Week 12 Review PPT Misc. Points of Syntax: Ablative Absolute, Indirect Statement, Supines, Gerunds, Gerundives, Passive Periphrastic, etc.

Ablative Absolute The Ablative Absolute (=A2) is a common use of Participles in Latin. The Ablative Absolute is a participial phrase that consists of a Noun, a Participle modifying that noun, and any other associated words (the Direct Obj. of an Active Ppl., an Ablative of Means or Personal Agent, etc.) The A2 phrase will be absolute, which means that the noun of the A2 should not appear in the main sentence. The Abl. Abs. usually shows the general circumstances behind the action of the main verb. Beyond this circumstantial use, the A2 can also describe Time, Cause, Opposition, or Condition. Lastly, since Latin has no ppl. for the pres. of sum/esse, it can simply employ a noun in the ablative as subject and another noun or adjective agreeing with it as predicate (without an expressed ppl.), with a pres. ppl. of sum to be understood.

Ablative Absolute The Participle of the A2 will either be the Present Active Ppl. or the Perfect Passive Ppl. and, as a good ppl. should, it will agree with the noun it modifies in case, number, and gender. The participle may have a Dir. Obj. if it is Active or an Abl. Of Pers. Agent or Means if it is Passive. The noun of the A2 is called the “Subject” of the A2 and, as noted above, it should not reappear in the main sentence. You should start an attempted translation of the A2 with one of the following phrases, depending on the tense and voice of the ppl.: Pres. Act. Ppl.: “With the noun verbing…” Perf. Pass. Ppl.: “With the noun having been verbed…” No Ppl. (pres. of sum implied): “With the noun being/as noun/adj...” After you have translated the rest of the sentence, you can readdress the A2 and translate it accordingly if it is showing Time (“When…”), Cause (“Because…”), Opposition (“Although…”), or Condition (“If…”).

Ablative Absolute - Examples Romā visā, viri gaudebant. With Rome having been seen, the men were rejoicing. His rebus auditis, coepit timere. With these things having been heard, he began to fear. Eo imperium tenente, eventum timeo. With him holding the power, I fear the outcome. Caesare duce, nihil timebimus. With Caesar being leader, we will fear nothing. With Caesar as leader, we will fear nothing.

iNdirect statement The Indirect Statement (= IS or O2 for its fancy Latin name: Oratio Obliqua) is a common use of Infinitives in Latin. IS reports a speech, thought, or feeling indirectly. Various main verbs can introduce an IS, but generally speaking they are verbs of saying, knowing, thinking, and perceiving. We often call them “Head Verbs” because all of these actions occur in the head. After the “Head Verb,” the Verb of the IS (=VIS) is an infinitive. Remember that the tense of the VIS, like all infinitives, shows time relative to that of the main verb. Ultimately, this use of the Inf. falls under the category of Object Inf. The Subject of the IS (= SIS) will stand in the Accusative case. This is because the Inf. is really an Obj. Inf. as noted above.

Indirect Statement - Examples Translating the Indirect Statement: In English, we signal IS with the conjunction “that” and use an indicative verb as the VIS. So, when translating, be sure to add the word “that” (which will have no equivalent in the Latin) and translate the VIS as if it is an indicative verb. Be sure to render the tense of the VIS as relative to the Head Verb. Dicunt Caesarem imperatorem bonum esse. They say that Caesar is a good general. Dixerunt Caesarem imperatorem bonum esse. They said that Caesar was a good general. Dixerunt Caesarem imperatorem bonum futurum esse. They said that Caesar would be a good general. Gaius dicit litteras a se scriptas esse. Gaius says that the letter has been written by him. Eos in urbe remanisse et nobiscum esse vidi. I saw that they had remained in the city and were with you. Note the changes in translation to the VIS because its time is relative to the Head Verb. Note that the reflexive pronoun in IS will refer to the Subj. of the MV, so the “him” in this sentence is Gaius.

