the accusative of duration and the ablative of time within which /  by Anthony Gibbins

Today’s post is just a short note on an interesting point of grammar concerning time. There are three important time expressions in Latin; one that tells you when something happened, one that tells you how long something lasted, and another that tells you the time within which something occurred. Each one conveniently contain the name of the Case that they use within their title; Ablative of Time When, Accusative of Duration, Ablative of Time Within Which. Today’s post will concern only the final two.

Let us choose four Romans; Julia, Marcus, Antonia and Decimus. omnes Romae nati sunt they were all born in Rome. Note the use of Romae, which is in the seldom seen Locative Case, to mean in or at Rome.

Julia lived in Rome for ten years. Julia Romae decem annos habitavit. Accusative of Duration.

Marcus has lived in Rome for twenty years. Marcus Romae viginti annos habitat. Accusative of Duration. Note the use of the simple Present Tense habitat he lives to means he has lived.

Antonia will return to Rome within five years. Antonia Romam quinque annis reveniet. Ablative of Time Within Which.

Decimus has not lived in Rome for fifteen years. Decimus Romae quindecim annis non habitat. Note that although the English reads for fifteen years, Latin treats this as Time Within Which. There is an example of this on today’s page. nemo plus quam mille annis [librum] viderat Nobody had seen the book for more than one thousand years.

Once, in the library, he made me more certain (ie: he informed me) about an ancient book of great importance, which nobody had seen for more than one thousand years. He said that he knew where a copy of the book had been hidden.

aedes Hadriani /  by Anthony Gibbins

This is a wonderful build. I wish I could say that I knew who built it, but the truth is I found it by searching Lego mansion on Google. Any attempt to track down the builder took me to a Pintrest echo chamber, of which I could find no way through. If you would like to see the model in its full and original glory, search Lego mansion for yourself - I had to crop the picture and darken it significantly, to hide the fact that it was standing in front of an equally impressive bookcase. But all that aside, it truly is a thing of wonder. Every day I see something online that makes me stop and say, People are so clever.

This is the home of Hadrianus, a collector of marvelous things. The name Hadrianus means of the Adriatic, a suitable Latin name for a sailor. The text of this page contains some nice grammatical structures. There is the Impersonal Verb in cui placuit to whom it was pleasing or whom it pleased, the Adjective plenus full with the Ablative talibus rebus with such things indicating what it is full of, the Double Dative ei auxilio a help to him, and the Gerund in in colligendo in the (act of) collecting.

I was then an associate of a certain man, named Hadrianus, whom it pleased very much to collect marvelous things. His house was filled with such things. I was a help to him in collecting.

borrowing from the best /  by Anthony Gibbins

Do you know, dear reader, the origin of these sentences, appearing on today’s page of Legonium?

his dictis, Miranda Marcellusque conticescunt intentique ora ad Jessicam vertunt. inde Jessica sic orditur:

Here is the original Latin, with a name removed to keep something of the challenge.

conticuere omnes intentique ora tenebant.

inde toro pater <nomen> sic orsus ab alto:

If you said that these were lines from Virgil’s Aeneid, then you were absolutely correct. Can you also pick their position in the poem?

That’s right, reader! (I’m channelling Dora Explorator here!)  These are the opening lines of The Aeneid Book II. At the end of Book I, during a sumptuous feast, Queen Dido asked Aeneas to tell her of his home’s destruction and of the wanderings that have brought the Trojans to Carthage. As he readies himself to speak, the gravity of this moment is signalled by the reaction of the revellers. They fall silent and hold their glances towards him.

Jessica is about to tell her long tale, of the destruction of her old life and of the wanderings (and wonderings) that have brought her to Legonium (and to the attention of Miranda). I thought it would be fun to borrow a little gravitas from Aeneas.

These things having been said, Miranda and Marcellus fall silent and, attentive, turn their faces toward Jessica. Then Jessica thus begins: ’One month ago I was living in a far-off location.

impero vs iubeo /  by Anthony Gibbins

The sentence Miranda Jessicae imperat ut omnia narret Miranda orders Jessica that she tell all contains an Indirect Command.  ut omnia narret that she tell all is an Indirect Command. A smoother English translation would be Miranda orders Jessica to tell all. In English the Verb in an Indirect Command is Infinitive, to tell, which in Latin would be narrare. In Latin, however, we instead use an Indirect Command, such ut narret that she tell. Except when we don’t.

