CHAPTER VI. NOUNS SUBSTANTIVE. GENERAL RULES OF GENDER. per [§ 37.] NOUNS substantive are either proper (nomina propria), i. e., the names of one particular man or thing, or common (nomina appellativa), i. e., such as denote sons or things in so far as they belong to a class. All nouns have one of three genders: masculine, feminine, or neuter. The manner in which the gender of a noun can be ascertained from its termination will be explained under each declension. Our object here is to show the gender of nouns, both proper and common, in so far as it depends upon their meaning.* 1. The following are masculine: the names of men and of male beings; as, homo, vir, scriba, flamen, consul, rex, deus, daemon, Cupido (the God of Love), manes (the spirits of the departed), lemures (spectres); and the names of rivers, winds, and months, the words fluvius, ventus, mensis being themselves masculine. [$ 38.] Exceptions.-There are some substantives which do not originally denote men, but have come to be applied to them by custom; as, operae, labourers; vigiliae and excubiae, sentinels; copiae, troops; auxilia, auxiliary troops; mancipium, a slave; scortum and prostibulum, a prostitute. All such words have the gender which belongs to them according to their termination. The names of rivers in a, belonging to the first declension, vary in their gender. (See Schneider, Formenlehre, p. 14.) Modern writers commonly make them feminine; but the ancients, in most cases, make them masculines, which is the gender belonging to them. (See § 47.) The mytho *["Dr. Zumpt, in this part of his Grammar, appears to place too much reliance on the authority of the Latin grammarians. It should be recollected that most of these writers lived long after the authors upon whom their comments are made, and at a time, too, when the very structure, and certainly the very idioms of the language, were materially altered. The living tongue of their times was an unsafe standard of comparison; while the relation in which they stood to the writings of Cæsar and Cicero was the same in kind as that in which we ourselves stand. On the other hand, it is much to be regretted that not one among them possessed any of that philosophical spirit which begins to distinguish modern philology. Those who have been in the habit of consulting the commentaries of Donatus and Servius, or the more systematic work of Priscian, will admit that the testimony of this class of writers, though of occasional value, should always be received with caution. The judgment of even Varro and Quintilian is not always to be depended upon, and their errors of judgment are often aggravated by the particularly corrupt state in which their writings have come down to us." (Journal of Education, vol. i., p. 95, seqq.)]-Am. Ed. logical rivers Styx and Lethe are feminine, as in Greek. The names of winds and months are, without exception, masculine; hence hi Etesia, hic Libs, hic Aprilis. With regard to the names of the months, it must be observed that all of them are adjectives, and that the best writers use them only as such, the substantive mensis being understood. Hence, also, Calendae Januariae, Nonae Sextiles, Idus Martiae, Maiae, ante Calendas Augustas, Idibus Decembribus. See Drakenborch on Livy (iv., 37), who, with most other commentators, is so strongly convinced of this, that he does not hesitate to correct passages in which this rule is not observed. The names of mountains are generally said to be masculine; but when the word mons is not joined with them, the gender depends upon their termination, as in alta Etna. [§ 39.] 2. The following are feminine: the names of women and female beings; e. g., uxor, wife; soror, sister; anus, an old woman; socrus, mother-in-law; Juno, Venus; and even when they end in um, as Phanium, Glycerium, Leontium. Most of the names of trees, towns, countries, and islands, just as the words arbos, urbs, terra (regio), and insula themselves are feminine; e. g., alta cedrus, pinus, abies, the high cedar, pine, fir; umbrosa fagus, the shady beech; ficus Indica, opulenta Corinthus, antiqua Tyrus, dura Lacedaemon, Aegyptus superstitiosa, clara Salamis. Exceptions. The names of trees and shrubs ending in er, and following the third declension, are neuter; as, acer, cicer, papaver, to which we must add robur, the oak. Masculine are oleaster and pinaster, which belong to the second, and styrax, which belongs to the third declension: also many shrubs and smaller plants in us, i; e. g., amarantus, asparagus, calamus, dumus, helleborus, intubus, rhamnus, and spinus. The following vary, and may be used as masculine or feminine: cytisus, raphanus, rubus, and grossus, an