Despite its fancy label, the denominative verb is among the easiest and most predictable forms in the Latin language. From the English point of view, it is also one of the most useful. In this short chapter, you will discover the key to hundreds of English words\u2014words that might otherwise be somewhat obscure, if not totally mystifying.<\/p>\r\n
A DENOMINATIVE VERB is, quite logically, a verb that is derived from a noun (L nomen<\/b>, nominis<\/b>). In its etymology, denominative<\/i> <\/b>(de-nomin-are, de-nomin-atus<\/b>) means \u201ctaken from a noun\u201d; and the word is a perfect example of the principle that it describes. At the heart of every Latin denominative verb should lie a NOUN BASE, upon which the verb has been constructed. Thus radi-are<\/b>, radi-atus<\/b> (E radiate<\/i>) is clearly formed on the base of radi-us<\/b>, <\/b>\u201crod,\u201d \u201cspoke,\u201d etc. This is in contrast to standard verbs, where the word root expresses an action: curr-<\/b>, vid-<\/b>, ven-<\/b> (\u201crun,\u201d \u201csee,\u201d \u201ccome\u201d).<\/p>\r\n
To the ancient Roman grammarians, the class of nouns (nomina<\/b>) included both nouns<\/i> and adjectives<\/i>, in our modern terminology.[footnote] What we refer to today as a \u201cnoun\u201d or \u201cpronoun\u201d was a nomen substantivum<\/strong>; an \u201cadjective,\u201d a nomen adjectivum<\/strong>.[\/footnote] That historical detail is of no great importance, but it can explain why the denominative label is applied also to verbs that are formed from adjective bases. They are a far less numerous group, but they include verbs like medi-are<\/b>, medi-atus<\/b> (E mediate<\/i>), from the adjective medi-us<\/b>, -a<\/b>, -um<\/b>: \u201cto play a middle role.\u201d In this chapter, we\u2019ll focus mainly upon denominatives that have noun bases, in our modern sense of the word.<\/p>","rendered":" Despite its fancy label, the denominative verb is among the easiest and most predictable forms in the Latin language. From the English point of view, it is also one of the most useful. In this short chapter, you will discover the key to hundreds of English words\u2014words that might otherwise be somewhat obscure, if not totally mystifying.<\/p>\n A DENOMINATIVE VERB is, quite logically, a verb that is derived from a noun (L nomen<\/b>, nominis<\/b>). In its etymology, denominative<\/i> <\/b>(de-nomin-are, de-nomin-atus<\/b>) means \u201ctaken from a noun\u201d; and the word is a perfect example of the principle that it describes. At the heart of every Latin denominative verb should lie a NOUN BASE, upon which the verb has been constructed. Thus radi-are<\/b>, radi-atus<\/b> (E radiate<\/i>) is clearly formed on the base of radi-us<\/b>, <\/b>\u201crod,\u201d \u201cspoke,\u201d etc. This is in contrast to standard verbs, where the word root expresses an action: curr-<\/b>, vid-<\/b>, ven-<\/b> (\u201crun,\u201d \u201csee,\u201d \u201ccome\u201d).<\/p>\n To the ancient Roman grammarians, the class of nouns (nomina<\/b>) included both nouns<\/i> and adjectives<\/i>, in our modern terminology.[1]<\/sup><\/a> That historical detail is of no great importance, but it can explain why the denominative label is applied also to verbs that are formed from adjective bases. They are a far less numerous group, but they include verbs like medi-are<\/b>, medi-atus<\/b> (E mediate<\/i>), from the adjective medi-us<\/b>, -a<\/b>, -um<\/b>: \u201cto play a middle role.\u201d In this chapter, we\u2019ll focus mainly upon denominatives that have noun bases, in our modern sense of the word.<\/p>\n