There is another Verb that means the same (plus minusve more or less) as impero imperare imperavi imperatum and that Verb is iubeo, iubere, iussi, iussum. And yet, these Verbs demand different things from the words around them. Miranda imperat and Miranda iubet both mean Miranda orders. imperat, however, demands that the person you are ordering be placed in the Dative Case, while iubet demands they be placed in the Accusative. Miranda Jessicae imperat and Miranda Jessicam iubet, therefore, both mean Miranda orders Jessica. Moreover, while imperat demands ut narret that she tell, iubet demands (like English) narrare to tell. Both narret and narrare, of course, demand that their object, omnia all, be in the Accusative Case. And so, both Miranda Jessicae imperat ut omnia narret and Miranda Jessicam iubet omnia narrare mean Miranda orders Jessica to tell all.

There are a handful of Verbs that demand the same as iubet. Perhaps the most important is veto, vetare, vetui, vetitum to forbid. Miranda Jessicam vetat omnia narrare Miranda forbids Jessica to tell all. There are more, however, that behave like imperat, such as persuadeo, persuadere, persuasi, persuasum to persuade. Miranda Jessicae persuadet ut omnia narret Miranda persuades Jessica to tell all.

All three sit down around a table. ‘Who are you?’ Miranda asks Jessica without delay. ‘And why are you spending time here in town?’ She orders Jessica to immediately tell all.

Forum Legonii : aka Assembly Square /  by Anthony Gibbins

On today’s page, Miranda leads Jessica and Marcellus past the bakery into the forum. This seems a good opportunity to introduce Lego’s most recent Modular Building, Assembly Square. Assembly Square, like many of the Modular Buildings, was designed by Jamie Berad. It was announced in a press release on October 17, 2016 and released to the public on January 1, 2017. It is the largest of the Modulars to date, being one and a half times as wide as other buildings. Its enormous size reflects its status as a 10th Anniversary model. It has 4002 pieces, stands 35cm (13”) high at its tallest point, and contains a world of small details. For me, the most exciting aspect was its outdoor area; up until now all Modulars have faced directly onto the street. Assembly square allows the citizens of Legonium a public place in which to sit, meet and converse.

As you can see, Assembly Square is surrounded by buildings. I am a big fan of the Latin Verb cingo cingere cinxi cinctum to surround, to encircle. I also like cingulum which is a girdle or sword-belt, but is often used in contemporary Latin to mean a belt of any kind. The buildings around Assembly Square are each three stories high. The building to the left contains - from the bottom up - a café, to which our characters are heading, a music store and a dance studio. The building to the right contains a bakery, a dentist surgery and Jessica’s apartment (seen in episode nine). The middle building contains a florist, a photography studio and Jessica’s balcony. Jessica’s apartment was built to be the home of a Lego enthusiast, and comes equipped with mini Lego models, including an Eiffel Tower, which you can just make out here.

Lest this post be entirely about Lego, here is the Roman architectural writer Vitruvius on designing a forum;

There is a custom established by our ancestors of holding gladiatorial displays in the forum. Because of this, the space between the columns should be widened for better viewing. Place shops for bankers in the surrounding porticoes, and include viewing balconies on the upper stories; such arrangement are both convenient and bring in public revenue. Architecture 5.1.1

See the forum! The delightful forum is surrounded by many beautiful buildings. In the middle of the forum is a very beautiful fountain. Miranda is leading them to the café.

Guest Post : Dr Patrick Owens on the Morgan-Owens Lexicon /  by Anthony Gibbins

If you are a reader of Legonium, you will know that the pet store has played an important part in the past few episodes. It was difficult to find an appropriate Latin translation of pet store, but I found zoopolium within the Morgan-Owens Lexicon. The Morgan-Owens Neo-Latin and Contemporary Latin Lexicon is such a monumental piece of work (and monumental work in progress!), that I asked Dr Patrick Owens - the current editor-in-chief - if he would write something on it for Legonium. I am grateful to Dr Owen's for penning this fascinating account of the Lexicon's history, as well as a glimpse towards its bright future.

