote down this story. It is more what one calls “dialektgefärbtes Hochdeutsch”....
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11
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"ne paelici suspectaretur" (Tacitus)
This can be read as a dativus auctoris. It should then be translated thus:
lest he should be suspected by his mistress / be suspect to his mistress
Common in gerundive constructions (hostis nobis ...
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11
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Why is accusative pronoun "te" used in this construction?
These two sentences involve different analyses, which can be shown by using the following test: replacement of the infinitive (clause) by the neuter pronoun hoc. In the first example the infinitival ...
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10
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Miserere mei! Miserere nostri! Why genitive?
First, this is not specific to ecclesiastical Latin.
The same genitive is there in classical Latin as well.
The verb miserere is used impersonally.
It means roughly "to distress" or "to excite pity".
...
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10
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Audire, with accusative or dative?
Actually, your quote from the Vulgate isn't an example of audire + dative! Though auditis is spelled the same as the present 2nd person plural ("You [pl.] hear"), it is actually an ablative perfect ...
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Determining dative vs ablative for coelo
The original sentence comes from Vergilius:
Carmina vel caelo possunt deducere lunam (Eclogae 8.69)
'Poems can lead even the moon down from the sky'.
In this original sentence carmina is the plural ...
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9
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Who do I match numerically when using the possessive dative?
What you're calling a "predicate noun" is, in fact, the subject. In the Latin construction, unlike the English translation, the thing possessed is the subject, so the verb has to agree with it. E.g. ...
- 30.9k
9
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Why did Medieval Latin use "ad" with the accusative instead of just using the dative?
I'm not sure there is a "why", but it probably happened under the influence of contemporary vernacular languages and/or Vulgar Latin, since French, Italian, and Spanish also use more prepositions than ...
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9
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What's the role of the pronoun "iis" in this context?
This is often called the Dative of the Person Judging (aka Dativus iudicantis; cf. also the "Dative of Relation": e.g. see this link), which is sometimes considered as a specific case of the ...
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How to work around the missing cases of vis?
Singular genitive and dative forms of vis exist but are very rare, according to the Gaffiot, which provides some examples:
Or in Calonghi:
So it may be possible to use those forms when needed (vis ...
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8
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Dative–ablative ambiguity
You are right that there will be the occasional ambiguity. But there are several ways in which the ambiguity is normally resolved.
The ablative without a preposition is not normally used with a person....
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8
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Does relinquo take the dative?
As pointed out by d_e in comments, nocturnum tempus is accusative here and is the direct (accusative) object of relinquebat, whereas sibi is the indirect (dative) object, so the sentence means He ran ...
- 2,994
8
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How to analyze and translate "non se luxu neque inertiae corrumpendum dedit" (Sal. Jug. 6)?
Based on the annotations that I've made in my copy of the text, when I've read the Jugurtha in the past, I've analyzed the sentence just as you do, taking corrumpendum as an accusative gerundive ...
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7
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Using "ad" vs. dative
Writing a letter to someone does fit the description you mentioned. It has to travel physically to the recipient. Famous collections of letters usually use ad in their titles. We might understand this ...
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'Credo' with dative problem
Gildersleeve and Lodge call this Dativus Iudicantis, Dative of the person judging. It's specifying from whose perspective the statement is perspicuum: 'clear to (from the perspective of) the person ...
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7
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What are the normal genitive and dative singular forms of "alius"?
Bennett gives gen. alterius, dat. aliī. Allen and Greenough list alius among the adjectives that "have the Genitive Singular in -īus and the Dative in -ī in all genders", implying alīus, aliī, but add ...
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7
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Is "cum haruspex in templo cenaret" correct Latin in this sentence?
In this instance, alas, though I'm sure in no other, you are mistaken.
Haruspex is a nominative singular noun meaning a kind of soothsayer. It takes a third-person singular verb, which cenaret is. ...
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7
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Writing "I'm proud of myself"
I don't think you would actually use the word superbus at all, since that word has overly negative connotations. It's proud = haughty, not proud = pleased.
Instead, an imperfect but very similar idiom ...
cmw♦
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6
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Who do I match numerically when using the possessive dative?
The thing being possessed is the subject in this construction.
The verb agrees with the subject, but the subject in your example is not the girl.
Do not confuse the plural nominative and singular ...
- 111k
6
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Can the articular infinitive be a dative of means? (Greek)
The articular infinitive can be used as a dative of means, e.g. (from Smyth sec. 2033):
οὐδενὶ τῶν πάντων πλέον κεκράτηκε Φίλιππος ἢ τῷ πρότερος πρὸς τοῖς πράγμασι γίγνεσθαι Philip has conquered us ...
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6
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Disambiguation of "nobis vobis" and "nobis nobis"
Let me make some remarks on what you say above: "Imagine you want to say something like "from us to you [plural]" (where "from" indicates ablative and "to" dative). Since the order is usually ...
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Quidquid veto non licet, certe non oportet
yeah, it's supposed to be vero, which serves as an adverb
All that which, truthfully, is not lawful, assuredly is unbecoming / unnecessary.
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Is dative of possession used in interrogatives?
Both the dative of possession and a possessive adjective could be used here, actually.
In Allen and Greenough's Latin Grammar, it states:
The genitive or a possessive with esse emphasizes the ...
- 1,401
5
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On the dative of reference
Let me start by fixing your initial sentence.
My take on translation:
I can speak Latin easily.
Latine facile loqui possum.
Important points:
You speak "Latinly", Latine, not "in Latin".
I do ...
- 111k
5
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What are the normal genitive and dative singular forms of "alius"?
Gildersleeve and Lodge, §76.r1: The Gen. alīus is very rare, and as a possessive its place is usually taken by alienus.
§76.r2: …usually make the Dat. Sing. in -ī … Alī is found in early Latin for ...
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Disambiguation of "nobis vobis" and "nobis nobis"
I agree with the other answers: though ambiguity sometimes is inevitable, the ablative wouldn't be used alone in this context. Here is an example from Plautus that almost exactly parallels your case (...
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5
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Can a "dative of agent" appear in an Ablative Absolute construction (and, more generally, in a non-verbal context)?
Is this an example?
Cicero: sibi enim bene gestae, mihi conservatae rei publicae dat testimonium.
Perhaps it can be argued that sibi and mihi are datives of reference, but "agent" seems most ...
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4
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Is "cum haruspex in templo cenaret" correct Latin in this sentence?
I assume that by agreement between a verb and a noun you mean that the noun is the subject of the verb.
The subject of the verb cenaret is indeed haruspex.
The noun is singular and the verb is third ...
- 111k
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