Dative with Adjectives; Dative with Special Verbs; Dative with Compounds
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35 Dative with Adjectives; Dative with Special Verbs; Dative with Compounds The dative case is in general employed to indicate a person or thing that some act or circumstance applies to or refers to "indirectly," as opposed to the accusative, which indicates the more immediate recipient or object of an action. The indirect object, e.g., is the person/thing toward which a direct object is "referred" by the subject + verb: "I am giving the book [direct object] to you [indirect object]" = "I am giving the book, not just to anyone anywhere, but in your direction, i.e., to you." Even in the passive periphras tic construction, the dative of agent indicates the person for whom a certain action is obligatory. A number of other dative case usages are distinguished by grammarians, but most are simply variants on this basic notion of refer ence or direction. DA TlVE WITH ADJECTIVES The dative with adjectives construction is one example which you have already encountered in your readings, though it has not yet been formally introduced. Simply stated, a noun in the dative case is employed with many Latin adjectives-particularly those indicating attitude, quality, or rela tion-to indicate the direction (literally or metaphorically) in which the ad- 245 246 Wheelock's Latin: Chapter 35 jective applies; such adjectives are normally followed by "to," "toward;' or "for" in English (e.g., "friendly toltoward," "hostile to/toward," "suitable to/ for~" "useful to," "'sin1ilar to," "equal to," etc.). Mors est silnilis somno, death is similar to sleep. Sciebam te mih; fidelem esse, I knew that you lVere loyal to me. Nobis est vir amIcus, he is a nwnfj'iendly toward us. Quisque sibi carus est, each one is dear to himself Ille videtur par esse deo, that man seems to be equal to a god. DA TlVE WITH SPECIAL VERBS Conceptually similar is the dative with special verbs construction. Many of these verbs (the most important of which are listed below) are actually intransitive and, like the adjectives that take the dative, indicate attitude or relationship, e.g., nocere, to be i1~jurious to, parco, to be lenient toward, etc. Although these verbs are often translated into English as though they were transitive and the dative nouns they govern as though they were direct ob jects (e.g., tibi parcit, he .spares you; lit., he is lenient toward you), the datives again indicate the person (or thing) toward whom the attitude or quality ap plies. Although a common rule for the dative with special verbs lists those meaning to .!i11'0/; help, harm, please, displease, trust, distrust, believe, per suade, c0111mand, obey, serve, resist, envy, threaten, pardon, and spare, the list is cumbersome and involves some important exceptions (including invo, to help, and iubeo, to command, orde}; which take accusative objects). The best procedure at this point in your study of the language is simply to understand the concept and then to learn some of the commonest Latin verbs that take this construction. In memorizing the following list, note carefully that the more literal translation, given first for each verb, includes English to and thus reminds you of the required dative; note as well that each verb conveys some notion of attitude tOlVard a person or thing, again suggesting a dative, as discussed above. credo + dat., entrust to; trust, believe (credo tibi, 1 believe you) ignosco + daL, grant pardon to; pardon, forgive (ignosco viris, J forgive the men) impero + dat., give orders to; command (impero militibus, I command the soldiers) noceo + dat., do hani'i to; harm (noceo hostibus, I harm the enemy) Dative with Adjectives; Dative with Special Verbs; Dative with Compounds 247 niiM + dat., be married to; marry (nfibo iIIi viro, I am marrying that man) parco + dat., be lenient to; spare (parco vobis, I spare you) parco + dat., be obedient to; obey (parco duel, I obey the leader) persliadeo + dat., make sweet to; persuade (persuiideo mihi, I persuade myself) placeo + dat., be pleasing to; please (placeo patri, I please my father) serviii + dat., be a slave to; serve (servio patriae, I serve my country) studeo + dat., direct one's zeal to; stuc(V (studeo Iitteris, I study literature) Crede amicIs, believe (trust) your Fiends. Ignosce mihi, pardon me (forgive me). Magistra discipulIs parcit, the teacher spares (is lenient toward) her pupils. Hoc eis non placet, this does not please them. Non possmn eI persuadere, J cannot persuade him. Variae res hominibus nocent, various things harm men. Cicero philosophiae studebat, Cicero used to study philosophy. Philosophiae servire est libertas, to serve philosophy is liberty. Some of these verbs, it should be noted, can also take a direct object (e.g., credo takes a dative for a person believed, matri credit, he believes his molhel; but an accusative for a thing, id credit, he believes it); and some, like impero and