Sub’s Journal ~ Elementary Latin Notes

A majority of the material herein are notes taken from the text Wheelock’s Latin, Seventh Edition

Wheelock, Frederick M. and Richard A. LaFleur. Wheelock’s Latin. 7th ed. New York: HarperCollins, 2011. Print.

ISBN: 978-0-06-199721-1
ISBN: 978-0-06-199722-8 (pbk.)

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Vowels
Latin has both long and short vowels. Long vowels are held twice as long as the short ones.

Short Vowels
a as in Dinah
e as in Pet
i as in Pin
o as in Orb, Off
u as in Put

Long Vowels
ā as in father
ē as in they
ī as in machine
ō as in clover
ū as in rude

The ‘y’ sound is somewhere halfway between the short u and i, similar to the French ‘tu’ or German ‘über’.


Dipthongs
ae as in the “ai” in aisle – cārae, saepe
au as in the “ou” in house – aut, laudō
ei as in reign – deinde
eu as in Latin e+u, said rapidly (rare). – seu[
oe as in the “oi” in oil – coepit, proelium
ui as in Latin u+i, like the Spanish muy. Occasionally pronounced quickly (such as in the examples: huius, cuius, huic, cui, hui). Elsewhere, ui are both spoken separately.


Consonants
The consonants found in Latin largely reflect their English counterparts, with a few differences:

bs and bt are instead pronounced as ps and pt respectively (urbs, obtineō = urps, optineō). Otherwise, they are pronounced the same way as one might find them in English (bibēbant).

c is always hard, such as the c in can – cum, civis, facilis

g is always as in get (glōria, gero). If the g appears before the letter n, the g is nasalized. English example: hangnail. Latin example: magnus.

h is a breathy sort of sound, only not as harsh as it’s English counterpart – hic, haec

i is, simply put, complicated. As a consonant, it has the sound of the y in yes, and is used as such when it comes before a vowel at the beginning of a word. Iulian = Yulian.
At the same time, if an i is wedged between two vowels, the i is used as a vowel in the dipthong with the vowel before, and is given the y sound with the vowel that comes after it. Otherwise, it is to be treated as a vowel.
Examples of consonantal ‘i’: reiectus = rei * yectus; maior = mai * yor; cuius = cui * yus

m in most cases is usually the same as in English. In certain cases, however, such as with certain –m endings or following a vowel, it is pronounced with the lips open and nasalizing said vowel. – tum, etiam

q is just as it appears in English: always with the consonantal u to make a ‘kw’ sound. – quid, quoque

r in Latin is always trilled – Rōma, cūrāre

s is a voiceless consonant, just as in the word see – sed, posuisses

t is just like it is found in tired. Latin does not prescribe to the “sh” sound when in the combination ‘-tion’ – taciturnitas, nationem, mentionem

v consistently sounds like the English w – vivo = wiwo; vīnum = winum

x sounds like the ‘ks’ in axle – mixtum, exerceō

ch possesses a ‘ckh’ sound as found in the word blockhead – chorus

ph was used to represent the Greek phi. Has the ph sound of uphill, -not- the ph of the English word ‘philosophy’ – philosophia

th represents Greek theta. Has the th of hothouse -not- the th in English ‘thin’ or ‘the’ – theātrum

Conjugation (Coniugātiō)
To conjugate is to list all the forms of a verb according to its variations.

In English, it doesn’t change very much.

First person singular: I praise
First person plural: We praise

Second person singular: You praise
Second person plural: You all praise

Third person singular: He/She/It praises
Third person plural: They praise


Personal Endings
To make Latin verbs in the active voice, it is a bit different. Here are six personal endings to memorize, and their pronouns.

First Person Singular (I): –ō (or –m, but we’ll be focusing mostly upon –ō)
Second Person Singular (You): –s
Third Person Singular (He/She/It): –t

First Person Plural (We): –mus
Second Person Plural (You all): –tis
Third Person Plural (They): –nt


Present Active Infinitive and Present Stem
An infinitive verb form means that its translation will be “to ___”.
Example 1: laudāre is the present active infinitive meaning “to praise”.
Example 2: monēre is the present active infinitive meaning “to warn” or “to advise”.

Verbs ending in –are are identified as the first conjugation.
Verbs ending in –ere are the second conjugation.
Latin has four stem vowel markers to denote first, second, third, and fourth conjugations.


With a Latin verb, dropping the –re will provide you with the present stem –

laudāre becomes laudā - - - praise
monēre becomes monē - - - warn/advise


Add a personal stem to conjugate (sometimes, removal of the –a in a first conjugation verb is necessary for the first person singular – I – form. You occasionally shorten, but do not remove, the ē in a second conjugation verb).

laudāmus --- LAO-dahh-moose - - - We praise / we are praising / we do praise
monēs --- MOH-nehhs - - - You advise / you are advising / you do advise

Without a specific context, these words can mean any of the translations mentioned.


Here are all of the present active conjugations of the verb: laudāre

First Person Singular (I): laudō --- LAO-dohh - - - I praise / am praising / do praise
Second Person Singular (You): laudās --- LAO-dahhs - - - You praise / etc.
Third Person Singular (He/She/It): laudāt --- LAO-dot - - - H/S/I praises / are praising

First Person Plural (We): laudāmus --- LAO-dahh-moose - - - We praise / etc.
Second Person Plural (You all): laudātis --- LAO-dahh-tiss - - - You all praise / etc.
Third Person Plural (They): laudānt --- LAO-dahnt - - - They praise / etc.


And now, for monēre

First Person Singular (I): moneō --- MOH-nay-ohh - - - I warn / I am advising / do warn
Second Person Singular (You): monēs --- MOH-nayys - - - You advise / you are warning / etc.
Third Person Singular (He/She/It): monet --- MOH-neyyt - - - H/S/I warns / is warning / etc.

First Person Plural (We): monēmus --- MOH-nayy-moose - - - We advise / are advising / etc.
Second Person Plural (You all): monētis --- MOH-nayy-tiss - - - You all advise / etc.
Third Person Plural (They): monent --- MOH-nent - - - They advise / etc.


Extra Practice:
Conjugate cogitāre (to think) and vidēre (to see).

Spoiler: