Heavy Construction
The Allen and Greenough is still under construction;
so some links may not work quite the way you would expect.
GENITIVE WITH ADJECTIVES.
349.
Adjectives requiring an object of reference
govern the Objective Genitive.
a. Adjectives denoting desire,
knowledge, memory, fulness, power, sharing, etc., and their opposites
govern the genitive:
- avidí laudis (Manil. 7),
greedy of praise.
- fastídiósus
litterárum, disdaining letters.
- iúris perítus,
skilled in law. [So also the ablative, iúre, cf. § 418.]
- memorem vestrí, oblltum sui
(Cat. iv. 19), mindful of you, forgetful of himself.
- ratiónis et oráiónis
expertes (Off. i. 50), devoid of sense and speech.
- nostrae consuetúdinis
imperití (B. G. iv. 22),unacquainted with our
customs.
- plénus fideí, full
of good faith.
- omnis speí egénam
(Tac. Ann. i. 53),destitute of all hope.
- tempestátum potentem
(Aen. i. 80), having sway over the storms.
- impoténs írae
(Liv. xxix. 9. 9), ungovernable in anger.
- coniúrátionis
participés (Cat. iii. 14),sharing in the conspiracy.
- affínis rei capitális
(Verr. ii. 2. 94),involved in a capital crime.
- ínsóns culpae
(Liv. xxii. 49) innocent of guilt.
b. 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:
- sí quem tui amantiórem
cógnóvistí (Q. Fr. i. 1. 15), if you have
become acquainted with any one more fond of you.
- multitúdó insoléns
belli (B. C. ii. 36), a crowd unused to war.
- erat Iugartha appeténs gloriae
militáris (Iug. 7) , Jugurtha was eager for military
glory.
NOTE 1: Participles in -ns, when
used as participles, take the case regularly governed by the verb
to which they belong: as, Sp. Maelium regnum
appetentem interemit (Cat. M. 56), he put to death Spurius
Maelius, who was aspiring to royal power.
NOTE 2: Occasionally participial forms in -ns are treated as participles (see note 1) even
when they express a disposition or character: as, virtus quam alil ipsam temperantiam dlcunt esse, alil
obtemperantem temperantiae praecephs et eam subsequentem
(Tusc. iv. 30), observant of the teachings of temperance and obedient
to her.
c. Verbals in -áx (§ 251) govern the genitive in poetry and later
Latin:
- tum et tenacem proposití
virum (Hor. Od. iii. 3) , a man just and steadfast to his
purpose.
- circus capáx populí
(Ov. A. A. i. 136) ,a circus big enough to hold the people.
- cibí nuque
capácissimus (Liv. ix. 16. 13), a very great eater and
drinker (very able to contain food and wine).
d. 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 rei
mílitáris (Tac. H. ii. 32),skilled in
soldiership.
- pauper aquae (Hor. Od. iii. 30. 11),
scant of water.
- nótus animí
paterní (id. ii. 2. 6), it famed for a paternal spirit.
- fessí rerum (Aen. i. 178),
weary of toil.
- integer vítae scelerisque
púrus (Hor. Od. i. 22. l) right in life, and unstained
by guilt.
NOTE: 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; púrus, 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
§ 386. c. For Adjectives with animí (locative in origin), see § 358.