A summary of Donatus Aelius’s Little Grammar

This work by Aelius Donatus, written in the fourth century AD, is a fundamental guide to the Latin language, structured as a catechism — a dialogue with questions and answers. The most important feature of the work is its highly structured and didactic focus: the text divides the language into eight parts of speech, sequentially defining each and listing their grammatical attributes with specific examples of declensions and conjugations.

Although the concept of literary prizes didn’t exist in antiquity and the early Middle Ages, this textbook acquired exceptional historical status, becoming the standard Latin textbook in Europe for over a thousand years. The author’s name became a household word: for a long time, any grammar textbook was simply called a "Donatus."

Parts of speech and the name

The treatise opens with a list of eight parts of speech: name ) nomen ), pronoun ) pronomen ), verb ) verbum ), adverb ) adverbium ), participle ) participium ), conjunction ) coniunctio ), preposition ) praepositio ), and interjection ) interiectio ).

The author begins a detailed analysis with the noun . Donatus defines a noun as a part of speech denoting an object or phenomenon (either individually or as a general concept) and possessing the category of case. Six characteristics are ascribed to a noun. Quality ) qualitas ) divides nouns into proper and common nouns. Comparison ) comparatio ) comes in three degrees: positive ) dictus ), comparative ) dictior ), and superlative ) doctissimus ). It is stated that only common nouns expressing quality or quantity are subject to comparison. A rule of syntax is given: the comparative degree requires the ablative, and the superlative requires the genitive plural.

Next, gender ) genus ) is considered. Four main genders are distinguished: masculine ) hic magister ), feminine ) haec musa ), neuter ) hoc scamnum ), and common ) hic and haec sacerdos ). In addition, a "single" gender is mentioned for all three ) felix ) and epicene (mixed), for example, passer (sparrow) or aquila (eagle). Number ) numerus ) is singular and plural. Form ) figura ) is simple ) decens ) or compound ) indecens ). There are six cases ) casus ): nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, vocative, and ablative.

Donat gives complete declension paradigms for samples of different genders:

Masculine gender ) magister );
Feminine gender ) Musa );
Neuter gender ) scamnum );
Common genus ) sacerdos );
Adjective of "single" gender ) felix ).

The section concludes with the rules for forming genitive plural endings. If the ablative singular ends in -a or -o , the genitive takes the ending -rum . If it ends in -e , -i, or -u , variations are possible: short -e produces -um , long -rum , -i becomes -ium , and -u becomes -uum .

Pronoun

A pronoun is defined as a part of speech that replaces a name and sometimes indicates a person. It has six attributes: quality, gender, number, form, person, and case. Quality divides pronouns into definite (those indicating a person, such as ego ) and indefinite (those not indicating a person, such as quis ).

The text describes in detail the declension of various types of pronouns in six cases:

Personal: first person ) ego/nos ), second person ) tu/vos ).
Third person: ille (masculine), illa (feminine), illud (neuter).
Less definite: ipse, ipsa, ipsum .
Demonstratives: iste, ista, istud and hic, haec, hoc .
Relative (subjunctive): is, ea, id .
Indefinite: quis, quae, quod .
Possessive: meus, tuus, suus (change according to number and gender), as well as noster and vester .

The section concludes with a list of compound pronouns such as egomet , tute , quisquis .

Verb

A verb is described as a part of speech denoting action, suffering, or something in between, having the categories of tense and person, but lacking case. A verb has seven characteristics. Quality is expressed in moods (indicative, imperative, optative, subjunctive, indefinite, impersonal) and forms of meaning (perfective, meditative, frequentative, inchoative).

There are three conjugations ) coniugatio ), distinguished by the vowel in the second person singular of the present tense: first ) -a ), second ) -e ), third ) -i ). There are five voices ) genus ):

Active : ends in -o , becomes passive when adding -r ) lego ).
Passive : ends in -r, becomes active ) legor ) when dropped.
Neutral : ends in -o , but does not form a passive form in -r ) curro ).
Loquor : has a passive form ending in -r , but no active pair ) loquor ).
General : ends in -r but has both active and passive voice meanings ) osculor ).

Tenses are divided into three main ones (present, past, future), but when conjugated, there are five: present, past unfinished (imperfect), past perfect (perfect), past anterior (pluperfect), and future.

Donat provides a comprehensive paradigm for the conjugation of the verb lego (active voice) and legor (passive voice) across all persons, numbers, tenses, and moods.

Active voice : from lego/legis in the present to legam/leges in the future, including the optative ) utinam legerem ) and subjunctive ) cum legam ) moods. Gerunds ) legedi ) and participles ) legens, lecturus ) are also indicated.
Passive voice : from legor/legeris in the present to the complex perfect ) lectus sum ) and pluperfect ) lectus eram ) forms.

It is mentioned that middle voice verbs are conjugated as active, while deferential and common verbs are conjugated as passive.

Adverb

An adverb is defined as a part of speech that complements a verb. It has three attributes: meaning, comparison, and form. Meaning classifies adverbs into categories: place ) hic ), time ) hodie ), number ) semel ), negation ) non ), affirmation, desire, order, question, and others.

Adverbs compare similarly to nouns (positive, comparative, superlative). Forms are simple ) docte ) and compound ) indocte ). Particular attention is paid to adverbs of place, which distinguish between stay ) intus ), movement from a place, and movement toward a place ) intro ).

Communion

A participle is defined as a hybrid part of speech: it takes gender and case from the noun, tense and meaning from the verb, and number and form from both. There are four genders (including the common participle) and six cases. There are three tenses: present ) legens ), past ) lectus ), and future ) lecturus, legendus ).

The author demonstrates the declension of four types of participles:

From the active verb (present tense): legens (declensed like the name felix ).
From the active verb (future tense): lecturus, -a, -um .
From the passive verb (past tense): lectus, -a, -um .
From the passive verb (future tense): legendus, -a, -um .

Union

A conjunction links a sentence. It has meaning, form, and category. Conjunctions are divided into five types based on their meaning:

Connecting ) et, atque ).
Separators ) aut, vel ).
Additional ) quidem, autem ).
Causal ) si, nam, sed ).
Final ) itaque, ergo ).

According to category, conjunctions are prepositional (standing at the beginning), prefixed (postpositional, like que ) and general.

Pretext

A preposition is placed before other words, changing their meaning. Its only characteristic is case (accusative or ablative). Donatus lists:

Prepositions with the accurative: ad, apud, ante , and others. Examples are given ) ad patrem ).
Prepositions with ablative: a, ab, cum, ex and others ) a domo ).
Prepositions with both cases: in, sub, super, subter .

The dual control rule is explained: in and sub require the accusative when denoting movement (where to?) and the ablative when denoting location (where to?). The preposition super with an accusative can mean "against," while subter follows the rules of movement and location. Inseparable prepositional prefixes ) di, dis, re ), used only as part of words, are also mentioned.

Interjection

The treatise concludes with a description of the interjection — a part of speech that expresses a state of mind through an involuntary exclamation. Its only characteristic is its emotional meaning. "In that we express [with its help] either joy, for example, euax, or sorrow, for example, heu, or surprise, for example, papae, or fear, for example, attat, and other similar things."

A summary of Donatus Aelius’s "Little Grammar"