The principles of Latin grammar; comprising the ... - Essan.org

——§ 106 SYNTAX.—GENITIVE. 223other. Thus, in the first example, amor, alone, means "love," iu general,but the term gloria, joined with it, restricts its meaning here to a particularobject, "glory,'' and so of other examples. .N. B. When a noun is limited by another of the same signification, it isput in^he same case by Rule I (251).OBSERVATIONS.334.— Obs. 1. When the governing noun expresses a feeling or act, &c,inherent in, or exercised by, the noun governed in the genitive, the genitiveis said to be subjective or active. But when the governing noun denotessomething of which the noun governed is the object, the genitive is thensaid to be objective or passive. Thus, in the phrase providentia Dei, thegenitive is necessarily subjective or active, because providentia expressesan act or operation of which God is the subject, and of which he cannot bethe object. On the other hand, in the phrase timor Dei, '' the fear of God,"the genitive Dei is necessarily objective or passive, because tlmor denotesa feeling in some other subject of which God is the object, and cannot bethe subject. Sometimes the meaning of both substantives is such, that thegenitive may be either active or passive ; thus, when the expression amorDei means the love which God has to us, Dei is active or subjective ; butwhen it means the love which we have to God, Dei is passive or objective.In such cases, the sense in which the genitive is used must be determinedby the author's meaning.335.— Obs. 2. Hence it often happens that a noun governs two substantives,one of which limits it subjectively, and the other objectively ; as,Agauteinnonis belli gloria, '-Agamemnon's glory in war." Nep. Here,Agamemnonis limits gloria subjectively, and belli limits it objectivelySo, lllius admiuistralio provincial. Cic.336.— Obs. 3. The governing noun is often omitted, but only, however,when the expression itself readily suggests the noun to be supplied ; as.ad Didnce, sc. cedent ; or when it can be readily supplied from the precedingor following words.337. Obs. 4. Instead of the genitive of the personal pronoun governedby the noun, it is more common to use the possessive adjective pronounagreeing with it ; as, meus pater, rather than pater mei. So also, insteadof the genitive of a noun, a possessive adjective is sometimes used ; as,causa regia, for regis causa ; her ills Jilius, forJHius hiri.338. Obs. 5. The dative is often used instead of the genitive, to limita noun as to its object; o.s,fratri cedes, for fratris, " the house of mybrother—proemdium ;" reis, " a defence to the accused." For this construction,see 380 and 381.339.Rule VII. A substantive added to another,to express a property or quality belongingto it, is put in the genitive or ablative ; as,Vir sum-in ce prudent ice, or summd prudentid,Puer probce indoles, or probd indole,man of great wisdom.A boy of a good disposition.