On Tue, 13 May 2003 20:23:11 -0700, Michael J Smith
<
lookwhoscross-eyednow@...> wrote:
>For the noun (or is it an adjective used as a noun?)
It's an adjective used as a noun.
>evil in the
>following sentence should it be in the 1st declension, since it refers to
>the fatherland (dative), or neuter (3rd declension)?:
You are confused. malum is always 2nd declension, since a declension
is not a case, but a set of words which are declined in a particular
way. Adjectives of the 2nd (+ 1st) declension have a nominative masc.
in -us, neut. in -um, fem. in -a. The form mala is the nominative or
accusative neuter plural.
>Superabunt mala nostra
Literally: they will overcome our evils. If we take <mala nostra> as
nominative instead of accusative, we can also translate "our evils
will overcome". As pointed out by Peter, <mala nostra> can also mean
"our apples" (I'd translate: "our apples will be overabundant"). In
the fem. sg. it can also mean "our jaw", but in combination with
"superabunt", that can only be interpreted as as a vocative singular:
"They will stick out, oh jaw of ours!".
=======================
Miguel Carrasquer Vidal
mcv@...