dei igitur imperium maximum dant.

[PacificVictory]

This is a phrase I just encountered in the Cambridge Latin Course.

I'm confused because it says "dei" is the singular "god", but "dant" looks plural to me. Can anyone help?

 

[Numarius]

Dei is plural not singular. Deus is the singular masculine. The Cambridge books will never give you any subjects that don't agree with the verbs so if you ever see a plural ending for a verb then the subject will always be plural.

 

[PacificVictory]

Oh you are right... I was confused because when I click on "dei", the definition that comes up is "deus: God"... I wasn't paying attention.

 

[Numarius]

No problem, it's usually just small misunderstanding which hang people up on phrases.

 

[Pacifica]

Just by the way, Dei is also the genitive singular.

 

[PacificVictory]

Thanks

So seeing how it is genitive singular, would it make sense for someone like a priest to use the sentence Vir dei sum as in "I am a man of God"? Or is that an English idiom?

 

[Matthaeus]

Yeah, that might be too literal for Latin. How about vir canonicus or maybe ecclesiasticus?

 

[Pacifica]

I've made a search with vir Dei in the Latin Library and actually there are quite a few hits (one in the Vulgate bible). So it's ok. (And I only looked for the nominative.)

 

[PacificVictory]

I'm not familiar with the Latin Library, but does it indicate when the phrase was used? My gut tells me it would probably be early Christian or medieval period... or possibly Renaissance.

 

[Pacifica]

Yes of course it's Christian - medieval (the date isn't necessarily indicated, but you see the author). If you want to check whether a construction was ever used in authentic texts, you type: "the thing you want to check"site://theLatinlibrary.com

 

[Matthaeus]

I wish I were more internet-savvy LOL

 

[PacificVictory]

I found it but how can I search within the texts? I see know search bar or menu...

by the way, what is the verb for 'to search' in Latin?

 

[Pacifica]

Indeed there's no search bar on the site itself. To search something you must write it directly in your "internet bar" like this for ex: "vir dei"site://theLatinlibrary.com, and you'll see a list with the texts in which it appears.

One verb for "to search" is quaerere.

 

[PacificVictory]

Gratias

 

[Godmy]

Just one remark: "Di" (slightly irregular) would be probably more frequent in the classical Latin as a nominative plural than the regular "Dei" - maybe Cambridge is quoting something rather than making it up, because otherwise I don't see why to choose this over more classical "di" (or maybe they just want to make it look regular... but still there are so many regular nouns).

 

[socratidion]

It's true that Google doesn't link you to the exact spot in TheLatinLibrary that you need -- each book is all on one enormous page. To search that page, you have to use your browser 'Find' function and type the specific word you're looking for.

I've seen both 'di' and 'dei' for nom pl in classical texts.

 

[Godmy]

Interesting, I thought that dei nom.pl would be rare in that time. But now when I'm checking "De Natura Deorum" it really appears there alongside of "di".

Good to know!

 

[LVXORD]

hhhh.... I think I remember this sentence from the CLC. Bk.1 Stg.5 I believe. The one where you learn vos, nos and comparatives and where the Greeks and Romans are fighting over who is better!

 

[Numarius]

That brings back memories. I miss the Cambridge book 1. I believe that stage 5 is the one about Roman schools or something along those lines.

 

[Cambrinus]

It's stage 10, well it is in the latest British edition, in a story called controversia. Cambridge does not bring in the irregular plural too early! Click on:
http://www.cambridgescp.com/Lpage.php?p=clc^oa_book1^stage10