Lcii21

[jonathanpaden]

According to the teacher’s manual for LCII Lesson 20, the 3rd decl M/F I-stem nouns have the endings:

- es
is ium
i ibus
em es
e ibus

If I understand correctly, this only affects the genitive plural. The manual also notes that I-stems can be Neuter.

In Lesson 21, the teacher’s manual notes that “mare” is an I-stem with “marium” as its genitive plural. It gives the 3rd decl Neuter example as:

flumen flumin-a
flumin-is flumin-um
flumin-i flummin-ibus
flumen flumin-a
flumin-e flumin-ibus

The quiz for Lesson 21 asks the student to decline “mare,” but the answer key yields:

mare mar_i_a
maris marium
mari maribus
mare mar_i_a
mar_i_ maribus

Whence come the I’s in the abl sg, nom pl, and acc pl? Is this a mistake in the key, is it correct but not explained in the manual, or have I just missed the boat altogether?

Thanks for any enlightenment,
Jonathan


Jonathan Paden
Albuquerque, New Mexico

"Stand like a beaten anvil" - Ignatius, bishop and martyr

[Maria]

Jonathan,

mare mar_i_a
maris marium
mari maribus
mare mar_i_a
mar_i_ maribus

Whence come the I’s in the abl sg, nom pl, and acc pl? Is this a mistake in the key, is it correct but not explained in the manual, or have I just missed the boat altogether?

The declension given of mare is correct. I don't have the teacher's manual and so I can't say for sure whether or not this was taught, but I suspect it wasn't.

Maria

[jonathanpaden]

Thanks, Maria. One further question, is the given declension of "mare" typical of 3rd decl neut I-stems?

Thanks again, Jonathan

[Maria]

Yes, it is the same as for all neuter nouns of the third declension whose nominative singular ends in -e, -al, or -ar (commonly called neuter i-stems).

Maria

[jonathanpaden]

Once again, thanks. Jonathan