Latin/Family Lesson 2
Avēte omnēs! Welcome back to Latin for Wikiversity! If you’re just joining us and want to catch up, the links you will need are on the right.
Last lesson, we learned some common words for family members; we’ll continue this here. Now, Latin is known for its fine detail, and family terminology is no exception. There are different words for aunts, uncles, and cousins, depending on whether they are on the father’s side or the mother’s side. But some details are a little fuzzy; for example, the same word, “nepos,” can mean grandson or nephew, or even a general “descendant”. So as always, stay flexible, and review the case endings for those first three noun declensions.
New Vocabulary
edit| Latin | English | Audio (Classical) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| amita, ae | aunt | Father’s sister | |
| cōnsōbrīna, ae cōnsōbrīnus, ī |
cousin (on mother’s side) | Strictly, mother’s sister’s child | |
| mātertera, ae | aunt (mother’s sister) | ||
| nūptiae, arum | wedding, marriage, nuptials | 1st declension noun used in plural | |
| avunculus, ī | uncle (mother’s brother) | ||
| patruus, ī | uncle (father’s brother) | ||
| mātrimōnium, ī | marriage, wedding | ||
| mulier, mulieris (f.) | woman (fēmina is also used) | ||
| nepōs, nepōtis (m. or common in plural) | grandson, grandchild, nephew, descendant | ||
| neptis, neptis (f.) | granddaughter | ||
| patruēlis, patruēlis (c.) | cousin on father’s side | Strictly, child of father’s brother | |
| dīcit | he/she says | From the 3rd conjugation verb dīcō) | |
| itaque (conj.) | therefore, and so | ||
| germānus, a, um | own, genuine, full | This adjective came to mean a full brother or sister or a first cousin; someone of one’s own blood. It’s not used much in most Latin textbooks, but it explains the derivation of the words for brother and sister in Spanish and Portuguese. The capitalized version of this adjective also means “German, from Germany,”. Just a bit of extra information – we won’t be using it in our sample sentences this week. |
New Sentences
edit| Latin | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Avus meus et avia mea multōs nepōtēs habent. | My grandfather and my grandmother have many grandchildren. | |
| Mātrimōnium nostrum est bonum. | Our marriage is good. | |
| Nepōs meus est fīlius familiae meae. | My grandson is the son of my daughter. | |
| Meus avus est pater mātris meae. | My grandfather is my mother’s father. | |
| Avia dīcit, “Neptis mea est pulchra!” | The grandmother says, “My granddaughter is beautiful!” | |
| Alta mulier est mātertera nostra. | The tall woman is our aunt/ mother’s sister. | |
| Sunt multae mulierēs pulchrae in familiā nōstrā. | There are many beautiful women in our family. | |
| Amitam meam in nūptiīs patruēlis meī videō. | I see my aunt/ father’s sister at my cousin’s wedding. | |
| Puella dīcit, “Cōnsōbrīnās meās (sed nōn cōnsōbrīnōs) amō!” | The girl says, “I love my girl cousins (but not my boy cousins)!” | |
| Patruus meus est frāter patris meī. | My uncle is my father’s brother. | |
| Avunculus Gāius est frāter mātris meae. | Uncle Gaius is my mother’s brother. | |
| Patruus meus līberōs nōn habet; itaque patruēlēs nōn habeō. | My uncle/ father’s brother does not have children; therefore I do not have cousins. | |
| Familia suprā omnia. | Family above everything. |
Practice
edit| Practice and learn the words and phrases in this lesson | |
|---|---|
| Step one | First learn the words using this lesson: |
| Step two | Next try learning and writing the sentencing using this: |
| Note that the Memrise stage covers the content for all lessons in each stage. If you are skipping previous stages you may need to manually "ignore" the words in previous levels (use the 'select all' function) | |
We hope you have enjoyed this lesson in family terminology.
Valēte et bonam fortūnam!