Origin and History of the Lexicon

In 1998, after attending the Conventiculum Lexintoniense, Dr. David W. Morgan began to create a list of Latin vocabulary for the modern world. Dr. Morgan soon recognized that there was neither a consensus among the various enclaves of Latin speakers regarding modern terminology nor was there a single reliable repository or dictionary. In 1999, therefore, Dr. Morgan collected all of the handbooks and dictionaries that were in use for Latin speakers from around the world and painstakingly transcribed those entries which he deemed worthwhile. It wasn’t until after he had worked through a dozen such volumes that he discovered the futility of this project: many or even most of the terms contained in these dictionaries were not drawn from literary sources but entirely invented. Moreover, many of the dictionaries readily borrowed from modern languages with no regard for ancient Latin precedents or the language’s inherent rules. Dr. Morgan named this first project the Silva (Latin for the collection). The Silva was published online without editorial comments in 2000.

The shortcomings of the Silva were the catalyst for a larger project, which would give precedence to terms and phrases attested in Latin literature and would conform any coinages or neologisms to the tendencies of the language. This new Neo-Latin lexicon would provide practitioners of active Latin with a reliable source of Latin vocabulary for the modern world, complete with citations, example sentences, and the grammatical information typically found in scholarly dictionaries. When Dr. Morgan began this momentous task he recruited his colleagues Dr. Milena Minkova and Dr. Terence Tunberg as co-editors and collaborators. Minkova and Tunberg collaborated with Morgan for some time, but due to their distance and other factors, Morgan continued the work alone, periodically updating a draft publically under the name Adumbratio (or the draft) on the Furman University server. Dr. Morgan considered the Adumbratio to be the bare bones of a future comprehensive work of contemporary terms and phrases for authors and speakers of Latin.

In 2011 Morgan and Dr. Patrick M. Owens collaborated to create a print English-Latin and Latin-English dictionary for students and teachers. During the preparation of this smaller dictionary, Dr. Owens collaborated with Dr. Morgan on certain aspects of the Adumbratio (mainly emendations and formatting issues). The prospect of the learners’ dictionary was suspended due to Dr. Morgan’s fight with liver disease. Sadly, David Morgan passed away on February 6th, 2013.

Dr. Owens was left with thousands of volumes and tens of thousands of loose notes and photocopies from Dr. Morgan’s estate. When Furman University decided to remove Dr. Morgan’s pages from its servers, Wyoming Catholic College (where Dr. Owens was an Assistant Professor of Latin) agreed to host an updated version of the Adumbratio, in order that Dr. Owens could continue to maintain its presence on the Internet.

Current State of the Project

The format, namely a MS Word document that Dr. Morgan used when he began making lexicographic notes in 1998, was well suited for a small document for private use. As the document grew to more than 700 pages, however, the format proved to be clumsy and ill-matched to the new goals. As a result of this, some Internet sites created pdf documents of the entire Lexicon, disregarding the guidelines of the Common Use License that the Lexicon enjoys. 

Users often lament the Lexicon’s format. Over the past four years there have been several hundred new lemmata and additional articles. It is frustrating and discouraging to create new lemmata when the editor recognizes that the entire interface needs to be revamped; this has led to a decline in regular updates. There are nearly a thousand new notes, emendations, and articles to be added to the body of the text, but they have been set-aside until a new interface is created.

In February of 2017, after taking several graduate courses in lexicography at UC Boulder, Dr. Owens constituted a Board of Directors and Advisors for the Neo-Latin Lexicon. Dr. Owens recognized that the project required collaboration from scholars with various backgrounds and its work could not be sufficiently accomplished by a single editor working alone. While there were a number of disparate issues addressed at our first annual board meeting, the board agreed that the Lexicon would benefit from (1) an independent Internet address, (2) a new interface (3) funds perhaps provided by grant money, (4) a collaboration of slips for new lemmata, and (5) a process for identifying mistakes and easily making emendations. The current editor-in-chief, Dr. Owens, is currently working towards these goals.

'Follow me,' the police officer says, leading Jessica and Marcellus out of the pet store. Miranda leads them past the bakery into the town's forum.

parrots, pet stores, parties and prepositions /  by Anthony Gibbins

When someone asks me what a Preposition is I’m far more likely to respond with a list; oh, you know, those words like to and from and with and about and after. There is a Preposition on today’s page within the Prepositional Phrase propter psittacum on account of or by reason of or because of the parrot. Today we will look at Prepositions, so let’s begin with a definition. Here is the Cambridge English Dictionary. It is, of course, discussing Prepositions in English, but what it says holds true for Latin also;

a word that is used before a noun, a noun phrase, or a pronoun, connecting it to another word. In the sentences "We jumped in the lake", and "She drove slowly down the track", "in" and "down" are prepositions.

