New Latin Grammar - Preface

Oct 22, 2026

Revised Latin grammar providing essential facts of Latin language in a direct and simple manner for secondary school, while also supporting college-level needs in undergraduate courses. The work is presented with a compact structure meeting scholarly standards, covering sounds, accent, quantity, inflections (declensions, conjugations, particles, word formation), and a systematic syntax from sentences to specific rules for nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and verbs, including tenses and subjunctive categories.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages317

Reading Time13 h 19 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction—The Latin language

Part I. Sounds, Accent, Quantity, Etc.

The Alphabet

Classification of Sounds

Syllables, Quantity, Accent

Part II. Inflections

Chapter I.—Declension

Chapter II.—Conjugation

NEW LATIN GRAMMAR BY CHARLES E. BENNETT Goldwin Smith Professor of Latin in Cornell University Quicquidpraecipies, esto brevis, ut cito dicta Percipiant animi dociles teneantque fideles: Omne supervacuum pleno de pectore manat. —HORACE, Ars Poetica. COPYRIGHT, 1895; 1908; 1918 BY CHARLES E. BENNETT PREFACE. The present work is a revision of that published in 1908. No radical alterations have been introduced, although a number of minor changes will be noted. I have added an Introduction on the origin and development of the Latin language, which it is hoped will prove interesting and instructive to the more ambitious pupil. At the end of the book will be found an Index to the Sources of the Illustrative Examples cited in the Syntax. C.E.B. ITHACA, NEW YORK, May 4, 1918 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. The present book is a revision of my Latin Grammar originally published in 1895. Wherever greater accuracy or precision of statement seemed possible, I have endeavored to secure this. The rules for syllable division have been changed and made to conform to the prevailing practice of the Romans themselves. In the Perfect Subjunctive Active, the endings-īs, -īmus, -ītis are now marked long. The theory of vowel length before the suffixes-gnus, -gna, -gnum, and also before j, has been discarded. In the Syntax I have recognized a special category of Ablative of Association, and have abandoned the original doctrine as to the force oftenses in the Prohibitive. Apart from the foregoing, only minor and unessential modifications have been introduced. In its main lines the work remains unchanged. ITHACA, NEW YORK, October 16, 1907. FROM THE PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. The object of this book is to present the essential facts of Latin grammar in a direct and simple manner, and within the smallest compass consistent with scholarly standards. While intended primarily for the secondary school, it has not neglected the needs of the college student, and aims to furnish such grammatical information as is ordinarily required in undergraduate courses. The experience of foreign educators in recent years has tended to restrict the size of schoolgrammars of Latin, and has demanded an incorporation of the main principles of the language in compact manuals of 250 pages. Within the past decade, several grammars of this scope have appeared abroad which have amply met the most exacting demands. The publication in this country of a grammar of similar plan and scope seems fully justified atthe present time, as all recent editions of classic texts summarize in introductions the special idioms of grammar and style peculiar to individual authors. This makes it feasible to dispense with the enumeration of many minutiae of usage which would otherwise demand consideration in a student's grammar. In the chapter on Prosody, I have designedly omitted all special treatment of the lyric metres of Horace and Catullus, as well as of the measures of the comic poets. Our standard editions of these authors all give such thorough consideration to versification that repetition in a separate place seems superfluous. ITHACA, NEW YORK, December 15, 1894. TABLE OF CONTENTS. Introduction—The Latin language PART I. SOUNDS, ACCENT, QUANTITY, ETC. The Alphabet Classification of Sounds Sounds of the Letters Syllables Quantity Accent Vowel Changes Consonant Changes Peculiarities of Orthography PART II. INFLECTIONS. CHAPTER I.—Declension. A. NOUNS. Gender of Nouns Number Cases The Five Declensions First Declension Second Declension Third Declension Fourth Declension Fifth Declension Defective Nouns B. ADJECTIVES. Adjectives ofthe First and Second Declensions Adjectives ofthe Third Declension Comparison of Adjectives Formation and Comparison of Adverbs Numerals C. PRONOUNS. Personal Pronouns Reflexive Pronouns Possessive Pronouns Demonstrative Pronouns The Intensive Pronoun The Relative Pronoun

FAQs

What is the main purpose of this Latin grammar work?

It presents the essential facts of Latin grammar in a direct and simple manner, within a compact scope consistent with scholarly standards.

Who is the book primarily intended for?

It is intended primarily for secondary school students, while also addressing the information needs of college students in undergraduate courses.

What major areas of Latin are covered in the book?

The book covers sounds and prosodic topics, inflections such as declensions and conjugations, particles and word formation, and detailed syntax for sentences and grammatical categories.

Oct 22, 2026

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