SECOND DECLENSION (o-STEMS)
[*] 45.
The Stem of nouns of the Second Declension ends in
ŏ-: as,
viro- (stem
of
vir,
man),
servo- (stem of
servus
or
servos,
slave),
bello- (stem of
bellum,
war).
[*] a.
The Nominative is formed from the stem by adding
s in masculines
and feminines, and
m in neuters, the vowel
ŏ being weakened to
ŭ (see
§§ 6.
a, 46. N.1).
[*] b.
In most nouns whose stem ends in
rŏ-
the
s is not added in the Nominative, but
o is
lost, and
e intrudes before
r,
1 if not already present: as,
ager
, stem
agrŏ-
2; cf.
puer
, stem
puero-.
Exceptions:
erus
,
hesperus,
iūniperus
,
mōrus
,
numerus
,
taurus
,
umerus
,
uterus,
vīrus, and many
Greek nouns.
[*] c.
The stem-vowel
ŏ has a variant form
ĕ,
3 which is preserved in
the Latin vocative singular of nouns in
-us:
as,
servĕ, vocative of
servus,
slave.
[*] Note.--In composition this
ĕ appears as ĭ.
Thus,—belli-ger,
warlike (from bell- o/e-, stem of
bellum, war).
[*] 46.
Nouns of the Second Declension in
-us (
-os) and
-um (
-om) are thus declined:—
[*] Note 1.--The earlier forms for
nominative and accusative were -os, -om, and these were always retained after
u and v up to the end of the Republic. The
terminations s and m are sometimes omitted in
inscriptions: as,
Cornēlio
for
Cornēlios
, Cornēliom.
[*] Note 2.--Stems in quo-, like equo-, change
qu to c before u. Thus,
ecus
(earlier
equos
),
equī
,
equō
,
ecum
(earlier
equom
),
eque
. Modern editions disregard this principle.
[*] 47.
Nouns of the Second Declension in
-er and
-ir are thus declined:—
[*] Note.--When e belongs
to the stem, as in
puer
, it is retained throughout; other, wise it appears only in the
nominative and vocative singular, as in
ager
.
Gender in the Second Declension
[*] 48.
Nouns ending in
-us (
-os),
-er,
-ir, are Masculine; those ending in
-um (
-on) are Neuter.
Exceptions: Names of countries and towns in
-us (
-os）
are Feminine: as,
Aegyptus
,
Corinthus
. Also many names of plants and gems, with the following:
alvus,
belly;
carbasus,
linen (pl.
carbasa,
sails, N.);
colus,
distaff;
humus,
ground:
vannus,
winnowing-shovel.
Many Greek nouns retain their original gender:
as,
arctus (F.),
the Polar Bear;
methodus (F.),
method.
[*] a.
The following in
-us are Neuter; their
accusative (as with all neuters) is the same as the nominative:
pelagus,
sea;
vīrus,
poison;
vulgus (rarely M.),
the
crowd. They are not found in the plural, except
pelagus
, which has a rare nominative and accusative plural
pelagē
.
[*] Note.--The
nominative plural neuter cētē, sea monsters,
occurs; the nominative singular
cētus
occurs in Vitruvius.
Case-Forms in the Second Declension
[*] 49.
a.
The Locative form of this declension ends for the singular in
-ī: as,
humī,
on the ground;
Corinthī,
at
Corinth; for the plural, in
-īs: as,
Philippīs,
at Philippi (cf. p. 34,
footnote).
[*] b.
The genitive of nouns in
-ius or
-ium ended, until the Augustan Age, in a single
-ī: as,
fīlī,
of a son;
Pompêī,
of
Pompey (
Pompêius
); but the accent of the nominative is retained: as,
ingĕ'nī,
of genius.
4
[*] c.
Proper names in
-ius have
-ī in the vocative, retaining the accent of the
nominative: as,
Vergĭ'lī. So also,
fīlius,
son;
genius,
divine guardian: as,
audī
,
mī
fīlī,
hear,
my
son.