unripe fig. Among the names of towns the following are masculine: 1. All plurals in i, as Argi, Delphi, Puteoli, Vei; 2. Four names in o: Hippo (with the surname regius), Narbo Marcius, Frusino, and Sulmo; the analogy of which is followed, also, by Croto, although the regular form in Greek is n Kρótwν; 3. Tunes, ētis, and Canopus, as in Greek ó Kávwboç. Some names in us, untis, such as Pessinus, Selinus, and in us, i, such as Pharsalus, Abydus, and also Marathon, are masculine, according to the Greek custom, though they are sometimes also used as feminines. The following are neuter: 1. Those ending in um, and the Greek names in on, as Tusculum, Ilion; 2. The plurals in a, orum, e. g., Susa, Arbela, Ecbatana, Leuctra; 3. Those ending in e and ur, which follow the third declension; as, Caere, Reäte, Praeneste, Tergeste, Nepete, or Nepet, Anxur, and Tibur; Tuder is likewise neuter; 4. The indeclinable names in i and y; as, Illiturgi, Asty, and some others, particularly barbarous names, the declension of which is defective; as, Suthul, Hispal, Gadir, whereas their Latin forms, Hispalis and Gades, ium, are feminine. Argos, as a neuter, occurs only in the nominative, otherwise Argi, orum, is used. The many exceptions we have here enumerated might render us inclined altogether to drop the rule respecting the feminine gender of names of towns; but we must adhere to it on account of the numerous Greek names in us, i, and of the Greek or nonItalian names in on (o), onis; and there appears, moreover, to have been a tendency to make feminine even those which are of a different gender, provided they are in the singular. This is the case, besides those we have already mentioned, with Croton, and may also be observed in the case of Praeneste; for Virgil says, Praeneste sub ipsa, and Juvenal gelida Praeneste, but otherwise the neuter gender is well established. (Liv., vi., 29. Sil. Ital., ix., 404.) The poets change the names of some places ending in um into us, e. g., Saguntus, and use them as feminines. (See Schneider, Formenl., p. 479.) Among the names of countries, those in um and plurals in a are neuter, as Latium, Bactra; the names Bosporus, Pontus, and Hellespontus, which properly denote the seas adjacent to these countries, are masculine; the same is the case with Isthmus, when used as the name of a country, for originally it is a common noun, signifying "a neck of land." Of the names of islands, some ending in um are neuter, as is also the Egyptian Delta. It must farther be observed that most names of precious stones are feminine, as in Greek; but beryllus, carbunculus, opălus, and smaragdus are masculine. The names of dramatic compositions are used in the early and good language as feminine, the word fabula being understood; e. g., hæc Truculentus (Plauti), Eunuchus (Terentii), acta est, &c. (See Quintil., i., 5, 52, with Spalding's note.) Juvenal (i., 6), however, says, Orestes nondum finitus. [§ 40.] 3. There are many names of persons which are common to both sexes, as they denote an occupation or quality which may belong either to a man or a woman, although the one is more frequently the case than the othSuch words are called common (communia). Those found in Latin with two genders are contained in the fol lowing hexameter lines: er. Antistes, vates, adolescens, auctor et augur, Some other words are not noticed here, because they are used only in apposition to feminines; those mentioned above, however, may be accompanied by adjectives in either gender; e. g., Cic., Cat., 2: In hoc sumus sapientes, quod naturam optimam ducem, tamquam deum, sequimur. Pro Balb., 24: Sacerdos illa Cereris civis Romana facta est. Virg., Æn., x., 252: Alma parens Idaea deum. Liv., i., 7: Mater mea, veridica interpres deûm. To these we may add contubernalis, properly an adjective, which cannot be accom modated to verse, and perhaps also exul and princeps, with regard to which the passages of the ancients are not decisive, since the non alia exul in Tacit., Ann., xiv., 63, may be explained as apposition, and Romana prin ceps in the Eleg. ad Liviam, 356, may be taken as an adjective, as in other cases. Obses is well attested as a nomen commune by Plin., Hist. Nat. xxxiv., 13: Obsidibus, quae Porsenae mittebantur. Auspex yet awaits a bet ter authority than praeclaram auspicem in the Declam. (Porcii Latronis) ir Catil., c. 16. It is farther to be observed that antistes and hospes, in the sense of priestess and hostess, are not attested as well as the feminine form antistita, ae, and hospita, ae. [§ 41.] 