by Mr. William C. Michael
Welcome to Latin Grammar I. The text we will be studying in this course is the Latin Grammar of the 16th century Jesuit schoolmaster Rev. Emmanuel Alvarez; a text that was studied by Catholics for several centuries.
In this course, we will study the first two parts of Latin Grammar: Orthography and Etymology. Orthography is the study of the letters and sounds of the language. Etymology is the study of the words of a language, with their forms and meanings. Let us begin the study of Latin Orthography.
Exposition
- Literae quibus utuntur Latini, sunt tres et viginti: A, Be, Ce, De, E, eF, Ge, Ha, I, Kappa, eL, eM, eN, O, Pe, Qu, eR, eS, Te, U, iX, Ypsilon, Zeta.
(The) letters which used (the) Latins are three and twenty: A, Be, Ce, De, E, eF, Ge, Ha, I, Kappa, eL, eM, eN, O, Pe, Qu, eR, eS, Te, U, iX, Ypsilon, Zeta.
Here, the names of the twenty-three Latin letters are listed. You will see that the vowels A, E, I, O, U stand alone. The consonants cannot be spoken with a vowel added to them, which is why vowels are added to them above–so they can be named and spoken. It is worth noting that the letter Kappa is also called “Ka”, and the letter Ypsilon is also called “I Graeca” (Greek I). - Literae dividuntur in vocales et consonantes.
(The) letters are divided into vowels and consonants.
Though there are twenty-three letters, all of these divide into only two classes: vowels and consonants. - Vocales sunt sex: A, E, I, O, U, Ypsilon; quarum ultima tantum in dictionibus Graecis locum habet, ut Hieronymus, Dionysius.
The vowels are six: A, E, I, O, U, Ypsilon; of which (the) last only in words Greek (a) place has, as Hieronymus, Dionysius.
In Latin, we find six vowels, but the sixth vowel is only used in words that are borrowed from Greek. The letter Ypsilon, therefore, is not truly a Latin vowel. The symbol Y is used to distinguish the Greek Ypsilon from the Latin U. - Ceterae appellantur consonantes, quod vocalibus junctae simul sonent.
(The) rest are called “consonants”, because (when) to vowels joined only they make a sound.
The name “consonant” means “sounding with”, and consonants must be “sounded with” vowels to express their sound. - Syllaba fit ex literis, una vel pluribus, ut a-le-as, ars, fors, trans.
(A) syllable is made out of letters, one or more, as a-le-as (of one and two letters), ars (of three), fors (of four), trans (of five).
Every vowel in a word provides the basic sound of separate syllables (except for diphthongs, see below). Thus, if there are three vowels in a word, they will normally be spoken in three separate syllables, with consonants going before and after. The examples provided simply show syllables that are made of one or more letters. Their meanings are of no importance. - Syllaba, quae fit ex duabus vocalibus vocatur diphthongus.
(A) Syllable, which is made out of two vowels is called (a) “diphthong”.
The word “diphthong” comes from Greek diphthongoi, which means “two sounds”. A diphthong is a special pair of vowels that are not divided into separate syllables, but are spoken together in the same syllable. It is important to memorize these special pairs of syllables because they must be identified when reading Latin. So, every vowel will form a separate syllable–unless the two vowels form a diphthong. - Diphthongi sunt sex: AE, AU, EI, EU, OE, YI, ut praemium, aurum, hei, Europa, poena, harpyia.
(The) diphthongs are six: AE, AU, EI, EU, OE, YI, as praemium (ae), aurum (au), hei (ei), Europa (eu), poena (oe), harpyia (yi).
These are the six special pairs of vowels to be memorized and looked out for whenever we read Latin. They should be memorized by pronouncing the names of the two vowels in each pair: A-E, A-U, E-I, E-U, O-E, Y-I. The examples given provide an example for each of the six diphthongs. - Dictio fit e syllabis, ut aleas; interdum fit ex una syllaba, ut mors.
(A) word is made out of syllables, as aleas; sometimes it is made out of one syllable, as mors.
A “dictionary” is a book of words, and derives its name from the Latin dictio. As syllables are made out of letters, so words are made out of syllables. However, a word can be made of a single syllable, as mors, or out of more than one, as aleas (three syllables). - Oratio fit ex dictionibus, ut Aleas fuge, mortem meditare.
(A) sentence is made out of words, as “Risks avoid, death be mindful of.”.
An “oration” is a speech, but here we speak of a single spoken idea, which we call a “sentence” in English. As syllable are made out of letters, and words out of syllables, so a sentence is made out of words. Words, then, are the parts of which speech is made. Words are the “parts of speech”.
In Latin Grammar I, we will be studying the parts of speech that we may learn to speak and write rightly.
