{"id":729,"date":"2016-07-29T21:03:06","date_gmt":"2016-07-30T01:03:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/?post_type=chapter&p=729"},"modified":"2016-11-30T13:38:31","modified_gmt":"2016-11-30T18:38:31","slug":"%c2%a769-the-perfect-participle-as-2nd-declension-neuter-noun","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/chapter\/%c2%a769-the-perfect-participle-as-2nd-declension-neuter-noun\/","title":{"raw":"\u00a769. The Perfect Participle as 2nd Declension Neuter Noun","rendered":"\u00a769. The Perfect Participle as 2nd Declension Neuter Noun"},"content":{"raw":"

When we were discussing 1st and 2nd declension adjectives in \u00a726<\/a>, we saw that the neuter -um<\/b> form of this type could be used in Latin as a noun; just recall the examples medium<\/b>, vacuum<\/b>, and bonum<\/b> (E boon<\/i>). It should not be surprising, therefore, that the perfect participle, a verbal adjective, can also work this way. The most prominent example, from the English point of view, is datum <\/b>(\u201csomething given,\u201d \u201ca given\u201d), from the verb da<\/b>re<\/b>, datus<\/b>. This word is still treated in English as an alien Latin form: singular datum<\/i>, plural data<\/i> (a grammatical rule that makes a good many speakers of English feel uncomfortable or rebellious). A parallel form was the Latin word stratum <\/b>(\u201csomething spread out\u201d), from sternere<\/b>, stratus<\/b>, a verb seen in \u00a711<\/a> as the origin of our word street<\/i>. In English, stratum<\/i>, strata<\/i> (\u201clayer\u201d) should operate exactly like datum<\/i>, data<\/i>\u2014and we mustn\u2019t let ourselves be confused by stratus<\/i> clouds and strata<\/i> title.<\/p>\r\n

It is rare to find English words like datum<\/i> and stratum<\/i>, which have kept their original Latin form. More commonly, words of this type have been anglicized in one of the standard ways we learned in \u00a714<\/a>. From the deponent verb fari,<\/b> fatus<\/b> (\u201cspeak,\u201d \u201cutter\u201d), Latin derived the neuter noun fatum<\/b> (\u201csomething uttered,\u201d \u201ca divine edict\u201d)\u2014our English word fate<\/i>. Edict<\/i> itself is from edictum<\/b>, \u201csomething spoken out\u201d (< edicere<\/b>, edictus<\/b>). From tentus<\/b>, the alternative perfect participle of tendere<\/b>, came the noun concept t<\/b>entum<\/b> (\u201ca thing stretched\u201d), English tent<\/i>. From the familiar verb facere<\/b>, factus<\/b> (\u201cmake,\u201d \u201cdo\u201d) came factum<\/b> (\u201ca thing done\u201d), English fact<\/i>. And the other common verb that meant \u201cdo\u201d\u2014agere<\/b>, actus<\/b>\u2014produced a Latin neuter noun actum<\/b>, another \u201cthing done,\u201d: an act<\/i>. (How would you define the contrast in modern English between a fact<\/i> and an act<\/i>?) The \u201cthings done\u201d by Roman legislators were written down and circulated as acta<\/b> diurna<\/b>, \u201cDaily Deeds,\u201d the original newspaper of the western world.[footnote] The title of this ancient Hansard combines acta<\/strong> with diurna<\/strong>, an adjective from the noun dies<\/strong> (\u201cday\u201d). Diurnus<\/strong> is the origin of the French derivative jour<\/em> and the Italian giorno<\/em>; its longer variant, diurnalis<\/strong>, is the source of French journal<\/em> and Italian giornale<\/em>.[\/footnote]<\/p>","rendered":"

When we were discussing 1st and 2nd declension adjectives in \u00a726<\/a>, we saw that the neuter –um<\/b> form of this type could be used in Latin as a noun; just recall the examples medium<\/b>, vacuum<\/b>, and bonum<\/b> (E boon<\/i>). It should not be surprising, therefore, that the perfect participle, a verbal adjective, can also work this way. The most prominent example, from the English point of view, is datum <\/b>(\u201csomething given,\u201d \u201ca given\u201d), from the verb da<\/b>re<\/b>, datus<\/b>. This word is still treated in English as an alien Latin form: singular datum<\/i>, plural data<\/i> (a grammatical rule that makes a good many speakers of English feel uncomfortable or rebellious). A parallel form was the Latin word stratum <\/b>(\u201csomething spread out\u201d), from sternere<\/b>, stratus<\/b>, a verb seen in \u00a711<\/a> as the origin of our word street<\/i>. In English, stratum<\/i>, strata<\/i> (\u201clayer\u201d) should operate exactly like datum<\/i>, data<\/i>\u2014and we mustn\u2019t let ourselves be confused by stratus<\/i> clouds and strata<\/i> title.<\/p>\n

It is rare to find English words like datum<\/i> and stratum<\/i>, which have kept their original Latin form. More commonly, words of this type have been anglicized in one of the standard ways we learned in \u00a714<\/a>. From the deponent verb fari,<\/b> fatus<\/b> (\u201cspeak,\u201d \u201cutter\u201d), Latin derived the neuter noun fatum<\/b> (\u201csomething uttered,\u201d \u201ca divine edict\u201d)\u2014our English word fate<\/i>. Edict<\/i> itself is from edictum<\/b>, \u201csomething spoken out\u201d (< edicere<\/b>, edictus<\/b>). From tentus<\/b>, the alternative perfect participle of tendere<\/b>, came the noun concept t<\/b>entum<\/b> (\u201ca thing stretched\u201d), English tent<\/i>. From the familiar verb facere<\/b>, factus<\/b> (\u201cmake,\u201d \u201cdo\u201d) came factum<\/b> (\u201ca thing done\u201d), English fact<\/i>. And the other common verb that meant \u201cdo\u201d\u2014agere<\/b>, actus<\/b>\u2014produced a Latin neuter noun actum<\/b>, another \u201cthing done,\u201d: an act<\/i>. (How would you define the contrast in modern English between a fact<\/i> and an act<\/i>?) The \u201cthings done\u201d by Roman legislators were written down and circulated as acta<\/b> diurna<\/b>, \u201cDaily Deeds,\u201d the original newspaper of the western world.[1]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

  1. The title of this ancient Hansard combines acta<\/strong> with diurna<\/strong>, an adjective from the noun dies<\/strong> (\u201cday\u201d). Diurnus<\/strong> is the origin of the French derivative jour<\/em> and the Italian giorno<\/em>; its longer variant, diurnalis<\/strong>, is the source of French journal<\/em> and Italian giornale<\/em>. ↵<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":20,"menu_order":2,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"Chapter 10: Turning Latin Verbs into Latin Nouns","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[52],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-729","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","chapter-type-numberless"],"part":586,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/729","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":4,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1890,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/729\/revisions\/1890"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/586"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/729\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=729"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=729"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/greeklatinroots\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}