InflClass: inflectional class
| Values: | IndEurA | IndEurO | IndEurX | IndEurI | IndEurU | IndEurE | LatPron | LatA | LatE | LatX | LatI | LatI2 | LatAnom | Ind |
Latin distinguishes two main types of inflections: nominal and verbal.
Nominal inflection is traditionally called declension and applies to (proper) nouns, adjectives, pronouns, determiners and numerals, and can express gender, number, case and degree. It also applies to nominal forms of verbs, for which an additional layer is used.
Verbal inflection is traditionally called conjugation and applies to finite and nominal forms of verbs and the auxiliary sum, and can express aspect, mood, tense, voice, person, number and nominal form.
Adverbs, adpositions, co-ordinating and subordinating conjunctions, the various particles and interjections are all invariable parts of speech and never inflect in Latin.
Nominal and verbal inflections are themselves respectively subdivided into different declension and conjugation classes, which historically result from the development of Latin from Proto-Indo-European and were determined by phonological and analogical processes. Basically, the endings of a class were shaped by the final consonant or vowel of the original stem, and parallel outcomes can be observed, synchronically or diachronically, in most of the other Indo-European branches.
The values of InflClass reflect the original endings of the stems where possible; moreover, the string IndEur is prepended to those classes which have parallels in other Indo-European languages (hopefully making them reusable by other treebanks, too), while Lat specifies a class whose pattern is probably confined to Latin (and its daughter languages) only.
The class Ind for indeclinable words is universal (as it is a sort of “non-class”), and is only applied to members of part-of-speech classes which protoypically inflect, but not to protoypically invariable elements (such as conjunctions).
InflClass is kept distinct from NounClass (used for Bantu languages), because the latter involves agreement between a phrasal head and its dependents. On the contrary, inflectional classes in Latin are orthogonal to grammatical categories such as gender, tense, etc., although some correlations exist.
Some Latin words inherit Greek inflectional classes: these are assigned to an existing InflClass, but marked for Variant=Greek.
(Remark: Locative is not shown in the following tables, as it is marginal in the case system.)
IndEurA: first declension
Originating from stems terminating in -a. Mostly tied to the feminine gender, but a relevant portion of first-declension masculine nouns exist. First-class adjectives (including perfect and future participles and gerundives) and all superlative forms follow the first declension in the feminine.
- Example overview by case and number: rosa ‘rose’
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | rosă | rosae |
| Genitive | rosae | rosarum |
| Dative | rosae | rosis |
| Accusative | rosam | rosas |
| Vocative | rosă | rosae |
| Ablative | rosā | rosis |
In other Indo-European branches: gr. θάλασσα, icel. borg, lith. gatvė
Examples
- rosam ‘rose (acc. sing. f.)’
- piratae ‘of/to a pirate (gen./dat. sing. m.); pirates (nom./voc. plur. m.)’
- mystes ‘priest of secret rites (nom. sing. m.)’ (Greek variant)
- pulchrā ‘beautiful (nom./voc./abl. sing. f.)’
- facillimarum ‘most simple (gen. plur. f.)’
IndEurO: second declension
Originating from stems terminating in -e/o. Mostly tied to the masculine and neuter genders, but some feminine nouns in -us (mostly tree names) exist. First-class adjectives (including perfect and future participles and gerundives/gerunds) and all superlative forms follow the second declension in the masculine and neuter.
- Example overview by case and number: lupus ‘wolf’, templum ‘temple’ (neuter)
| Case | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | lupus | lupi | templum | templa |
| Genitive | lupi | luporum | templi | templorum |
| Dative | lupo | lupis | templo | templis |
| Accusative | lupum | lupos | templum | templa |
| Vocative | lupe | lupi | templum | templa |
| Ablative | lupo | lupis | templo | templis |
In other Indo-European branches: gr. άνθρωπος, icel. íslenskur, lith. miškas
Examples
- lupum ‘wolf (acc. sing. m.)’
- scutorum ‘of shields (gen. plur. n.)’
- melos ‘tune (nom./acc. sing. n.)’ (Greek variant)
- pulchro ‘beautiful (dat./abl. sing. m./n.)’
- facillimorum ‘most simple (gen. plur. m./n.)’
IndEurX: third declension (consonant stems)
Originating from stems terminating in a consonant (“athematic”). Every gender is represented. Pretty much confined to nouns and comparative forms, with few second-class adjectives represented.
- Example overview by case and number: rex ‘king’, tempus ‘time’ (neuter)
| Case | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | rex | reges | tempus | tempora |
| Genitive | regis | regum | temporis | temporum |
| Dative | regi | regibus | tempori | temporibus |
| Accusative | regem | reges | tempus | tempora |
| Vocative | rex | reges | tempus | tempora |
| Ablative | rege | regibus | tempore | temporibus |
In other Indo-European branches: gr. θώραξ, icel. maður, lith. sesuo
Examples
- imperatorem ‘emperor (acc. sing. m.)’, nom. sing. imperator
- artificibus ‘to/from masters of the art (dat./abl. plur. m.)’, nom. sing. artifex
- uiscera ‘entrails (nom./acc. plur. n.)’ , nom. sing. viscus
- pulchriores ‘more beautiful (nom./acc. plur. m./f.)’
- ueteri ‘old (dat. sing. m./f./n.)’
IndEurI: third declension (i stems)
Originating from stems terminating in -i. Every gender is represented. Nearly all second-class adjectives (including present participles), some determiners and some numerals also follow this declension.
- Example overview by case and number: ciuis ‘citizen’, animal ‘animal’ (neuter)
| Case | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ciuis | ciues | animal | animalia |
| Genitive | ciuis | ciuium | animalis | animalium |
| Dative | ciui | ciuibus | animali | animalibus |
| Accusative | ciuem | ciues | animal | animalia |
| Vocative | ciuis | ciues | animal | animalia |
| Ablative | ciue | ciuibus | animali | animalibus |
Examples
- ciuem ‘citizen (acc. sing. m./f.)’, nom. sing. ciuis
- marĭa ‘seas (nom./acc. plur. n.)’, nom. sing. mare
- apocalypseon ‘of apocalypses (gen. plur. f.)’ (Greek variant), nom. sing. apocalypsis
- possibili ‘possible (abl./dat. sing. m./f./n.)’, nom. sing. possibilis
- omnis ‘all (nom./voc. sing. m./f., gen. sing. m./f./n.)’
- tribus ‘three (dat./abl. plur. m./f./n.)’, nom. sing. m./f. tres
IndEurU: fourth declension
Originating from stems terminating in -u. Mostly tied to the masculine, but some feminine nouns in -us and neuter nouns in -u exist. Pretty much confined to nouns and the supine.
- Example overview by case and number: fructus ‘fruit’, cornu ‘horn’ (neuter)
| Case | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | fructŭs | fructūs | cornū | cornua |
| Genitive | fructūs | fructuum | cornūs | cornuum |
| Dative | fructui | fructibus | cornui | cornibus |
| Accusative | fructŭm | fructūs | cornū | cornua |
| Vocative | fructŭs | fructūs | cornū | cornua |
| Ablative | fructū | fructibus | cornū | cornibus |
In other Indo-European branches: lith. Vilnius
Examples
- manuum ‘of hands (gen. plur. f.)’
- acubus ‘to/from needles’ (dat./abl. plur. f.)
IndEurE: fifth declension
Originating from stems terminating in -e. Pretty much restricted to feminine nouns.
- Example overview by case and number: res ‘thing’
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | res | res |
| Genitive | rei | rerum |
| Dative | rei | rebus |
| Accusative | rem | res |
| Vocative | res | res |
| Ablative | re | rebus |
Examples
- barbariei ‘of/to a foreign country (gen./dat. sing. f.)’
LatPron: pronominal declension
Restricted to most of the (non-personal) pronouns and determiners. It is very similar (and clearly correlated) to the alternation between IndEurA (“first”) and IndEurO (“second”) declensions found in first-class adjectives, but deviates from it principally under the following aspects:
- in the singular, for all genders, it characteristically shows the same form in the genitive and dative cases;
- this trait is the only one to be common to all elements taking this inflectional class, and for some of them it has probably arisen in analogy to protoypical members (e.g. ille ‘that (one)’, qui ‘who/which/that’)
- singular nominative/accusative neuter forms end in -d;
- singular nominative masculine forms may lack the typical -s suffix found in nominals (see other declensions).
Many words belonging to this inflectional class also (or, in some cases, only) appear with a clitic-like suffix adjoined to the inflected form, and which contributes to semantic or pragmatic nuances (e.g. eadem ‘the same (one)’ with respect to ea ‘she’), like emphasis.
In future, this inflectional class may be revised and limited only to deviant forms, whith the others taking a “regular” IndEurA, IndEurO or IndEurI value.
- Example overview by case and number: qui, relative pronoun
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | qui, quae, quod | qui, quae, quae |
| Genitive | cuius | quorum, quarum, quorum |
| Dative | cui | quibus |
| Accusative | quem, quam, quod | quos, quas, quae |
| Ablative | quo, qua, quo | quibus |
Examples
- solius ‘only (gen. sing. m./f./n.)’
- illis ‘those (dat./abl. plur. m./f./n.)’
LatA: first conjugation
Stems with thematic vowel a (resulting from the convergence of different verbal stems).
- Example overview of imperfective forms (in the 2nd person singular active or masculine nominative singular where applicable): amo ‘to love’
| Tense & Mood / Nominal form | |
|---|---|
| Present indicative | amas |
| Past indicative | amabas |
| Future indicative | amabis |
| Present subjunctive | ames |
| Past subjunctive | amares |
| Present imperative | ama |
| Future imperative | amato |
| Present participle | amans |
| Gerundive | amandus |
| Infinitive | amare |
Examples
- amaui ‘I have loved’
LatE: second conjugation
Stems with thematic vowel e (resulting from the convergence of different verbal stems).
- Example overview of imperfective forms (in the 2nd person singular active or masculine nominative singular where applicable): uideo ‘to see’
| Tense & Mood / Nominal form | |
|---|---|
| Present indicative | uides |
| Past indicative | uidebas |
| Future indicative | uidebis |
| Present subjunctive | uideas |
| Past subjunctive | uideres |
| Present imperative | uide |
| Future imperative | uideto |
| Present participle | uidens |
| Gerundive | uidendus |
| Infinitive | uidere |
Examples
- uīdi ‘I have seen’
LatX: third conjugation
Supposedly athematic stems (or ĭ stems as sometimes postulated).
- Example overview of imperfective forms (in the 2nd person singular active or masculine nominative singular where applicable): lego ‘to read’
| Tense & Mood / Nominal form | |
|---|---|
| Present indicative | legis |
| Past indicative | legebas |
| Future indicative | leges |
| Present subjunctive | legas |
| Past subjunctive | legeres |
| Present imperative | lege |
| Future imperative | legĭto |
| Present participle | legens |
| Gerundive | legendus |
| Infinitive | legĕre |
Examples
- lēgi ‘I have read’
LatI: fourth conjugation
Stems with thematic vowel i (resulting from the convergence of different verbal stems).
- Example overview of imperfective forms (in the 2nd person singular active or masculine nominative singular where applicable): audio ‘to hear’
| Tense & Mood / Nominal form | |
|---|---|
| Present indicative | audis |
| Past indicative | audiebas |
| Future indicative | audies |
| Present subjunctive | audias |
| Past subjunctive | audires |
| Present imperative | audi |
| Future imperative | audīto |
| Present participle | audiens |
| Gerundive | audiendus |
| Infinitive | audire |
Examples
- audiui ‘I have heard’
LatI2: mixed conjugation
The “fifth” or “mixed” conjugation arose from the fourth conjugation on the basis of rythmical grounds, and differs from it only with regard to few forms.
- Example overview of imperfective forms (in the 2nd person singular active or masculine nominative singular where applicable): capio ‘to seize’
| Tense & Mood / Nominal form | |
|---|---|
| Present indicative | capis |
| Past indicative | capiebas |
| Future indicative | capies |
| Present subjunctive | capias |
| Past subjunctive | capĕres |
| Present imperative | capĕ |
| Future imperative | capĭto |
| Present participle | capiens |
| Gerundive | capiendus |
| Infinitive | capĕre |
Examples
- cēpi ‘I have seized’
LatAnom: anomalous inflection
Some inflectional patterns, especially of some verbs and personal pronouns, show irregularities that cannot be fully traced back to other classes, and are therefore labelled as “anomalous” (as in uerbum anomalum, i.e. ‘irregular verb’).
- Example overview by case and number: the personal pronoun ego ‘I’
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ego | nos |
| (Genitive | mei | nostri) |
| Dative | mihi | nobis |
| Accusative | me | nos |
| Ablative | me | nobis |
(nos ‘we’ can be also directly lemmatised as nos.)
- Example overview of imperfective forms (in the 2nd person singular active or masculine nominative singular where applicable): uolo ‘to want’
| Tense & Mood / Nominal form | |
|---|---|
| Present indicative | uis |
| Past indicative | uolebas |
| Future indicative | uoles |
| Present subjunctive | uelis |
| Past subjunctive | uelles |
| Present participle | uolens |
| Infinitive | uelle |
Examples
- tibi ‘to you (dat. sing.)’, nom. sing. tu
- fert ‘(he/she/it) carries’, 1st pers. sing. ind. pres. act. fero
There are no anomalous nouns (including proper nouns), adjectives, or determiners: when not simply indeclinable (see Ind), their deviant forms can unproblematically be considered just variants inside their inflectional paradigms (e.g. animabus instead of animis for the plural dative/ablative of anima, first declension).
Ind: indeclinable (deprecated)
A word belonging to a part of speech whose members are usually expected to inflect, but which itself does not (or is never attested in more than one form), receives the value Ind. At the same time, it is not marked for case, but it might still retain gender and/or number if it is a (proper) noun, and thus possesses one inherently and not relationally. The infinitives, as verbal nouns, are indeclinable.
Most nominal parts of speech are also represented by some indeclinable members to a greater or lesser extent. It is not uncommon for these latter, especially for nouns, to be foreign loanwords. Sometimes, such words appear both as indeclinable and as inflected forms (e.g. Adam can be either indeclinable, or associated which the first declension, taking genitive Adae etc.).
The use of this value is deprecated and no longer implemented, as definitions by negative in general in UD: InflClass=Ind is actually not an inflectional class, but rather the absence of one. So, simply, nothing needs to be annotated, similarly to positive degree or positive polarity.
Examples
- Ierusalem ‘Jerusalem’ (Proper noun)
- fas ‘divine law’ (Noun)
- nequam ‘worthless’ (Adjective)
- tot ‘so many’ (Determiner)
- quattuor ‘four’ (Numeral)
There seem to be no indeclinable finite forms of verbs nor pronouns.
InflClass in other languages: [be] [la] [orv] [ru] [uk]