练英语、学拉丁语：Case（名词的格）

 

The next step in analyzing a Latin noun is its case.

analyze[5AnElaiz]vt.分析, 分解（ana+ly+(i)ze）

这里的ze是动词后缀-ize的变化。

analysis[E5nAlisis]n.分析, 分解

ana- [遍及，全部]

ly源自luein [松开，放松]

 

The case of a noun determines its usage in a sentence.

determine[di5tE:min]v.决定, 确定, 测定, 使下定决心, [律]使终止(de+term+ine)

源自 古法语 determiner

dē- [前缀，表“转移”]

请复习term(学期，术语), terminal(终点站, 终端)

usage[5ju:zidV]n.使用, 用法（us(e)+age）

-age名词后缀。在英语中age也是一个单词，表“年龄”。

Each noun can be put into any of the cases.

put into v.使进入, 把...翻译成, 在...上种植

 

If you look above, you can see that you have already seen two different forms of the Latin word for "table".

 

They are in different cases.

English for the most part does not use cases, but some pronouns show vestiges of a case system ("who" vs. "whom" vs. "whose" and "they" vs. "them" vs. "their").

英语中的名词基本上没有“格”的变化（“名词+of+名词”是格的一种变通方式），一些代词中保留“格”。但是由于英语中引进大量的源自拉丁语的单词，所以，大概地了解拉丁语的“格”对我们记忆英语单词有极大的帮助。

vestige[5vestidV]n.遗迹, 痕迹, 残余, 丝毫, [生]退化的器官（vest+ig+e）

源自 拉丁语 vestīm

-ig是德语的形容词后缀

联想记忆：

investigate[in5vesti^eit]v.调查, 研究（in+vest+ig+ate）

vestig源自拉丁语vestīre [追踪] （源自 vestīm [足迹]）

invest[in5vest]v.投(资), 购买(有用之物)～, 授予, 投资(in+vest)

vest源自拉丁语vestīe [给…穿衣]（源自 vestis [衣服]）

We take a fairly intuitive approach to learning those words in English, which is perhaps why so many people have problems with "whom".

intuitive[in5tju(:)itiv]adj.直觉的（in+tui+ive）

intuition[7intju(:)5iFEn]n.直觉, 直觉的知识(in+tui+ion)

in- [在…之上]

tui-表“看”

联想记忆：

tui[5tu:i]n.[鸟]蜜雀（食花蜜，能学人语和其他鸟鸣）

tuition[tju:5iFEn]n.学费（tuit+ion）

源自 tuitus

 

But in Latin, the case of a noun is extremely important.

The number of cases in Latin is generally considered to be six.

This leaves out the locative, which is used very rarely and only for a very limited number of nouns, so we'll leave it out for now as well.

leave out v.省去, 遗漏, 不考虑

locative[5lCkEtiv]adj.位置格的n.位置格, 位置格的词(loc+ative)

源自 拉丁语 locās(locāre的过去分词 [放，安置])

location[lEu5keiFEn]n.位置, 场所, 特定区域（loc+ation）

-ation名词后缀

也就是说，location这样的单词我们实际上要重点记忆的只是loc。请复习vocation（召唤），documentary（记录片）。

请比较：loc, voc, doc。

 

We'll start off with the standard six - nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, ablative, and vocative.

start off with 从...开始, 用...开始

nominative（主格）

accusative（宾格）

genitive（属格）

dative（与格）

ablative（离格或夺格）

vocative（呼格）

Case	Major Use	Latin Example	English Equivalent
Nominative	Subject	mensa	table
Accusative	Direct Object	mensam	table
Genitive	Possessive	mensae	of the table
Dative	Indirect Object	mensae	to/for the table
Ablative	Means or Manner	mensa	by/with the table
Vocative	Direct address	mensa	o table!

Note that all forms in the above chart are singular (we'll talk about number in just a bit).

You can see that sometimes a couple different cases will look the same.

This happens.

It is usually possible to determine the appropriate case from the context of a sentence (for instance, you could say "I walked to the table" but wouldn't say "I walked of the table").

 

Each noun belongs to a group called a "declension" - all of the nouns in a declension have similar sets of endings.

declension[di5klenFEn]n.[文法]词尾变化, 格变化, 倾斜, 衰退（de+clens+ion）

declination[7dekli5neiFEn]n.偏差(de+clin+ation)

decline[di5klain]vi.下倾, 下降, 下垂(de+cl+ine)

cl源自拉丁语-clīre [倾斜，弯曲]

名词的格变化称为“变格”

动词的词尾变化称为“变位（conjugation）”或“变尾”。

英语中的规则动词表“tense(时态)”的词尾变化只有一种——过去式（-ed）。而“现在分词”和“过去分词”是对应于aspect(动词的体：进行、完成)的变化。

请参考《牛津、剑桥大学关于时态：英语中只有两种时态（tense）》。

建议大家把钻研“英语时态”、“非谓语动词”的时间用在与英语语法相关的英语文章上。当您能大概地读懂这方面的英语应用文章，您一定不会再为这些问题犯愁。您一定会感觉国内的各种英语考试真的是太小儿科。

 

For example, mensa is a first declension noun.

All of the other first declension nouns are going to have similar endings.

当您把“be going to”作为一个整体时，实际上已经破坏的英语句子的结构，会把简单的问题复杂化。读不懂英语句子，您记忆再多的语法概念都只能是浪费时间。

 

Let's take a look at mensa alongside puella.

 

Accusative|| mensae|| puellaeDative || mensa|| puella

Case	"Table"	"Girl"
Nominative	mensa	puella
Vocative	mensam	puellam
Ablative	mensa	puella

We'll explore each of the cases and each of the declensions later.