In the thirty-second class of the Latin from Scratch course, we’ll study the morphosyntax of the demonstratives. We include six of them, although not all of them are pure demonstratives. However, they’ve always been studied together due to their similar features.
Contents
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General morphosyntax
Originally they had their own declension patterns, but eventually they kind of merge with the noun/adjective declension patterns, so they are quite similar (especially in the plural).
However, there are still some conservative features specific to pronouns: in the singular for all three genders we have the genitive ‑ius and the dative ‑i.
All this said, the declension of these pronouns looks quite similar to 2-1-2 adjectives, but we still have to notice and learn the differences.
Depending on their grammatical meaning, the so-called demonstrative pronouns fall into one of these two groups (although they are often mixed):
- deictic: they place a person or thing in a place or a time (i.e. English this, that)
- phoric: they refer to a person or thing already mentioned (anaphoric) or which will be mentioned (cataphoric)
From another perspective, all of them can function as a pure pronoun or as adjectives.
Vidi hunc.
I saw this one.
Vidi hunc puerum.
I saw this boy.
Deictic pronouns/adjectives
In English and in many other languages the deictic pronouns are distributed in two levels: what is close to the speaker (this) and everything else (that). However, Latin establishes three levels (like for example Spanish): close to the speaker (hic), close to the listener (iste) and everything else (ille).
Of course, the most problematic pronoun will be iste, which doesn’t have a correspondance in English. Depending on the context, sometimes it will be translated as this or as that.
Close to the speaker
Masculine sing. | Feminine sing. | Neuter sing. | Masculine plural | Feminine plural | Neuter plural | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
hĭc | haec | hŏc | hī | hae | haec | |
hŭnc | hănc | hŏc | hōs | hās | haec | |
hŭiŭs | hŭiŭs | hŭiŭs | hōrŭm | hārŭm | hōrŭm | |
hŭĭc | hŭĭc | hŭĭc | hīs | hīs | hīs | |
hōc | hāc | hōc | hīs | hīs | hīs |
Close to the listener
Masculine sing. | Feminine sing. | Neuter sing. | Masculine plural | Feminine plural | Neuter plural | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ĭstĕ | ĭstă | ĭstŭd | ĭstī | ĭstae | ĭstă | |
ĭstŭm | ĭstăm | ĭstŭd | ĭstōs | ĭstās | ĭstă | |
ĭstīŭs | ĭstīŭs | ĭstīŭs | ĭstōrŭm | ĭstārŭm | ĭstōrŭm | |
ĭstī | ĭstī | ĭstī | ĭstīs | ĭstīs | ĭstīs | |
ĭstō | ĭstā | ĭstō | ĭstīs | ĭstīs | ĭstīs |
In Classical texts, it often has a pejorative meaning:
iste homo
that (infamous) man
Far from both
Masculine sing. | Feminine sing. | Neuter sing. | Masculine plural | Feminine plural | Neuter plural | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ĭllĕ | ĭllă | ĭllŭd | ĭllī | ĭllae | ĭllă | |
ĭllum | ĭllăm | ĭllŭd | ĭllōs | ĭllās | ĭllă | |
ĭllīŭs | ĭllīŭs | ĭllīŭs | ĭllōrŭm | ĭllārŭm | ĭllōrŭm | |
ĭllī | ĭllī | ĭllī | ĭllīs | ĭllīs | ĭllīs | |
ĭllō | ĭllā | ĭllō | ĭllīs | ĭllīs | ĭllīs |
It often has a value more similar to the 3rd person personal pronoun (cf. Spanish él, ella) or just to the definite article (cf. Spanish el, la).
In some contexts, it might have an emphatic meaning:
ille Scipio
that (famous) Scipio
Phoric pronouns/adjectives
These are actually a bit more confusing than the deictic pronouns, since there are really no exact equivalents in English (even in Spanish!).
Purely phoric (usually anaphoric)
It refers to someone or something which has already been mentioned (or will be soon, especially in a relative clause).
Masculine sing. | Feminine sing. | Neuter sing. | Masculine plural | Feminine plural | Neuter plural | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ĭs | ĕă | ĭd | ĕī/ĭī/ī | ĕae | ĕă | |
ĕŭm | ĕăm | ĭd | ĕōs | ĕās | ĕă | |
ĕiŭs | ĕiŭs | ĕiŭs | ĕōrŭm | ĕārŭm | ĕōrŭm | |
ĕī | ĕī | ĕī | ĕīs/ĭīs/īs | ĕīs/ĭīs/īs | ĕīs/ĭīs/īs | |
ĕō | ĕā | ĕō | ĕīs/ĭīs/īs | ĕīs/ĭīs/īs | ĕīs/ĭīs/īs |
When more than one form is given, they mean exactly the same and there’s absolutely no difference between them.
It can be used just as a 3rd person pronoun.
Identity
Something has already been mentioned and a point is being made that we are referring to that something, not any other thing.
Masculine sing. | Feminine sing. | Neuter sing. | Masculine plural | Feminine plural | Neuter plural | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
īdĕm | ĕădĕm | ĭdĕm | ĕīdĕm ĭīdĕm īdĕm | ĕaedĕm | ĕădĕm | |
ĕŭndĕm ĕŭmdĕm | ĕăndĕm ĕămdĕm | ĭdĕm | ĕōsdĕm | ĕāsdĕm | ĕădĕm | |
ēiŭsdĕm | ēiŭsdĕm | ēiŭsdĕm | ĕōrŭndĕm ĕōrŭmdĕm | ĕārŭndĕm ĕārŭmdĕm | ĕōrŭndĕm ĕōrŭmdĕm | |
ēīdĕm | ēīdĕm | ēīdĕm | ĕīsdĕm ĭīsdĕm īsdĕm | ĕīsdĕm ĭīsdĕm īsdĕm | ĕīsdĕm ĭīsdĕm īsdĕm | |
ĕōdĕm | ĕādĕm | ĕōdĕm | ĕīsdĕm ĭīsdĕm īsdĕm | ĕīsdĕm ĭīsdĕm īsdĕm | ĕīsdĕm ĭīsdĕm īsdĕm |
There’s no difference in meaning between variants.
Emphasis + identity
It is easier to just know that we can usually translate it as the very X, Y himself, etc.
Masculine sing. | Feminine sing. | Neuter sing. | Masculine plural | Feminine plural | Neuter plural | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ĭpse | ĭpsă | ĭpsŭm | ĭpsī | ĭpsae | ĭpsă | |
ĭpsŭm | ĭpsăm | ĭpsŭm | ĭpsōs | ĭpsās | ĭpsă | |
ĭpsīŭs | ĭpsīŭs | ĭpsīŭs | ĭpsōrŭm | ĭpsārŭm | ĭpsōrŭm | |
ĭpsī | ĭpsī | ĭpsī | ĭpsīs | ĭpsīs | ĭpsīs | |
ĭpsō | ĭpsā | ĭpsō | ĭpsīs | ĭpsīs | ĭpsīs |
Do notice that it can refer to any of the three persons:
Ipse Caesar pugnavit.
Caesar himself fought.
Nosce te ipsum.
Know thyself.
Ipsae fecimus.
We ourselves made it.
After learning the demonstrative adjectives/pronouns, let’s practice with some texts!
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