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Latin interrogative pronouns

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Jackal11
Groupie
United States
Joined 5662 days ago

41 posts - 45 votes
Speaks: English*
Studies: German, Latin

 
 Message 1 of 2
12 June 2009 at 6:50pm | IP Logged 
I am currently using Orberg's 'LINGVA LATINA' to study Latin. But in chapter's 2 and 3 I have run into problems concerning the relative and interrogative pronouns used by Latin. I am coming across sentences such as 'Quae est mater Marci?' and 'Quae est puella quae plorat?' In both of these sentences, 'quae is, I presume, the nominative singular feminine interrogative pronoun (except for the second 'quae' in the second sentence, which I presume is actually a nominative singular feminine relative pronoun). Orberg declines it just as if it were similar to the nominative singular feminine relative pronoun. However according to this link:

http://abacus.bates.edu/acad/depts/crll/latin101/Chapter19/i nterrog.htm

and this link:

http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/101/RelativePronouns.pdf

the nominative singular Latin feminine interrogative pronoun should be declined as 'quis' (identical to the nominative singular Latin masculine interrogative pronoun).

Nevertheless, this link below agrees with Orberg!

http://www.orbilat.com/Languages/Latin/Grammar/Latin-Pronoun s_Interrogative_and_Relative.html

So who's right? Should the two sentences actually read 'Quis est mater Marci?' and 'Quis est puella quae plorat?'

Please help.
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Alkeides
Senior Member
Bhutan
Joined 6148 days ago

636 posts - 644 votes 

 
 Message 2 of 2
12 June 2009 at 7:46pm | IP Logged 
Actually the last link you provided agrees with the above two as well.

"Usually the feminine forms are substituted by the masculine ones."

Orberg isn't technically wrong on this I think, he's just trying to illustrate the point of grammatical gender. Later on he uses "eius" when "suus" is the norm as well.
1 person has voted this message useful



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