TC Index: Noun Mottoes - Ablative Case

Ablative case. In the previous Noun Mottoes exercise, you learned how to create mottoes with one, two or three nouns in the nominative case. In this exercise, you will create mottoes with nouns in the ablative case. This is probably the most common form for noun mottoes! The ablative case expresses HOW something happens, the MEANS by which something is accomplished - which is perfect for mottoes! Here's an example

FIDĒ

~

(BY MEANS OF) FAITH

Here's an example of two nouns in the ablative case joined by et:

CORDE ET MANŪ

~

(BY MEANS OF) HEART AND HAND

Here's an example of three nouns in the ablative case:

FIDĒ, LABŌRE, VIRTŪTE

~

(BY MEANS OF) FAITH, WORK (AND) COURAGE

Now, in order to create mottoes in the ablative case, you'll need the ablative forms of the nouns. For the meanings and connotations of these words, refer to the Noun Motto Exercise. What you will find here are the words arranged to their noun types, which will help you see the patterns in the formation of the ablative case:

Nouns - Declension 1: For these nouns, the ablative case is indicated by a long ā added to the stem of the noun. Here is a list of those nouns:

amīcitia - amīcitiā | anima  - animā | audācia - audāciā | concordia - concordiā | clementia - clementiā | cōpia - cōpiā | cūra - cūrā | fortūna - fortūnā | glōria - glōriā | iustitia - iustitiā | patria - atriā | Sapientia - Sapientiā |  Terra - Terrā | Victōria - Victōriā

Nouns - Declension 2: For these nouns, the ablative case is indicated by a long ō added to the stem of the noun. Here is a list of those nouns:

Animus - Animō | Auxilium - Auxiliō | Deus - Deō | Fātum - Fātō | Meritum - Meritō

Nouns - Declension 3: For these nouns, the ablative case is indicated by a short e added to the stem of the noun. The trick is that you cannot tell the actual stem of the noun from looking at the nominative case. Instead, you need to use the dictionary to help you find the stem of the noun, and then you add the ending. Here is a list of those nouns:

amor - amōre | ars - arte | cor - corde | crux - cruce | fortitūdo - fortitūdine | honor - honōre | labor - labōre | laus - laude | mēns - mente | nūmen - nūmine | pax - pāce | quies - quiēte | rōbur - rōbore | salūs - salūte | virtūs - virtūte

Sometimes the third declension noun is formed with a suffix you can recognize, like all these nouns ending in -tas:

cāritas - cāritāte | celeritas - celeritāte | fidēlitas - fidēlitāte | honestas - honestāte | lībertas - lībertāte | sēcūritas - sēcūritāte | pietas - pietāte | vēritas - vēritāte | voluptas - voluptāte

Nouns - Declension 4: For these nouns, the ablative case is indicated by a long ū added to the stem of the noun. These nouns are not very common, but there is one commonly found in mottos:

manus - manū

Nouns - Declension 5: For these nouns, the ablative case is indicated by a long ē added to the stem of the noun. These nouns are not very common, but there is one commonly found in mottos:

fides - fidē | spes - spē

There are actually very few irregular nouns in Latin, but one of the nouns you saw in the last exercise does have an irregular form in the ablative case:

vīs - vī

Exercise: Part One. Just to get a sense of some of the different combinations which other people have used in creating their mottoes, here are some for you to look at - these are actual family mottoes that you can find in books of family heraldry. All the words used in the mottoes listed below are covered in the vocabulary you have seen so far. See which ones appeal bo you because of their meaning, and also see which ones appeal to you because of the way they sound - make sure you read them OUT LOUD to know what they sound like. If you are curious, here are the ones I picked out. :-)

• Animō et fātō.
• Animō et fidē.
• Arte et animō.
• Audāciā.
• Clementiā et animō.
• Corde et manū.
• Deō et labōre.
• Fidē, labōre, virtūte.
• Fidē et amōre.
• Fidē et clementiā.
• Fidē et fortitūdine.
• Fidē et spē.
• Fidē et virtūte.
• Fidēlitāte.
• Fortitūdine.
• Fortitūdine et fidēlitāte.
• Fortitūdine et labōre.
• Fortūnā et labōre.
• Honōre et virtūte.
• Iustitiā.
• Labōre.
• Labōre et honōre.
• Manū et corde.
• Mente et manū.
• Meritō.
• Rōbore et sapientiā.
• Spē et fortūnā.
• Spē et labōre.
• Vēritāte et iustitiā.
• Vī et animō.
• Vī et arte.
• Vī et virtūte.
• Virtūte.
• Virtūte et fidēlitāte.
• Virtūte et fortūnā.
• Virtūte et honōre.
• Virtūte et labōre.
• Virtūte et nūmine.
• Virtūte et rōbore.
• Virtūte et sapientiā.
• Virtūte et vēritāte.

   

Exercise: Part Two. Okay: now go back to the mottoes you wrote for the last exercise and turn them into ablative mottoes. See how they look, see how they sound. Which version do you like best - the nominative form, or the ablative form? Both the nominative case and the ablative case can be used to create mottoes. Decide which form of the motto you like best! In my case, I ended up preferring the nominative version to the ablative version, simply because of the sound.