{"id":597,"date":"2016-07-22T14:57:22","date_gmt":"2016-07-22T18:57:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/?post_type=chapter&p=597"},"modified":"2017-06-15T19:05:02","modified_gmt":"2017-06-15T23:05:02","slug":"20-latin-nouns-fourth-declension","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/chapter\/20-latin-nouns-fourth-declension\/","title":{"raw":"\u00a720. Latin Nouns of the Fourth Declension","rendered":"\u00a720. Latin Nouns of the Fourth Declension"},"content":{"raw":"

The 4th declension consists of a relatively small but fairly important group of nouns, many of which were derived originally from Latin verbs. You may be perplexed to learn that they all have the ending -us<\/b>; superficially, therefore, they can be confused with 2nd declension nouns like focus<\/b> and animus<\/b> or with 3rd declension neuter nouns like corpus<\/b> and onus<\/b>. However, there is one very useful rule-of-thumb for the 4th declension that will seldom let you down:<\/p>\r\n\r\n

<\/a>IF ANY LATIN -us<\/b> NOUN HAS AN ENGLISH DERIVATIVE WITH A -u-<\/i> BEFORE THE FINAL SYLLABLE, IT IS ALMOST SURE TO BE A 4TH DECLENSION LATIN WORD. To illustrate, if you are confronted with an unfamiliar -us<\/b> noun\u2014say, manus<\/b> (\u201chand\u201d)\u2014and you can think of an English word in -u<\/i><\/strong>a<\/em>l <\/i>like \u201cman<\/i>u<\/b><\/em>al,\u201d <\/i>assume that the word belongs to the 4th declension.<\/div>\r\n

This rule works because the -u<\/b>- vowel clings to the Latin base in forming Latin derivatives; and the Latin spelling is regularly maintained in English. For this reason, we shall say that the BASE<\/b> of manus<\/b> is manu<\/b>-. (Contrast 2nd declension foc-us<\/b>, E foc-al<\/i>; 3rd declension corpus<\/b>, corpor-is<\/b>, E. corpor-al<\/i>. )<\/p>\r\n

A few 4th declension nouns appear unchanged in English: status, sinus, census, consensus, hiatus, appar<\/b>atus<\/b>. If you should want to pluralize any of these words in English, and you mean to follow Latin practice, you will not change the word in spelling\u2014the Latin plural of census<\/b> is census<\/b>. It would be correct to say, in English, \u201cone apparatus, two apparatus;\u201d but it would also be acceptable to anglicize and say, \u201ctwo apparatuses.\u201d Whatever you do, don\u2019t say \u201ctwo apparati,\u201d since that is neither Latin nor English.[footnote] Exactly this mistake was made by CBC commentator Brian Williams, who referred to \u201cthe four apparati<\/em> of rhythmic gymnastics,\u201d in an Olympic telecast on August 9, 1984. O tempora, o mores!<\/strong>[\/footnote]<\/p>\r\n

Latin manus<\/b> has no simple noun derivative in English, though it is, of course, the source of French la main<\/i>. As the French gender reveals, the Latin word was feminine, though most 4th declension nouns were MASCULINE. The following table presents a small sampling of these nouns; you will meet quite a few more when we come to examine the Latin verb, since most 4th declension nouns are derived from verbs.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Table 3.3 LATIN FOURTH DECLENSION NOUNS (M.)<\/strong><\/caption>\r\n
gradus<\/b><\/span><\/b><\/td>\r\nstep, grade<\/td>\r\nsinus<\/b><\/td>\r\ncurve, fold<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
manus <\/b>(F.)<\/td>\r\nhand<\/td>\r\nsitus<\/b><\/td>\r\nposition, site<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
ritus<\/b><\/td>\r\nceremony, rite<\/td>\r\nspiritus<\/b><\/td>\r\nbreath, spirit<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n

Our -us<\/b> rule-of-thumb<\/a> works for all the words here. On the analogy of man<\/i>u<\/b><\/em>al<\/i>, just think of English grad<\/i>u<\/b><\/em>al, rit<\/i>u<\/b><\/em>al, sin<\/i>u<\/b><\/em>ous, sit<\/i>u<\/b><\/em>ate<\/i>, and spirit<\/i>u<\/b><\/em>al<\/i>. Therefore, consider these Latin noun bases to be gradu<\/b>-, ritu<\/b>-, sinu<\/b>-, situ<\/b>-, and spiritu<\/b>-.<\/p>\r\n

Though Latin sinus<\/b> could mean any curve or fold, English has limited the meaning of the word to a fold in the facial bone structure. That is an excellent example of the semantic change known as SPECIALIZATION (\u00a715<\/a>). The sine<\/i> in trigonometry is a derivative of the same word. Latin situs<\/b> is the source of English site; <\/i>and if an artifact is still to be found in its original position, it is said to be in situ<\/b> (a pure Latin phrase).<\/p>\r\n ","rendered":"

