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  • Syntactical Flexibility in Latin: Subject First: Indirect Object First

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    The document discusses the syntactical flexibility of Latin sentences by providing 24 examples of different word orders that can be used to express the meaning "The boys are giving roses to the girls". It notes that Latin allows for a much wider range of possible word orders than English. It breaks down the 24 example sentences into their constituent two-word phrases to illustrate the core syntactical structures. Mastering these basic patterns is important for easily comprehending Latin texts despite variations in word order.

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    latin word order

    Original Title

    g-syntx

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    The document discusses the syntactical flexibility of Latin sentences by providing 24 examples of different word orders that can be used to express the meaning "The boys are giving roses to the girls". It notes that Latin allows for a much wider range of possible word orders than English. It breaks down the 24 example sentences into their constituent two-word phrases to illustrate the core syntactical structures. Mastering these basic patterns is important for easily comprehending Latin texts despite variations in word order.

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    17 views1 page

    Syntactical Flexibility in Latin: Subject First: Indirect Object First

    Uploaded by

    john paul
    The document discusses the syntactical flexibility of Latin sentences by providing 24 examples of different word orders that can be used to express the meaning "The boys are giving roses to the girls". It notes that Latin allows for a much wider range of possible word orders than English. It breaks down the 24 example sentences into their constituent two-word phrases to illustrate the core syntactical structures. Mastering these basic patterns is important for easily comprehending Latin texts despite variations in word order.

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    Syntactical Flexibility in Latin

    Some Basic Patterns for Latin Sentences

    All of the Latin sentences below mean the same thing: "The boys are giving roses to the girls" or "The boys are giving the girls
    roses."

    Subject First: Indirect Object First:

    Subject / Dir. obj. / Ind. obj. / Verb Ind. obj. / Subject / Verb / Dir. obj.
    pueri rosas puellis dant puellis pueri dant rosas

    Subject / Dir. obj. / Verb / Ind. obj. Ind. obj. / Subject / Dir. obj. / Verb
    pueri rosas dant puellis puellis pueri rosas dant

    Subject / Ind. obj. / Dir. obj. / Verb Ind. obj. / Dir. obj. / Subject / Verb
    pueri puellis rosas dant puellis rosas pueri dant

    Subject / Ind. obj. / Verb / Dir. obj. Ind. obj. / Dir. obj. / Verb / Subject
    pueri puellis dant rosas puellis rosas dant pueri

    Subject / Verb / Ind. obj. / Dir. obj. Ind. obj. / Verb / Subject / Dir. obj.
    pueri dant puellis rosas puellis dant pueri rosas

    Subject / Verb / Dir. obj. / Ind. obj. Ind. obj. / Verb / Dir. obj. / Subject
    pueri dant rosas puellis puellis dant rosas pueri

    Direct Object First: Verb First:

    Dir. obj. / Subject / Verb / Ind. obj. Verb / Subject / Ind. obj. / Dir. obj.
    rosas pueri dant puellis dant pueri puellis rosas

    Dir. obj. / Subject / Ind. obj. / Verb Verb / Subject / Dir. obj. / Ind. obj.
    rosas pueri puellis dant dant pueri rosas puellis

    Dir. obj. / Ind. obj. / Subject / Verb Verb / Dir. obj. / Subject / Ind. obj.
    rosas puellis pueri dant dant rosas pueri puellis

    Dir. obj. / Ind. obj. / Verb / Subject Verb / Dir. obj. / Ind. obj. / Subject
    rosas puellis dant pueri dant rosas puellis pueri

    Dir. obj. / Verb / Subject / Ind. obj. Verb / Ind. obj. / Subject / Dir. obj.
    rosas dant pueri puellis dant puellis pueri rosas

    Dir. obj. / Verb / Ind. obj. / Subject Verb / Ind. obj. / Dir. obj. / Subject
    rosas dant puellis pueri dant puellis rosas pueri

    Notice how the Latin words can be ordered with far more flexibility than English words would. English generally limits itself
    to just the two common patterns given above. Learning to read Latin easily means becoming able to grasp the meanings in
    such a wide range of possible word order. Extensive practice with the micro-structures will be beneficial.

    Constitutive Phrases: Notice that these 24 four-word sentences, break down into just 12 two-word phrases.

    dant puellis / dant pueri / dant rosas pueri dant / pueri puellis / pueri rosas
    puellis dant / puellis pueri / puellis rosas rosas dant / rosas puellis / rosas pueri
    Learn to perceive immediately the meaning that is carried by each of these shorter phrases.

    Adapted from http://www.slu.edu/colleges/AS/languages/classical/latin/tchmat/grammar/g-syntfl.html . September 8, 2005

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