2nd Declension: Special Forms

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50. The following stems in -ero-, in which e belongs to the stem, retain the e throughout and are declined like puer (§ 47).

adulter  adulterer gener  son-in-law puer  boy
socer  father-in-law vesper  evening Līber  Bacchus

Also, the adjective līber (free) of which līberī (children) is the plural (§ 111.a), and compounds in -fer and -ger (stem fero-, gero-).

lūcifer  morning star
armiger  squire

a. An old nominative socerus occurs. So vocative puere (boy) as if from †puerus (regularly puer).

b.Vir (man) has genitive virī; the adjective satur (sated) has saturī; vesper (evening) has ablative vespere (locative vesperī  in the evening).

c. Mulciber (Vulcan) has -berī and -brī in the genitive. The names Hibēr and Celtibēr retain ē throughout.

51. The following, not having e in the stem, insert it in the nominative singular and are declined like ager (§ 47).

ager  field  (stem agro-) culter  knife
aper  boar faber  smith
arbiter  judge fiber  beaver
auster  south wind liber  book
cancer  crab magister  master
caper  goat minister  servant
coluber  snake oleaster  wild olive
conger  sea eel onager (-grus)  wild ass
scomber (-brus)  mackerel

Suggested Citation

Meagan Ayer, Allen and Greenough’s New Latin Grammar for Schools and Colleges. Carlisle, Pennsylvania: Dickinson College Commentaries, 2014. ISBN: 978-1-947822-04-7. https://dcc.dickinson.edu/grammar/latin/2nd-declension-special-forms