· Become familiar with the Latin third declension nouns.
· Learn how to find the stem of the third declension nouns.
· Learn the endings of the masculine third declension nouns.
· Become familiar with the structure of muscles names.
This lesson is divided into the following sections:
I. Particularities of the third declension.
II. Stem of Latin third declension nouns.
III. Endings of Latin third declension nouns.
IV. Exceptions to the rule of the masculine third declension nouns endings.
V. Latin muscle names.
VI. Exercises.
VII. Vocabulary
I. PARTICULARITIES OF THE THIRD DECLENSION
The third declension includes nouns of all the three genders which have different endingsin Nominative singular and is in Genitive singular.
Parisyllaba and imparisyllaba third declension nouns
The Latin nouns of the 3rd declension can be divided into parisyllaba and imparisyllaba.
The first group includes a few feminine nouns that have equal number of syllables in Nominative singular and Genitive singular, such as:
auris, is f ear
cutis, is f skin
The nouns that have one more syllable in Genitive singular than in Nominative singular are called imparisyllaba, cf. the following examples:
corpus, ŏris n body
caput, ĭtis n head
II. STEM OF LATIN THIRD DECLENSION NOUNS
The stem determination of Latin third declension nouns is of great practical significance because the stem gives the clue to the formation of most of the other forms, for example of plural forms.
The stem of nouns of the 3rd declension is determined by the Genitive singular form.
The stem of nouns of the 3rd declension is obtained from the Genitive singular form by dropping the ending is.
E.g.:
forāmen, ĭnis n →
foramĭn-is
opening
caput, ĭtis n →
capĭt-is
head
parĭes, ētis m →
pariēt-is
wall
III. ENDINGS OF LATIN THIRD DECLENSION NOUNS
Most nouns ending by os, -or, -o, -er, -ex, -es (imparisyllaba) are masculine, cf.:
Endings
Examples
Nominative
Genitive (with a part of the stem)
1.
- os
- ōris
flos, floris m -flower
2.
- or
- ōris
constrictor, constrictōris m constrictor
3.
- o
- ōnis
- ĭnis
pulmo, pulmōnis m -lung
homo, homĭnis m man
4.
- er
- ris
- ēris
venter, ventris m belly of a muscle
trochanter, trochantēris m -trochanter
5.
- ex
- ĭcis
cortex, cortĭcis m -cortex
6.
- es
- ědis
- ētis
pes, pedis m -foot
parĭes, pariētis m -wall
IV. Exceptions to the rule of the masculine third declension nouns ENDINGS
The following nouns having masculine endings are feminine:
a. arbor, ōris f tree (arbor vitae cerebelli medullary body of vermis)
b. gaster, tris f (Greek) - stomach;
c. mater, tris f cerebral coat
· pia mater - pia mater of brain
· dura mater - dura mater of brain
Attention!!! - In these terms the noun «mater» follows an adjective.
The following nouns having masculine endings are neuter: