Latin For The Laity—XX1

THE LATIN VERB
HAVE reserved for this article a few remarks about the Latin Verb.
We have seen already that Latin nouns can be apportioned to five different declensions, distinguished by their vowel stems. Thus from rosa, first declension, we get accusative singular, rosam, ablative, rosa, genitive plural, rosarum. From dies (day) fifth declension we get in the same cases: diem, die, dierum.
The Latin verbs are conjugated and there are four different conjugations. To conjugate a verb means to give the various inflections and parts of the verb and we do this in English whenever we say, for example: he rules, they ruled, he was ruling. In this case we are using the verb to rule, in three different tenses; present, past and imperfect.
The Latin tenses correspond to the English and the Latin verb, as also the English, has a subjunctive mood. Many people are scarcely aware when they are using the subjunctive mood in their own tongue, so I will give an example:
If it is fine . . . present Indicative. If it ue fine . . . present Subjunctive.
Or again: When I was king . . . past Indicative. If I weite king . . . imperfect Subjunctive.
Latin verbs have an Active and a Passive Voice—I love, Active; 1 am loved, Passive, in their various tenses.
Latin verbs have many MORE inflections than English but still the main principle is the same in each language.
The four Latin conjugations can be distinguished by their stems: they are called A stems, E stems, Consonant or u stems, and fourthly i stems.
This stem or " colour " can be seen in the third person plural of the present Indicative Active, in each conjugation.
I. amant they love 2. tenent they hold 3. regunt they rule 4. audiunt they hear.
A further point may be noticed here that runs all through the Latin verbs: the termination -T denotes a third person singular, the termination -NT denotes a third person plural.
We have had many instances of these " third persons " in the text of the Mass. Examples: third person singular, erit, it shall be; proficiat, it may avail; fiat, it may become, ascendit, He ascends; resurrexit, He rose again.
In the plural, third person, termination -NT; we have had: runt, they are; deduxerunt, they have led; receperunt, they
have received; and comprehenderunt, they have comprehended.
Frequent, too, in the Mass is the use of the first person plural and this you can detect by the termination -ems. For instance, when the priest is speaking in his own name and that of the congregation he uses the first person plural " we"; thus we have had: Offerimus, we offer; oramus, we pray, but orernus (subjunctive), let us prar, quaesumus, we beg; and in the perfect vidimus, we saw.
(Vidimus gloriam ejus—We saw Hs glory; the words occur in the Last Gospel and St. John is speaking in his own name and that of the other disciples.) Classical Latin was rich in verbs and weak in substantives; for many of our modern notions it would be difficult or impossible to find an exact classical equivalent. Church Latin inherited this splendid battery of verbs and enriched its noun vocabulary by borrowing, e.g., from the Greek or by new inventions.
Hence you will notice that many of the verbs in the Mass are compound verbs which are a feature of classical Latin. A compound verb means a verb compounded with a preposition which gives it a particular shade of meaning. For example: Suscipe, take from underneath, put your hands beneath, sustain.
De-precarnur, to deprecate, we pray that something may not happen.
Ad-unare, to unite.
Red-imere, to buy back "redeem " its theological sense.
Circunt-dabo, I will surround, compass.
Lastly, the termination -s in a Latin verb denotes the second person, thou or you. Thus : digneris, mayest Thou deigns accipias, mayest Thou accept and in the plural, feceritis, facietis, you shall do_
Next week: The vocabulary of Sacrifice.