Adjectives in
-ĭus form the
vocative in
-ie, and some of these are
occasionally used as nouns: as,
Lacedaemonie,
O Spartan.
[*] Note.--Greek names in
-īus have the vocative -īe: as,
Lyrcīus
, vocative
Lyrcīe
.
[*] d.
The genitive plural often has
-um or (after
v
)
-om (cf. § 6.
a) instead of
-ōrum, especially in the
poets: as,
deum
,
superum
,
dīvom,
of the
gods;
virum,
of men. Also in
compounds of
vir
, and in many words of money, measure, and weight: as,
Sēvirum,
of the
Seviri;
nummum,
of coins;
iūgerum,
of acres.
[*] e.
The original ending of the ablative singular (
-ōd) is sometimes found in early Latin: as,
Gnaivōd (later,
Gnaeō
),
Cneius.
[*] f.
Proper names in
-âius,
-êius,
-ôius (as,
Aurunculêius,
Bôī), are declined
like
Pompêius
.
[*] g.
Deus (M.),
god, is thus
declined:—
[*] Note.--The vocative singular of
deus
does not occur in classic Latin, but is said to have been
dee; deus
(like the nominative) occurs in the Vulgate. For the genitive
plural,
dīvum
or
dīvom
(from dīvus,
divine) is often used.
[*] 50.
The following stems in
ero-, in which
e belongs to the stem, retain the
e
throughout and are declined like
puer
(§ 47):—
Also, the adjective
līber,
free, of which
līberī,
children, is
the plural (§ 111.
a), and compounds in
-fer and
-ger (stem
fero-,
gero-):
as,
lūcifer,
morning star;
armiger,
squire.
[*] a.
An old nominative
socerus occurs. So vocative
puere,
boy, as if from
†
puerus (regularly
puer
).
[*] b.
Vir,
man, has genitive
virī; the
adjective
satur,
sated, has
saturī; vesper,
evening, has ablative
vespere
(locative
vesperī,
in the evening).
[*] c.
Mulciber,
Vulcan, has
-berī and
-brī in the genitive. The barbaric names
Hibēr and
Celtibēr
retain
ē throughout.
[*] 51.
The following, not having
e in the stem, insert it in the
nominative singular and are declined like
ager
(§ 47):—
|
ager, field, stem
agro-; |
coluber, snake;
|
magister, master;
|
|
aper, boar;
|
conger, sea eel;
|
minister, servant;
|
|
arbiter, judge;
|
culter, knife;
|
oleaster, wild
olive;
|
|
auster, south wind;
|
faber, smith;
|
onager (-grus), wild ass;
|
|
cancer, crab;
|
fiber, beaver;
|
scomber (-brus), mackerel.
|
|
caper, goat;
|
liber, book;
|
Greek Nouns of the Second Declension
[*] 52.
Greek nouns of the Second Declension end in
-os,
-ōs, masculine or
feminine, and in
-on neuter.
They are mostly proper names and are declined as follows in the Singular,
the Plural, when found, being regular:—
[*] a.
Many names in
-ēs belonging to the
third declension have also a genitive in
-ī: as,
Thūcȳdidēs
,
Thūcȳdidī
(compare § 44.
b).
[*] b.
Several names in
-er have also a nominative
in
-us: as,
Teucer or
Teucrus
. The name
Panthūs
has the vocative
Panthū (§
81. 3).
[*] c.
The genitive plural of certain titles of books takes the Greek
termination
-ōn: as,
Geōrgicōn,
of the
Georgics.
[*] d.
The termination
-oe (for Greek -
οι) is sometimes found in the nominative
plural: as,
Adelphoe,
the
Adelphi (a play of Terence).
[*] e.
Greek names in
-eus (like
Orpheus
) have forms of the second and third declensions (see
§ 82).
