Adjectives requiring an object of reference govern the Objective Genitive.
Adjectives denoting
desire
,
knowledge
,
memory
,
fulness
,
power
,
sharing
,
guilt
, and their opposites govern the genitive:—
-
avidī
laudis
(Manil. 7)
,
greedy of praise.
-
fastīdiōsus litterārum
,
disdaining letters.
-
iūris
perītus
,
skilled in law.
[So also the ablative,
iūre
, cf. §
418
.]
-
memorem
vestrī
, oblītum
suī
(Cat. 4.19)
,
mindful of you, forgetful of himself.
-
ratiōnis
et
ōrātiōnis
expertēs
(Off. 1.50)
,
devoid of sense and speech.
-
nostrae
cōnsuētūdinis
imperītī
;
(
B. G. 4.22
),
unacquainted with our customs.
-
plēnus fideī
,
full of good faith.
-
omnis
speī
egēnam
(Tac. Ann. 1.53)
,
destitute of all hope.
-
tempestātum
potentem
(Aen. 1.80)
,
having sway over the storms.
-
impotēns
īrae
(Liv. 29.9.9)
,
ungovernable in anger.
-
coniūrātiōnis
participēs
(Cat. 3.14)
,
sharing in the conspiracy.
-
affīnis
reī capitālis
(Verr. 2.2.94)
,
involved in a capital crime.
-
īnsōns
culpae
(Liv. 22.49)
,
innocent of guilt.
Participles in
-ns
govern the genitive when they are used as adjectives, i.e. when they denote a
constant disposition
and not a
particular act:
—
-
sī quem
tuī
amantiōrem cōgnōvistī
;
(
Q. Fr. 1.1.15
),
if you have become acquainted with any one more fond of you.
-
multitūdō īnsolēns
bellī
(B. C. 2.36)
,
a crowd unused to war.
-
erat Iugurtha appetēns
glōriae
mīlitāris
(Iug. 7)
,
Jugurtha was eager for military glory.
Participles in
-ns
, when used
as participles
, take the case regularly governed by the verb to which they belong: as,—Sp.
Maelium
rēgnum appetentem
interēmit (
Cat. M. 56
),
he put to death Spurius Mælius
,
who was aspiring to royal power.
Occasionally participial forms in
-ns
are treated as participles (see note 1) even when they express a
disposition
or
character:
as,
virtūs quam aliī ipsam temperantiam dīcunt esse
,
aliī obtemperantem temperantiae praeceptīs et
eam
subsequentem
(Tusc. 4.30)
,
observant of the teachings of temperance and obedient to her.
Verbals in
-āx
(§
251
) govern the genitive in poetry and later Latin:—
-
iūstum et tenācem
prōpositī
virum
(Hor. Od. 3.3)
,
a man just and steadfast to his purpose.
-
circus capāx
populī
(Ov. A. A. 1.136)
,
a circus big enough to hold the people.
-
cibī
vīnīque
capācissimus
(Liv. 9.16.13)
,
a very great eater and drinker
(very able to contain food and wine).
The poets and later writers use the genitive with almost any adjective, to denote that
with reference to which
the quality exists (
Genitive of Specification
):—
-
callidus
reī mīlitāris
(Tac. H. 2.32)
,
skilled in soldiership.
-
pauper
aquae
(Hor. Od. 3.30.11)
,
scant of water.
-
nōtus
animī paternī
(
id
. 2.2.6),
famed for a paternal spirit.
-
fessī
rērum
(Aen. 1.178)
,
weary of toil.
-
integer
vītae sceleris
que pūrus
(Hor. Od. 1.22.1)
,
upright in life, and unstained by guilt.
The Genitive of Specification is only an extension of the construction with adjectives requiring an object of reference (§
349
). Thus
callidus
denotes
knowledge;
pauper
,
want;
pūrus
,
innocence;
and so these words in a manner belong to the classes under
a.
For the Ablative of Specification, the prose construction, see §
418
. For
Adjectives of likeness
etc. with the Genitive, apparently Objective, see §
385
.
c.
For Adjectives with
animī
(locative in origin), see §
358
.
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