15
votes
Translating "Nocte volat caelī mediō"
As an adjective, indeed, medius, -a, -um does not take a genitive. However, there is a noun, the substantive medium, -i, which also means "middle" or "midst." Referring to a ...
cmw♦
- 50.8k
14
votes
Accepted
Is "Jacob" genitive in "jubilate deo jacob"?
To add a little context to the current answer, the name "Jacob" in the New Testament has two distinct forms:
Ἰάκωβος/Iacobus, which is declinable
Ἰακώβ/Iacob, which is indeclinable
Iacobus ...
- 38.5k
14
votes
Accepted
Why are descriptive subjects in the genitive?
See Allen and Greenough, §343.c:
c. An infinitive or a clause, when used as a noun, is often limited by a genitive in the predicate.
Neque suī iūdicī [erat] discernere. (B. C. 1.35)
Nor was it for ...
- 110k
13
votes
Expressing a possession relationship without the genitive?
Based on the Latin text provided, Sicilia (“Sicily”) would be in apposition with insula (“island”), and both would be declined in the same case—in this case, nominative. Clara (“famous”) would be the ...
- 1,934
13
votes
What is the difference between suus and eius?
All forms of se, including suus, normally refer to the subject of the main clause of the sentence. Eius, however, normally does not refer to this subject, but to someone else. So the two words have ...
- 19.8k
13
votes
Accepted
Expressing a possession relationship without the genitive?
A genitive would indicate a relationship of dependency or subordination between the genitive noun and the other noun. But the island is Sicily. There's no dependency; the two nouns are just different ...
- 19.2k
12
votes
Accepted
Where does the final -ς in genitive feminine singularis -ᾱς/-ης/τῆς come from?
It's the other way around, actually: Latin lost this -s, and Greek retained it! In older Latin, and fossilized phrases like pater familiās "father of the household", you see the genitive ...
- 64.7k
11
votes
Accepted
Use of the Genitive
Possessive is different from "owning." The master owns the house (presumably), but the house has a master. It possesses a master, but it doesn't "own" it. Ownership is a legal ...
cmw♦
- 50.8k
10
votes
Accepted
Genitive vs Ablative of Price
Roundly, the ablative is used for price and the genitive for value.
The ablative of price occurs with verbs of acquiring, buying, selling etc., as in mensam quadraginta sestertiis emit. As well as ...
- 18k
10
votes
Accepted
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".
...
- 110k
10
votes
Is it grammatically correct to attributively use nominative forms of nouns in New Latin?
It's valid even in Classical Latin, in fact!
Generally, it's fine to put two nouns together in the nominative (or, rather, in the same case) when one of them gives the general category of a thing and ...
- 64.7k
10
votes
Habeo with genitive
Bearing in mind that letter names are generally indeclinable in Latin, I would parse this slightly differently:
K Græcorum littera est, non Latinorum, qui ejus loco [litteram] C habent ejusdem ...
- 64.7k
9
votes
Accepted
How to write a sentence with two genitives describing one noun
Your syntax is correct.
You can combine as many genitives as you wish in a similar fashion.
For choosing between et and -que, see the question about that choice.
I think et is more appropriate here.
...
- 110k
9
votes
Forms of 2nd Declension Neuter Nouns ending in -ium
Here’s a summary of what most authoritative Latin grammars say on the genitive singular ending of –io stems (Weiss 2009/2011: 222-223; Leumann 1977: 424-425; Sihler ). For the sake of simplicity and ...
- 11.6k
9
votes
Accepted
Unnecessary genitive being used with 'suum'
You are confusing gĕnu, -ūs ("knee") and gĕnus, -ĕris ("origin, lineage, stock").
The latter is a 3rd declension neuter noun, so the accusative singular is the same as the nominative singular. Hence,...
- 38.5k
9
votes
How common is the genitive plural ending -um in the first declension?
Leumann (p. 421) mentions two cases:
spoken gen.pl. drachmum and amphorum;
in dactylic poetry, four-syllable masculine nouns, besides the regular forms, could also have gen.pl. in -um, mostly ...
- 11.6k
9
votes
Plural genitive in 1st and 2nd declension - how were mixed genders treated?
As a general rule, groups containing both men and women take the masculine in Latin. For example, a male friend is an amīcus (masculine), and a female friend is an amīca (feminine). But a group of ...
- 64.7k
9
votes
Accepted
Is unius an irregular genitive?
Many pronouns have this kind of genitive form
Genitives in -ius exist for a fairly small number of Latin words. I'm not sure of the exact amount.
I would say that the stems that take this kind of ...
- 26.6k
9
votes
Where does the final -ς in genitive feminine singularis -ᾱς/-ης/τῆς come from?
You have it backwards. The sigma is original. From Sihler 263.7:
Gen.sg. PIE *-es, *-os, *-s are all attested forms of the gen.sg. marker and all three would yield much the same results in the ...
cmw♦
- 50.8k
8
votes
Expressing a possession relationship without the genitive?
You are correct. In this case, the "of" is simply an English idiom. "The island of Sicily" and "the island Sicily" and even "Sicily the island" are all different ways to get the same meaning; the ...
- 64.7k
8
votes
Accepted
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 ...
- 2,292
8
votes
Forms of 2nd Declension Neuter Nouns ending in -ium
Edgar H. Sturtevant's dissertation "Contraction in the case forms of the Latin io- and ia stems, and of deus, is, and idem" (1902) seems to have some relevant info, although I don't know if ...
- 26.6k
8
votes
Accepted
Ambiguitas casus genitivi?
Grammatically it should be the first—homo and intraturus enclose mundi, and therefore the genitive belongs to them. This is a very common way of showing relationships between dependent words.
However, ...
cmw♦
- 50.8k
8
votes
Ambiguitas casus genitivi?
The second translation is indeed superior.
This is mostly based on context: theatrum mundi makes more sense than homo mundi.
Judging by word order alone suggests that mundi modifies homo, so word ...
- 110k
8
votes
Accepted
Mors mea or mors meī?
Another use of the genitive that you've left out is subjective genitive, which is what this is. These are discussed in, e.g., Gildersleeve and Lodge, Latin grammar §363. Allen and Greenough, New Latin ...
- 19.2k
8
votes
Is "Jacob" genitive in "jubilate deo jacob"?
The name Jacob not a Latin or Greek name and it is not clear how one should decline it to other cases like the genitive.
The choice made with many biblical names that do not fit pre-existing patterns ...
- 110k
8
votes
Is it grammatically correct to attributively use nominative forms of nouns in New Latin?
Adding to Cerberus's answer, an "attributive noun" is not the same thing as an appositive noun/apposition. Latin has apposition; it does not have attributive nouns.
An attributive noun would ...
- 26.6k
8
votes
Accepted
What is the syntax of ‘quamquam omnis secrētī capācissima’?
Omnis secreti is genitive with capax, which means 'most capable of holding' (OLD definition 2). Although capax is generally used in this sense to describe objects, it's being used to describe a person ...
- 19.2k
7
votes
Accepted
Was -i used as genitive ending for first declension masculines?
I don't see any reference to such an ending in either Allen and Greenough or Gildersleeve and Lodge, so I strongly suspect the answer is no.
That said, in another, historical sense the -ī ending was ...
- 30.6k
7
votes
Accepted
How to form the plural of "noun plus noun in possessive case"?
Since you mention "curriculum vitae", I assume you're focusing on metaphorical rather than physical uses, and on a name for something (rather than using it in a sentence)?
When talking about ideas ...
- 64.7k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible