History of Cases
Old Latin had only two patterns of endings. One pattern was shared by the first and second declensions, with a clear similarity to the first and second declensions of Ancient Greek. The other pattern was used by the third declension and was very different from Greek, even for direct cognates. When new words were absorbed into Latin, they were generally placed in the third declension.
Read more about this topic: Latin Declension
Famous quotes containing the words history of, history and/or cases:
“Let us not underrate the value of a fact; it will one day flower in a truth. It is astonishing how few facts of importance are added in a century to the natural history of any animal. The natural history of man himself is still being gradually written.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“History takes time.... History makes memory.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)
“... and the next summer she died in childbirth.
That’s all. Of course, there may be some sort of sequel but it is not known to me. In such cases instead of getting bogged down in guesswork, I repeat the words of the merry king in my favorite fairy tale: Which arrow flies for ever? The arrow that has hit its mark.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)