FAMILIA

ELE Syllabus Entry

(nominative singular,plural)
amita filia infans, infantes pater, patres
avia filius mater, matres patruus
avunculus frater, fratres matertera soror
avus

SECTION CONTENTS

Family Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Salve Mater, Salve Pater (song) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Family Member Song . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Familia Derivatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Answer Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

GRAPHICS CD CONTENTS

Salve Mater, Salve Pater Overhead

Family Member Song Overhead

Copyright 2004 American Classical League

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 FAMILIA

Family Members

avus avia avus avia

pater mater

filius / frater filia / soror

infans

FEMALE MALE

avia - grandmother avus - grandfather

mater - mother pater - father
soror - sister frater - brother
filia - daughter filius - son
amita - aunt (father’s side) patruus - uncle (father’s side)
matertera - aunt (mother’s side) avunculus - uncle (mother’s side)

Familia Activity

Make a Familia poster or booklet for youself. Find pictures in a magazine that look somewhat like
your family members or draw pictures of all the members of your family. Include the family
members listed above and label them. For yourself, write your Latin name under your picture and
indicate whether you are a FILIA or a FILIUS.

Copyright 2004 American Classical League

63 May be reproduced for classroom use
 FAMILIA

Salve, Mater /Pater

(to the tune of “Camp Grenada”)

Salve, mater
Salve, mater
Filia sum (Filius sum)
Et te amo
Semper, semper
Te amabo
Mater...mater...mater...mater...mater...MOM

Salve, pater
Salve, pater
Filia sum (Filius sum)
Et te amo
Semper, semper
Te amabo
Pater...pater...pater...pater...pater...DAD

Family Member Song

(to the tune of Rock-a-bye Baby”)

Avunculus
Matertera
Avia
Avus
Filia
Filius
Frater
Soror
Infans
Mater
Pater
Familia

Copyright 2004 American Classical League

64 May be reproduced for classroom use
 FAMILIA

Familia Derivatives
Latin is the basis of the Romance languages: French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, and Spanish.
Therefore, many words, especially the names of family members, in these languages are
recognizable to people who know Latin.

FRENCH ITALIAN LATIN PORTUGUESE ROMANIAN SPANISH

père fratello soror fillia frate hermano

fille madre filius irmao fiu hija
frère figlio pater mae sora madre
mère sorella frater fillio mama padre
soeur padre filia pai fiica
mater

Using your knowledge and the word bank above, fill in the missing family members on the chart.

ENGLISH FRENCH ITALIAN LATIN PORTUG. ROMAN. SPANISH

mother

father tata

daughter figlia

son fils hijo

sister irma hermana

brother

Derivatives based on Latin family member names are plentiful in English also. Using context clues,
determine the correct derivative from the word bank below to complete each sentence.

1. Always a devoted daughter, Julia performed her ____________________ duties with care.

2. Marcus wanted to _______________________ with his soccer teammates; they seemed like
brothers to him.

3. Since she is my mother’s sister, Marcia is my _______________________ aunt.

4. The __________________________ of the clan was the father of five sons.

5. All the members of the campus _____________________ were bound together like sisters.

patriarch sorority filial maternal fraternize

Copyright 2004 American Classical League

65 May be reproduced for classroom use
 FAMILIA

FAMILIA ANSWER KEYS

p. 65 Derivatives

ENGLISH FRENCH ITALIAN LATIN PORTUG. ROMAN. SPANISH

mother mère madre mater mae mama madre

father père padre pater pai tata padre

daughter fille figlia filia fillia fiica hija

son fils figlio filius fillio fiu hijo

sister soeur sorella soror irma sora hermana

brother frère fratello frater irmao frate hermano

1. filial
2. fraternize
3. maternal
4. patriarch
5. sorority

Copyright 2004 American Classical League

66 May be reproduced for classroom use