What is interesting about Latin Prepositions, is that each one of them must be followed by a Noun, a Noun phrase, or a Pronoun in its favourite Case. Take propter psittacum for example. The Nominative of parrot is psittacus, but the Preposition propter demands to be followed by the Accusative Case; hence propter psittacum on account of the parrot. The Preposition cum with, on the other hand, demands to be followed by the Ablative Case, hence cum psittaco with the parrot. Each Preposition demands to be followed by either the Accusative Case or the Ablative Case. There are, however, just a small handful of Super-Prepositions (not a real term) that can be followed by either, with useful consequence.

What follows are some Prepositional Phrases. Each Phrase contains a Preposition followed by psittacus or zoopolium or convivium. psittacum and zoopolium and convivium are in the Accusative Case, psittaco and zoopolio and convivio are in the Ablative.

Prepositions Followed by the Accusative Case: ad zoopolium to the pet store adversus zoopolium opposite the pet store adversus psittacum against the parrot ante zoopolium in front of the pet store ante convivium before the party apud zoopolium close by the pet store apud psittacum at the home of the parrot or in the writings of the parrot circum zoopolium around the pet store cis zoopolium on this side of the pet store contra zoopolium opposite the pet store contra psittacum against the parrot extra zoopolium outside of the pet store inter psittacos between the parrots infra zoopolium below the pet store  intra zoopolium within the pet store iuxta zoopolium next to the pet store ob zoopolium before the pet store ob psittacum because of the parrot penes psittacum in the power of the parrot per zoopolium through the pet store per psittacos throughout the parrots per psittacum by means of a parrot post zoopolium behind the pet store post convivium after the party praeter zoopolium beyond the pet store prope psittacum near the parrot propter zoopolium close to the pet store propter convivium on account of the party secundum convivium immediately following the party secundum viam following the street supra zoopolium above the pet store trans zoopolium on the far side of the pet store ultra zoopolium beyond the pet store

Prepositions Followed by the Ablative Case: a zoopolio* from the pet store cum psittaco with the parrot coram psittico in the presence of the parrot de zoopolio down from the pet store de convivio concerning the party e zoopolio* out of the pet store prae psittaco in front of the parrot pro zoopolio in front of the pet store pro psittaco in place of a parrot sine psittaco without a parrot : Note: a is ab and e is ex before a vowel; ab aqua from the water ex aqua out of the water

Super-Prepositions (not a real term) that can be followed by the Accusative or Ablative Case: in zoopolium into the pet store or onto the pet store in zoopolio in the pet store or on the pet store sub zoopolium up to the pet store sub convivium just before the party sub zoopolio under the pet store

Miranda, because of the parrot, is now certain that she has found the woman whom she is looking for. ‘It is now time,’ she says to Jessica and Marcellus, ‘to tell me everything.’

Legonium X - The Story So Far - LOTS of Spoilers! /  by Anthony Gibbins

prima

Marcellus is a painter who lives in the attic room above a French restaurant. He loves nothing more than painting. There is a cat called Pico hanging out on his roof. We cut to the roof of the bank, where a ninja-like woman dressed in black is looking down through the skylight.

secunda

Augustus is the manager of the bank. Miranda lives in the room under Marcellus - she is asleep at 3 in the afternoon. Why? Because she works all night. She awakes and meets her amica, Claudia, in the Montanus, a tavern or pool hall. Claudia talks about her love of ancient monuments. They get lunch at the French restaurant, and Miranda goes home to prepare for work. She is a police officer! We cut back to Augustus, as he reads a memo reporting that Marcellus owes the bank a lot of money and needs $100, stat. He has a painting hanging in the Montanus, which he hopes to sell for that exact amount.

tertia

Pico the cat has a nice life. He hangs out in the laundromat attached to the bank building, stands for a while in the sun, then goes into the French restaurant where the cook gives him some food. Pico then walks out to the back and chases a mouse around the dumpster. Marcellus turns up at the restaurant’s back door, and the cook gives him a pizza. Pico climbs onto the roof and sees the woman in black surveying a small room. There are two people in the room - a woman and a man - who do not know they are being watched. Pico imagines that he is a dragon.