4. Substantiva mobilia are those substantives in which the root receives different terminations for the masculine and feminine genders. The termination for the feminine is always a or trix, and the latter occurs in those cases in which the masculine ending in tor is derived from transitive verbs, as in victor, victrix; ultor, ultrix; praeceptor, praeceptrix; inventor, inventrix. The feminine is indicated by a when the masculine ends in us or er, or some other termination, e. g., coquus, coqua; puer, puera; or more frequently the diminutive form puella; magister, magistra; leno, lena; caupo, copa; tibicen, tibicina; avus, avia; rex, regina; antistes, antistita. The feminine termination tria is Greek, and is formed from masculines in tes or ta; as, psaltes, psaltria; poëta, poëtria. [§ 42.] 5. Some names of animals have special forms to distinguish the two sexes: agnus, agna; cervus, cerva; columbus, columba; equus, equa; gallus, gallina; juvencus, juvenca; lupus, lupa; leo, lea and leaena; porcus, porca; vitulus, vitula; ursus, ursa. In some cases the words are altogether different, as in taurus, vacca, a bull and cow; aries, ovis, ram and sheep; hoedus, capella; catus, felis. Most other names of animals are common (epicoena); that is, they have only one grammatical gender, which comprises both sexes, e. g., passer, anser, corvus, canis, cancer are masculine; aquila, felis, anas, vulpes are feminine, though they may denote animals of either sex. With regard to those names which may distinguish the genders by terminations, it should be observed that one form (generally the masculine) predominates, such as equus, leo, lupus as masculine, and felis, ovis as feminine. If the sex of the particular animal is to be stated, the word mas or femina is added to the same; as, anas mas, anas femina, femina anguis, musca femina, femina piscis, and lupus or porcus femina, although we have the forms lupa and porca. Instead of mas we may also use masculus or mascula, e. g., vulpes mascula, a male fox; pavo masculus, a peacock. Some of these nouns epicene, however, in which the difference of sex is more frequently noticed, are used as real common nouns, so that they are masculine when the male animal, and feminine when the female animal is particularly specified. Of this kind are bos, canis, elephantus, lepus, vespertilio, mus, which are masculine when the difference of sex is not noticed; but feminine when the female is designated. Thus we generally find, e. g., elephanti prudentissimi habentur, lepores timidi sunt; but, at the same time, canes rabidae, elephantus gravida, lepus fe cunda; and Horace, abandoning the usual gender, takes the liberty of saying (Serm., ii., 8, 87), membra gruis sparsi, and jecur anseris albae. (See Bentley's note.) The following nouns are sometimes masculine and sometimes feminine, without regard to difference of sex: anguis and serpens, a serpent; dama, fallow-deer; talpa, a mole; also sus, a pig; and tigris, tiger; but sus is commonly feminine, while tigris is commonly masculine. Others are of uncertain gender, in as far as they have both a masculine and a feminine form, which, however, are used indiscriminately and without regard to sex. Thus we have the feminine forms colubra lacerta, luscinia, and simia along with the masculines coluber, lacertus, luscinius, and simius, without simia, for instance, having any reference whatever to a female monkey. In like manner, palumbus and palumba (the same as palumbes) are used indiscriminately. [§ 43.] 6. The following are neuter. All indeclinable substantives, as gummi, pascha, sinäpi, and pondo, which is used as an indeclinable noun in the sense of "pound;" the names of the letters of the alphabet, as c triste, o longum, Graecum digamma, &c., and all words and expressions which, without being substantives, are conceived and used as such, or quoted merely as words; e. g., ultimum vale, scire tuum nihil est, vivere ipsum turpe est nobis, tergeminum oopws, hoc ipsum diu mihi molestum est (Cicero), lacrimas hoc mihi paene movet (Ovid), where the words diu and paene are quoted from the sayings of another person, and it is said that the very word diu or paene is pain ful. Note. The names of the letters of the alphabet, however, are sometimes used as feminines, the word littera being understood; e. g., Quintil., i., 4, 11: Sciat etiam Ciceroni placuisse aiio Maiiamque geminata i scribere. The names of the Greek letters in a, as beta, gamma, delta, are used as feminines only by Ausonius, Technop. de Litt. CHAPTER VII. NUMBER, CASE, AND DECLENSION. [§ 44.] THE Latin language distinguishes, in nouns and verbs, the singular and plural (numerus singularis and pluralis) by particular forms; it has also different forms to distinguish six different cases (casus) in the relations |