persuadeo, take a noun clause as an object~ as we shall see in the next chapter. DA TlVE WITH COMPOUND VERBS A very similar dative usage occurs with certain verbs compounded with ad, ante, con- (=cum), in, inter, ob, post, prae, pro, sub, super, and s0111etilnes circum and re- (in the sense of against). The dative is especially common when the meaning of a compound verb is significantly different from its simple form, whether transitive or intransitive; conversely, if the meaning of the compound is not essentially different from that of the simple verb, then the dative is ordinarily not employed: Sequor eum, I follow him. Obsequor ei, I obey him. Sum alnlcus eius, I am hisfhend. Adsum amiCO, I support my Fiend (lit., I am next to my Fiend, i.e., at his side). Venit ad 110S, he came to us. Advenit ad nos, he came to us. 248 Wheelock's Latin: Chapter 35 Often the dative appears to function essentially as a kind of object of the prepositional prefix, though the preposition would take another case if sepa rate from the verb; thus ,,"sum amico above and the following examples: AliIs praestant, they surpass Ihe others (liL, they stand be/ore the others). Praeerat exercituI, he IVa.)' in charge of the army (lit., he lVas in fl-orlt ojl be/iYre the army). If the simple verb is transitive, then the compound ll1ay take an accusative as object of the root verb as well as a dative: PraeposuI eum exereituI, Ipllt him in charge oj'the army (lit., I put him [)lOSU! clIm] inFont of'the army [llrae- + exerdtui]). Praeposul pecfmiam amIcitiae, I preferred money fo .li-Iendship (liL, I put money [poslII peciiniam] be/iJre/i'iendship [prae- + amIcitiae]). Since there is such variability in the rules for dative with special verbs and with compounds, the best procedure is to IInderstand the concepts in volved and then, when encountering a dative in a sentence, to be aware of these possible functions; just as with the other cases, you should be main taining a list of the dative uses you have learned (there have been five thus far) in your notebook or computer file, including definitions and representa tive examples. VOCABULARY aestiis, aesta.tis, f., summer (estival, estivate, estivation; cpo aestus, -us, heal, aestuare, to he hOI. seethe, boil) ianua, -ae, f., door (janitor, Janus, January) pectus, pectoris, n., breast, heart (pectoral, expectorate, parapet) llraemium, -ii, n. rClvard, prize (premium) tratns, -a, -um, angry (irate; cpo ira, idiscor, to be angry) antepono, -ponel'e, -posui, -positum, to put before, prefer foveo, foverc, fovi, filtum, 10 com/im. nurture, cherish (foment) ignosco, -noscere, -novi, -notum + dat., to grant pardon to, forgive impero (1) + dat., to give orders to, command (imperative, emperor; cpo impel'ator, imperium) mIror, mirari, mil'atus sum, to marvel at, admire, wonder (admire, marvel, miracle, mirage, mirror; cpo mirabilis, Ch. 38, miraculum, a marvel) noceo, n()d~re, noclli, nocitum + dat., to do harm la, harm, injure (inno cent, innocuous, noxious, nuisance, obnoxious; cpo innoccns, h/omeless) nubo, "(tbere, nupsi, nllptum, to covel; veil; + dat. (of a bride) to be mar ried {o, marry (nubile, connubial, nuptials; cpo nUl1tiae, marriage) parco, parcere, peperci, parsurum + dat., to he lenient to, c'q)(lre (pat'simo nious, parsimony) Dative with Adjectives; Dative with Special Verbs; Dative with Compounds 249 p~h'eij, parere, paruY + dat., to he ohed;ent to, ohey (apparent, appear) persuadeo, -suadere, -suusi, -suasum + dat., to slicceed ;n urging, per suade, convince (assuage, dissuade, suasion, suave; cpo suavis) piaceo, placere, plac,,', phicitum + dat., 10 he pleasing 10, please (compla cent, placable, implacable, placate, placid, pica, plead, pleasure, dis please; cp, placidus, kindly, agreeable, calm) S3.I)iO, sapere, saplvi, to have good taste; have good ,'J'el'lSe, he IP;se (sapient, sapid, insipid, sage, savor; cp, sapiens, sapientia) serviO, servlre, servlvI, servltum + dat., to be a slave to, serve (service, disservice, subserve, subservient, servile, servility, deserve, desert = reward, dessert; cpo SCI'VlIS, servitiis; distinguish from servare) stildeo, studere, studui + dat., 10 direel ol1e:\' 2f1l1 10, he eager fOI; siudy (student; cpo studium, studioSIIS, eagel; diligenl, scholar/v) subrideo, -ridere, -risi, -rlsum, 10 smile (dO/vn) upon (cp. rideo, ridiculus) PRACTICE AND REVIEW 1. Minerva, mia lovis, nata est plena scientiae et ingenil. 2. Custodiae SI cum duee nostro IIbere loquantur et huic tyrannum tradere conentur, sine perIculo ex moeniIs urbis protinlls egredl possint. 3. Parere legibus aequis melius est quam tyranno servire. 4. Cum optime hon6ribus usus esset et sibi cIvitatem semper antep6- neret, etiam plebs eI credebat et non invidebat. 5. Diu passa, mater vestra fellciter, sedens apud amYc6s, mortua est. 6. Philosophl c6nsilium spectavenult et recusavenmt taIem rem sus cipere m61IrIve. 7. Cunl dIves SIS atque divitiae crescant, tamen opibus tUIs parcere VIS et nemini assem olTeres.