quarta

A sailor arrrives in town carrying a suitcase. Claudia - the woman with the interest in ancient monuments - is on her way to the barber for a haircut. Alan - the barber - is cutting an old man’s hair. The sailor wanders in and recites a rude verse. Claudia gets a haircut, which she admires while Alan is sweeping her hair into a sack which he dumps it in the dumpster. Claudia pops into the Montanus where she finds the sailor admiring Marcellus’ painting. He gives her $100 which she takes straight to the artist. The sailor heads up to the roof and the small room the woman in black was watching. He gives the two people there a suitcase in return for a precious diamond. They go to open the case, but it is the end of the episode.

quinta

Marcellus wakes up, relieved that he has $100 in an envelope. He plans to get a haircut then visit the bank. Alan’s son Scipio turns up during the haircut and asks for money to see a film. Marcellus walks to the bank, heads upstairs, finds Augustus’ office, reaches into his pocket and… the money is gone! He rushes back to the barber shop. Alan has not seen his envelope, but it’s possible that he may have swept it up with the hair and thrown it (within a sack) into the dumpster. Marcellus rushes to the dumpster and dives in. He feels something and tugs on it. It’s a suitcase. He opens it! Its full of money! I bet you are wondering how it got into the dumpster, the narrator says. Come back for episode six.

sexta

This episode begins with Claudia and Miranda having breakfast at the French restaurant. You can see Marcellus walking by, still holding his envelope full of money, to get his haircut. Claudia says that she is off to Pompeii to visit ancient monuments, and that she will send Miranda a letter. Meanwhile, the woman in black, who is finally identified as Jessica, sneaks into the room on the roof and steals the suitcase. Throwing a rope over the edge of the building, she begins climbing to the street beneath. But she is spotted by Miranda - the police officer - who yells up at her. She falls, but is fine. Miranda asks about the suitcase, but Jessica just wants to get out of there. I am not your enemy! she says. The two from the roof run around the corner, pursuing Jessica but distracting Miranda. Jessica runs. She sees a drainpipe, but can’t climb it carrying the suitcase, so she hides the suitcase in the dumpster and climbs. Miranda gives chase but she has disappeared! Meanwhile, cut to Jessica resting on the roof. She returns to get the suitcase but arrives to see Marcellus has already found the money.

septima

Miranda is sitting in her apartment, worried by the previous day’s events. There is a knock on the door. The postman brings her a letter from Claudia. Miranda reads about Claudia’s exploration of the ancient city of Pompeii. She falls asleep in her chair.

octava

This episode introduces Monas Brickvir (Ace Brickman), the Private Detective. Ravena (one of the couple from the roof room) asks him to find her missing suitcase. He takes the case. Meanwhile, Alan the barber is taking his son Scipio to the pictures to celebrate his birthday. They see The Empire Strikes Back. After the movie, Alan leads his son to the pet store and gives him a small rescue dog. There they meet a talkative parrot, who repeats snippets of whatever he hears around him. Cut back to Monas, who is sitting on the balcony of the French restaurant figuring out how he will find the suitcase. He reasons he needs to find someone with more money than they had previously. Genius! Marcellus leaves his attic room in a new and expensive outfit.

nona

A quick flashback to Alan and Scipio leaving the pet store. The shopkeeper waves goodbye, says goodnight to the parrot and locks up the store. The parrot repeats much of it. The shopkeeper heads home (she has an apartment overlooking the Forum, although the entrance is in the back) and cooks herself dinner. Finally, she changes into a hidden outfit, revealing her true identify - she is Jessica, the woman in black! She heads off to find Marcellus and the suitcase, but sees Monas Brickvir watching him and determines him to be in trouble. She leaves a note, that he finds and brings to the pet store. Miranda, meanwhile, is having a sleepless night, worried about the woman who fled from her. The next morning, she returns to investigate the area the woman escaped from. Finding two feathers - one green and one red - she heads to the pet store!  Arriving at the pet store, she interrupts Marcellus and Jessica - but they fall silent before she can hear anything. The parrot, however, blurts out something about the suitcase. Episode Ends.

Be well reader. How do you have yourself today? We are already approaching the end of the story about the suitcase. But, as I think, the best part of the story has not yet been told.