Syntactical Flexibility in Latin:
|
| Subject
First:
Subject / Dir. obj. / Ind. obj. / Verb pueri rosas puellis dant Subject / Dir. obj. / Verb / Ind. obj. pueri rosas dant puellis Subject / Ind. obj. / Dir. obj. / Verb pueri puellis rosas dant Subject / Ind. obj. / Verb / Dir. obj. pueri puellis dant rosas Subject / Verb / Ind. obj. / Dir. obj. pueri dant puellis rosas Subject / Verb / Dir. obj. / Ind. obj. pueri dant rosas puellis |
Direct
Object First:
Dir. obj. / Subject / Verb / Ind. obj. rosas pueri dant puellis Dir. obj. / Subject / Ind. obj. / Verb rosas pueri puellis dant Dir. obj. / Ind. obj. / Subject / Verb rosas puellis pueri dant Dir. obj. / Ind. obj. / Verb / Subject rosas puellis dant pueri Dir. obj. / Verb / Subject / Ind. obj. rosas dant pueri puellis Dir. obj. / Verb / Ind. obj. / Subject rosas dant puellis pueri |
| Indirect
Object First:
Ind. obj. / Subject / Verb / Dir. obj. puellis pueri dant rosas Ind. obj. / Subject / Dir. obj. / Verb puellis pueri rosas dant Ind. obj. / Dir. obj. / Subject / Verb puellis rosas pueri dant Ind. obj. / Dir. obj. / Verb / Subject puellis rosas dant pueri Ind. obj. / Verb / Subject / Dir. obj. puellis dant pueri rosas Ind. obj. / Verb / Dir. obj. / Subject puellis dant rosas pueri |
Verb
First:
Verb / Subject / Ind. obj. / Dir. obj. dant pueri puellis rosas Verb / Subject / Dir. obj. / Ind. obj. dant pueri rosas puellis Verb / Dir. obj. / Subject / Ind. obj. dant rosas pueri puellis Verb / Dir. obj. / Ind. obj. / Subject dant rosas puellis pueri Verb / Ind. obj. / Subject / Dir. obj. dant puellis pueri rosas Verb / Ind. obj. / Dir. obj. / Subject dant puellis rosas pueri |
All the sentences above mean the same thing:
"The boys are giving roses to the girls"
or
"The boys are giving the girls roses."
But the Latin words are ordered with far more flexibility than they
would be in English, which generally limits itself to just these two common
patterns for expressing this thought.
Learning to read Latin easily means becoming able to grasp the meanings in such a wide range of possible word order. Extensive practice with the micro-structures will be beneficial.
Constitutive Phrases
Notice that these 24 four-word sentences, break down into just 12 two-word
phrases. Learn to perceive immediately the meaning that is involved in
each of these shorter phrases.
| dant puellis
dant pueri dant rosas puellis dant puellis pueri puellis rosas pueri dant pueri puellis pueri rosas rosas dant rosas puellis rosas pueri |