Verbal Nouns in Latin In Latin, there are three types of verbal nouns. Infinitives (“to verb”) Supines (“to verb”) Gerunds (“verbing”) We know various uses of the infinitive (complementary, VIS, etc.) The Supine is a 4th decl. neuter formed from the 4th principal part (but only exists in the Acc. and Abl. Sg.) – [v. Bennett #340] Acc. of the Supine used w/verb of motion to express Purpose Ibant Romam visum Caesarem: “They went to Rome to see Caesar.” Abl. of the Supine is used with Adj. to specify how the adj. applies mirabile dictu, facile factu, “Amazing to say”, “Easy to do”

Gerunds Participle! Gerund! A gerund is a verbal noun that is typically translated into English as “verbing” Although it ends in “-ing” in English, the Gerund is not a Participle because it does not modify another noun. Compare these two examples: Watch out for the running man! Man, I really love running! The Gerund in Latin is formed from the Future Passive Participle (the “-ndus/a/um” Participle) Like all other verbal nouns, the Gerund will always be Neuter in Gender and Singular in Number To form the Gerund: Use the Neuter Singular Forms of the Fut. Pass. Ppl., following the 2nd declension Neuter Pattern. Participle! Gerund!

The Gerund of amō, amāre, amāvī, amātum Gerunds The Gerund of amō, amāre, amāvī, amātum Inf. used as nom. = “Subjective Inf.” Nom. amāre “to love” Gen. amāndī “of loving” Dat. amāndō “to/for loving” Acc. amāndum “loving” Abl. “by loving” Things to note about the formation of Gerunds: 1.There is no nominative of the gerund. Instead, Latin (as does English) uses the present active infinitive for the subj. of a sentence. 2. These are the only forms of gerunds. They do not have separate masculine or feminine forms or any plurals.

Gerunds are always active and can take direct objects. Using Gerunds A Gerund is used in the same way as any other noun in all cases except the Nominative. Therefore, it can serve any syntactical function (direct object, abl. of means, objective gen., etc.) other than Nom. Subject. Gerunds are always active and can take direct objects. Habeo amorem scrībendī. I have a love of writing. Discimus legendo libros. We learn by reading books. Obj. Gen. Acc. D.O. (of Gerund) Abl. Of Means 10

Using Gerunds in Purpose constructions Two constructions use Gerunds to express Purpose: The “postpositions” causā and grātiā take the Gerund in the Genitive to express purpose. In this construction, the Gerund is always placed before (i.e., “preceding”) causā and grātiā. Translate causā and grātiā as “for the sake of…” Rōmam vēnī multa videndī causā. I came to Rome for the sake of seeing many things. In addition, the preposition ad can be used with a Gerund in the Accusative to express purpose. In this construction, the gerund is usually placed after ad. ad is translated as “for the purpose of…” Arma cēpit ad pugnandum. He took up arms for the purpose of fighting. 11

Gerundives + Passive Periphrastic The Future Passive Participle is also called the gerundive it is usually translated as “ought to be verbed” or “needing to be verbed,” because it usually shows obligation or necessity Like all Participles, the Gerundive can function as a simple attributive adjective modifying any noun: Fecerunt leges observandas. – “They made laws needing to be observed.” The Gerundive also frequently combines with any form of sum to form the Passive Periphrastic: Id nobis faciendum est. It must be done by us. It ought to be done by us. Since any form of sum may be used to form the Passive Periphrastic, you may find a P2 inside Indirect Speech: Dixit id nobis faciendum esse. = He said that it must be done by us. Remember: Latin uses a DATIVE of Agent with a Pass. Periph. 12

Gerunds Transforming to Gerundives The Gerundive can also be used to replace a Gerund, but only when that Gerund has an object. When a Gerund takes an object it won’t change its case, but it transforms to a Gerundive and changes its number and gender to agree with its direct object! Note: the direct object of the Gerund will then change its case to agree with the case of the Gerundive This transformation to Gerundive also happens with causā, grātiā, and ad to express purpose. However, the difference between this usage and the use of a gerund is that the gerundive modifies a noun and the gerund stands alone. Rōmam vēnī matrem videndī causā. I came to Rome for the sake of seeing (my) mother. Rōmam vēnī matris videndae causā. Arma cēpit ad pugnandum hostes. He took up arms for the purpose of fighting the enemy. Arma cēpit ad pugnandos hostes. Gerund Gerund transformed into Gerundive Note how in the process of transforming, the Gerund took on the Gender and number of its object, while the object took on the case of the Gerundive. 13

Expressing Purpose in Latin: We now know several ways to express PURPOSE in Latin: Purpose Clause: with ut/ne + Subjunctive Rōmam venio ut matrem videam. Supine: Acc. of Supine with a verb of motion Rōmam venio matrem visum. “Ger Purp”: Gerund/Gerundive: with causā, grātiā, or ad Rōmam vēnī matrem videndī causā. Rōmam vēnī matris videndae causā 14