The 4th declension consists of a relatively small but fairly important group of nouns, many of which were derived originally from Latin verbs. You may be perplexed to learn that they all have the ending -us<\/b>; superficially, therefore, they can be confused with 2nd declension nouns like focus<\/b> and animus<\/b> or with 3rd declension neuter nouns like corpus<\/b> and onus<\/b>. However, there is one very useful rule-of-thumb for the 4th declension that will seldom let you down:<\/p>\n

<\/a>IF ANY LATIN -us<\/b> NOUN HAS AN ENGLISH DERIVATIVE WITH A -u-<\/i> BEFORE THE FINAL SYLLABLE, IT IS ALMOST SURE TO BE A 4TH DECLENSION LATIN WORD. To illustrate, if you are confronted with an unfamiliar –us<\/b> noun\u2014say, manus<\/b> (\u201chand\u201d)\u2014and you can think of an English word in –u<\/i><\/strong>a<\/em>l <\/i>like \u201cman<\/i>u<\/b><\/em>al,\u201d <\/i>assume that the word belongs to the 4th declension.<\/div>\n

This rule works because the –u<\/b>– vowel clings to the Latin base in forming Latin derivatives; and the Latin spelling is regularly maintained in English. For this reason, we shall say that the BASE<\/b> of manus<\/b> is manu<\/b>-. (Contrast 2nd declension foc-us<\/b>, E foc-al<\/i>; 3rd declension corpus<\/b>, corpor-is<\/b>, E. corpor-al<\/i>. )<\/p>\n

A few 4th declension nouns appear unchanged in English: status, sinus, census, consensus, hiatus, appar<\/b>atus<\/b>. If you should want to pluralize any of these words in English, and you mean to follow Latin practice, you will not change the word in spelling\u2014the Latin plural of census<\/b> is census<\/b>. It would be correct to say, in English, \u201cone apparatus, two apparatus;\u201d but it would also be acceptable to anglicize and say, \u201ctwo apparatuses.\u201d Whatever you do, don\u2019t say \u201ctwo apparati,\u201d since that is neither Latin nor English.[1]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

Latin manus<\/b> has no simple noun derivative in English, though it is, of course, the source of French la main<\/i>. As the French gender reveals, the Latin word was feminine, though most 4th declension nouns were MASCULINE. The following table presents a small sampling of these nouns; you will meet quite a few more when we come to examine the Latin verb, since most 4th declension nouns are derived from verbs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Table 3.3 LATIN FOURTH DECLENSION NOUNS (M.)<\/strong><\/caption>\n
gradus<\/b><\/span><\/b><\/td>\nstep, grade<\/td>\nsinus<\/b><\/td>\ncurve, fold<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
manus <\/b>(F.)<\/td>\nhand<\/td>\nsitus<\/b><\/td>\nposition, site<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ritus<\/b><\/td>\nceremony, rite<\/td>\nspiritus<\/b><\/td>\nbreath, spirit<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Our –us<\/b> rule-of-thumb<\/a> works for all the words here. On the analogy of man<\/i>u<\/b><\/em>al<\/i>, just think of English grad<\/i>u<\/b><\/em>al, rit<\/i>u<\/b><\/em>al, sin<\/i>u<\/b><\/em>ous, sit<\/i>u<\/b><\/em>ate<\/i>, and spirit<\/i>u<\/b><\/em>al<\/i>. Therefore, consider these Latin noun bases to be gradu<\/b>-, ritu<\/b>-, sinu<\/b>-, situ<\/b>-, and spiritu<\/b>-.<\/p>\n

Though Latin sinus<\/b> could mean any curve or fold, English has limited the meaning of the word to a fold in the facial bone structure. That is an excellent example of the semantic change known as SPECIALIZATION (\u00a715<\/a>). The sine<\/i> in trigonometry is a derivative of the same word. Latin situs<\/b> is the source of English site; <\/i>and if an artifact is still to be found in its original position, it is said to be in situ<\/b> (a pure Latin phrase).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

  1. Exactly this mistake was made by CBC commentator Brian Williams, who referred to \u201cthe four apparati<\/em> of rhythmic gymnastics,\u201d in an Olympic telecast on August 9, 1984. O tempora, o mores!<\/strong> ↵<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":20,"menu_order":3,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"Chapter 3: The Latin Noun (Declensions 3, 4, 5)","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[52],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-597","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","chapter-type-numberless"],"part":579,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/597\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2072,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/597\/revisions\/2072"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/579"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/597\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=597"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=597"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}