TC Index: Noun Proverbs - Nominative Case

 

Nominative case. As you have learned, the nominative case provides the subject of the sentence. So, for example, you can have a very simple sentence, like this proverb:

 

HOMO BULLA EST.

~

MAN IS A BUBBLE.

 

This simple sentence is a metaphor: the idea is that a person (homo) may look very solid and substantial, but our life is as fleeting as a bubble (bulla), insubstantial, and completely fragile. For example, look at this emblem by Boissard which illustrates this saying: IMAGE.

 

Here is another simple proverb with nominative nouns; this time, the verb est is placed in the middle of the sentence, rather than at the end - the meaning is the same; it's just a question of style:

 

VĪTA EST SOMNIUM.

~

LIFE IS A DREAM.

 

You can be even more concise in Latin, since the verb est is optional; you can safely leave it out of any Latin sentence. So, for example, here is another proverb, this time consisting just of nominative nouns, without any ver

 

SCIENTIA POTENTIA

~

KNOWLEDGE (IS) POWER

 

You have the subject of the verb, "knowledge" (scientia) and there is a predicate, "power" (potentia)  - but the verb est is not expressed; instead, it is implied. It is actually much more common for the verb est to be implied in a sentence, rather than being expressed. Here are some more examples:

 

NOCUMENTUM DOCUMENTUM

~

HARM (IS) A LESSON

 

This little rhyming proverb means that when you suffer some kind of harm (nocumentum), you will learn a lesson (documentum) from your mistake in order to avoid that harm in the future. It's a proverb from the "school of hard knocks," as it were.

 

You can also combine multiple statements, as you can see in this proverb, where two statements are connected by the word et:

 

TERRA CORPUS ET MĒNS IGNIS

~

THE BODY (IS) EARTH AND THE MIND (IS) FIRE

 

The idea here is that while the body (corpus) is made of earth (terra) and is mortal ("ashes to ashes, dust to dust"), the mind (mēns) contains a spark of fire (ignis), something immaterial and in some sense divine.

 

You can even put three statements together, as in this very artful saying:

 

HOMO HUMUS, FĀMA FŪMUS, FĪNIS CINIS

~

MAN (IS) SOIL, REPUTATION (IS) SMOKE, THE END (IS) ASH

 

In this proverb, man's life is compared again to the earth (homo humus), while the reputation we work so hard to build and maintain is nothing but smoke (fāma fūmus) and in the end all that is left is our ashes upon the funeral pyre (fīnis cinis). 

 

As you can see, the sayings are very simple, but they can be quite profound in meaning, with also some very elegant sound play, too!

 

Now see what you can make of the proverbs below, which all consist of nouns in the nominative case. You'll see the vocabulary you need for each proverb.

 

Innocentia ēloquentia.

 

innocentia - harmlessness, innocence

ēloquentia - skillful speech, eloquence 

 

Necessitas magistra.

 

necessitas - need, necessity

magistra - (female) teacher

Note: The noun necessitas is feminine in gender, hence the feminine form magistra (the masculine form is magister).

 

Victrix patientia.

 

victrix - (female) winner, (female) conquerer

patientia - endurance, patience

Note: The noun patientia is feminine in gender, hence the feminine form victrix (the masculine form is victor). 

 

Amīca vēritas.

 

amīca - (female) friend

vēritas - truth

Note: The noun vēritas is feminine in gender, hence the feminine form amīca (the masculine form is amīcus).

 

Iuventus ventus.

 

iuventus - youth

ventus - wind

 

Mars rex.

 

Mars - Mars, the god of war (metaphorically, war itself)

rex - king

 

Forma flōs, fāma flātus.

 

forma - figure, shape, beauty

flōs - blossom, flower

fāma - reputation, gossip, fame

flātus - breath, breeze, puff of wind

 

Mandātum lucerna est, et lex lux.

 

mandātum - commandment (including the commandments of God)

lucerna - lamp, oil-lamp

lex - law

lux - light 

 

Deus est spes.

 

deus - god, God

spes - hope

 

Avārus semper pauper.

 

avārus - a greedy man, miser

semper - always

pauper - a poor man, pauper 

 

Bis puer senex.

 

bis - twice, a second time

puer - boy

senex - old man

 

Ōrātor nōn semper est operātor.

 

ōrātor - speaker, talker

nōn - not

semper - always

operātor - worker, doer

 

Dum vīta est, spes est.

 

dum - while, so long as

vīta - life

spes - hope

 

Spes sōlāmen.

 

spes - hope 

sōlāmen - comfort, consolation 

 

Fūmus, ergo ignis.

 

fūmus - smoke

ergō - therefore

ignis - fire

 

Exercise: Proverbiorum Centuria. You are about to begin the process of building your own Proverbiorum Centuria, your own "Century of Proverbs," which is to say a collection of 100 proverbs of your very own! So, from the proverbs here on this page, pick FIVE of them that you really like, and write a few sentences about each one, explaining what about the proverbs appeals to you. Then, from those five proverbs, pick ONE that is your favorite... and that will be the first proverb in your Centuria! Here are my five favorites, if you are curious. :-)

 

For easy reference, here are all the proverbs discussed on this page:

 

Homo bulla est.

Vīta est somnium.

Scientia potentia.

Nocumentum documentum.

Terra corpus et mēns ignis.

Homo humus, fāma fūmus, fīnis cinis.

Innocentia ēloquentia.

Necessitas magistra.

Victrix patientia.

Amīca vēritas.

Iuventus ventus.

Mars rex.

Forma flōs, fāma flātus.

Mandātum lucerna est, et lex lux.

Deus est spes.

Avārus semper pauper.

Bis puer senex.

Ōrātor nōn semper est operātor.

Dum vīta est, spes est.

Spes sōlāmen.

Fūmus, ergo ignis.