44 Comments
125
Yes, domus is one of several Latin nouns that have a locative case, that normally does not exist in Latin.
As I was taught at school: "Towns, small islands, domus and rus—no preposition is in use" :)
- 1715
I KNEW IT!!
I’ve always thought that it was weird that the locative case marked destination!
According to Latin Wikipedia, Rōmānī auferte vōs domum is more accurate.
- 42
That would be "Romans go home" as in they are going home. "Romani ite domum" is "Romans go home", as in you're telling them to go home.
Wikipedia's interesting article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romani_ite_domum
Graffiti:
"Romanes eunt domus" is from the dog Latin from the Monty Python movie.
I avtually got some of my basic latin understanding from life of brian
Should "I am in the house" be accepted as well? Or "at the house", perhaps?
- 515
In English, at least US English, "I am in the house" would mean that you are physically in a/some house, any house, whether it is your house, a friend's, or some random strangers house. (Even if it is your house it does not mean it is your home. You could just own it but not be living in it.)
"At the house" would mean that you are at, as in right outside the house. As in, I have arrived at the house. Similar to "I am at the address.
"I am at home" means that you are in your own home. It could be a house, an apartment, even a hotel or tent you are living in. Whatever your home happens to be, you would be (in) there if that is where you are living.
- 125
Are you a native speaker of English? I am not a native, but they sound weird to me.
- 2040
I am a native speaker of English and they sound perfectly fine to me. They don't quite mean the same thing as "I am (at) home", but that's a different issue.
Could you explain the difference? It's always interesting to learn or to check knowledge about languages.
- 2040
"Home" generally means one's own place of residence and there is an emotional aspect to it. Home can take any form. "House" is more clinical. A house is a specific type of structure, as distinct from an apartment or a hut or a converted bus.
"I'm (at) home" therefore implies that you're not necessarily doing anything special. You could be relaxing barefoot in your pajamas on the floor with the cat in your lap. You're in comfortable, familiar surroundings. You can let your guard down. You can also say "I'm (at) home" in a metaphorical sense to indicate how comfortable and in your element you feel either in a location or in a situation.
"I'm at the house" therefore implies that you're probably not at your house. Maybe there is business to conduct. Maybe you're checking out houses because you're moving, so you text your partner "I'm at the house", meaning you're meeting with the realtor, who will show you around. You can only say it in the literal sense.
Thank you. I guess it's the same than, in French:
"Je suis à la maison" = (I am) at home.
"Je suis dans la maison" = probably someone else's house. At the house.
And le domicile = house where the family lives, in French.
Je suis au domicile des Lebrun = I'm at the house where the Lebrun family lives.
Could you say "in the house"?
- 2040
Could you say "in the house"?
Yes.
"I'm at the house" has the broadest scope and could mean just about anything:
- "I'm still in the car at the end of the street but I expect to be there in 1 minute."
- "I'm in the street in the vicinity of the house."
- "I'm somewhere on the actual property."
- "I'm on the roof."
- "I am literally inside the house."
"I'm in the house" can only mean "I am literally inside the house."
I'm not native, but I speak English quite well, and I think it's fine to say that in a different context. If a given house is already mentioned, perhaps a group of kids choosing an abandoned house as a place to hang out, or something, just as an oddly specific example.
Anyway, I think it should be allowed, right? Or if not, then how would you say "in the house" differently, in Latin?
Is the reason for the downvote that people disagree that you could use "in the house" in English? I understand that it requires a specific context, but it really is possible. Look the phrase up on Google, or better yet, in the Google Books corpora.
I see, interesting. Wiktionary says that does indeed mean "house" or "dwelling", but only in Late/Medieval Latin, apparently. Whereas "domus" still can just mean "house", as well (Wiktionary). So I'm still a bit curious if you can also use "domi" to mean "in the house" as well as just "home".
- 2040
I know there are some Latin professors hanging out in these fora. Hopefully one of them will stumble upon this discussion and provide an answer.
In Latin, word order does not matter. While there is a general pattern (subject object verb), you can put the words in whatever order you want and it will mean the same thing.
Would the ablative case also be appropriate? Does it depend on which Latin we're learning?
Grammar is not different, classical Latin and ecclesiastical Latin are simply different pronunciation styles.
So to answer your question, the ablative case would not be appropriate here with domus. If you had another word (for example, urbs = city), you would use in + ablative (in urbe = in the city). domi is a special case.
- 109
Looks like those downvoting didn't watch the best Latin lesson ever https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LID6sZKh-A
I guess it has been downvoted because it's a joke, and not proper Latin. It was on purpose they screwed up the grammar. The proper form is "Romani ite domum" (see the very good Wikipedia article link posted in this page, above the graffiti picture). It's very interesting to understand why "Romanes eunt domus" is not good grammar. The article says (for those who can't follow the link):
"The exchange on the case of domus concludes:
Centurion: " 'Domus'? Nominative? 'Go home', this is motion towards, isn't it, boy?"
Brian: "Dative?"
[Centurion draws his sword and holds it to Brian's throat ]
Brian: "Ahh! No, not the dative, not the dative, sir. No, the, accusative, accusative, 'ad domum', sir!"
Centurion: "Except that 'domus' takes the ...?"
Brian: "The locative, sir!"
Centurion: "Thus it is ...?!"
Brian: "'Domum'."
Students of Latin often note that domi is the locative of domus in literary classical Latin. The (allative) case construction used in the final formulation is accusative of motion towards." [End of quote]
