Monday, June 09, 2014

Summer Fun... Week Two!

This week we're going to review the specifics of Latin pronunciation. Chances are, you're not reading aloud to yourself while you're practicing Latin at home, so I want to encourage you to keep your Latin reading skills fresh by practicing them.

A VIDEO (or two or three...):

These videos will walk you through the pronunciation of consonants, vowels, and how to trill your r's when speaking Latin. You'll have a chance a little later on to practice this yourself. For now, though, grab some popcorn, sit back, and review.





A QUOTE:


VENI, VIDI, VICI

This famous quote was by Julius Caesar, in a letter detailing a recent victory in battle. Can you guess what it means?

If you need help guessing what it means, here are some hints:
  1. All three words are perfect tense verbs using the i, isti, it endings.
  2. The first word is the verb venio, venire, veni, ventus - to come
  3. The second word is the verb video, videre, vidi, visus - to see
  4. The third word is the verb vinco, vincere, vici, victus - to conquer
Have you figured it out yet?



The quote by Julius Caesar means, "I came, I saw, I conquered." He used this phrase to sum up his battle victory; it was a swift one! People today use this quote to show that something was not difficult for them. The next time someone asks you how your Latin test went, you can tell them "veni, vidi, vici" instead of "It was easy!" 

Using the pronunciation rules you learned above, how would you pronounce veni, vidi, vici?

A STORY:

Read the following story aloud to practice your Latin pronunciation. Then listen to the video below to see how you did! After you read the story aloud to practice your pronunciation, practice translating the story. Like last week's lesson, I will give you a couple words to help (below the reading) and include the translation in the comments so you can check your work. 

          In Asia est vir clarus. vir est Anchises. dea Anchisen amat. Aeneas est filius deae et Anchisae. Aeneae uxor est Creusa. Creusa Aeneasque filium vocant Ascanium. 
          Aeneae patria est Troia. Troia non est in Europa, sed in Asia. Graeci et viri Troiae pugnant. Graeci Troiam occupant. Aeneas Anchisen portat. Creusam filiumque vocat. 
Aeneas: "non iam est Troia. sed dei deaeque viros Troiae amant. etiam feminas et pueros puellasque amant. hodie ad Europam navigamus."

Words to help:
clarus, a, um - famous
Anchisen - accusative form of Anchises


2 comments:

Elizabeth Wickland said...

There is a famous man in Asia. The man is Anchises. A goddess loves Anchises. Aeneas is the son of Anchises and the goddess. Aeneas' wife is Creusa. Creusa and Aeneas call their son Ascanius.

Aeneas' homeland is Troy. Troy is not in Europe, but is in Asia. The men of Greece and Troy are fighting. The Greeks seize Troy. Aeneas carries Anchises. He calls Creusa and their son.

Aeneas: "Troy is no longer. But the gods and goddesses love the men of Troy. And they also love the women and boys and girls. Today we sail to Europe."

Elizabeth Wickland said...

This story is told in the Aeneid, a poem about the hero Aeneas. The Romans believed that he was their ancestor, so this story was very important to them. In the Aeneid, after Troy was destroyed, Aeneas escaped, but his father was too old to flee, so Aeneas carried him to rescue him from the burning city. Aeneas and his men went to Italy and settled in the land of Latium, for which the language Latin is named.