First Declension. FIRST
13
DECLENSION. a-Stems.
20. Pure Latin nouns of the First Declension regularly end, in the Nominative Singular, in -a, weakened from -a, and are of the Feminine Gender. They are declined as follows: Porta, gate; stem, porta-, SINGULAR. CASES.
Nom. Gen. Dat. Ace. Voc. Abl.
porta portae portae portam porta porta
TERMINATIONS.
MEANINGS.
a gate (as subject) of agate to or for a gate a gate (as object) o gate! with, by, from, in a gate
-a -ae -ae -am
-a -a
PLURAL. Nom. Gm. Dat. Ace. Voc. Abl.
portae portarum portis port as portae portis
gates (as subject) of gates to or for gates gates (as object) o gates! with, bY,from, hz gates
-ae -arum -is -as -ae -Is
I. The Latin has no article, and porta may mean either a gate or the gate; and in the Plural, gates or the gates.
Peculiarities
of Nouns
of the First
Declension.
21. I. EXCEPTIONSIN GENDER. Nouns denoting males are Masculine; as, nauta, sailor; agricola,farmer; also Hadria, Adriatic Sea. 2. Rare Case-Endings,a)
An old form of the Genitive Singular in -as is preserved in the combination pater familHis, father of a family; also in mater famflijis, filius familias, filia fami'liae , But the regular form of the Genitive in -ae is also admissible in these expressions; as, pater familiae. b) In poetry a Genitive in -ai also occurs; as, aulai.