Overview
In
Latin, "We Beat A
Friar's Liar" is a
mnemonic device relating to the
subjunctive mood. In order, the
vowel combinations in the phrase give the alternate endings assumed by
present tense Latin verbs of each
conjugation when placed in the subjunctive
mood.
Note: it is helpful to know a little something about Latin, grammar, and Latin grammar for this writeup...
The What Mood?: a
Brief Introduction to the
Subjunctive mood
In Latin (and some other languages as well), there are several
moods:
1) The
Indicative - this is simply a normal verb that
states an action (it
indicates it).
E.g. Puer parvus canum sequatur.
2) The
Imperative - this is a
command or order. E.g.
Tacite, discipuli!
3) And finally, relevant to our discussion here, the
Subjunctive - this is kind of the
bastard child of moods. In English, the verb "to be" is in the subjunctive in "If I
were you...". In Latin, there are
many uses of the subjunctive.
Some Important Uses of the Subjunctive
1) The
Hortatory or
Jussive Subjunctive - is used with regard to
encouragement or
ordering. For example, if one were to translate "You
should try to
whatever" into Latin, the verb
tempto, -are, -avi, -atus -- to try would be placed in the subjunctive mood:
Temptes whatever.
2) The
Purpose Clause - when a subjunctive verb is used with
ut or
ne to express the purpose or reason for an
action. E.g.
Nuntium mittam ut scias. "I will send a messenger so that you will know."
3)
Indirect Question - this one is hard to explain. The best thing is to give an example: "He wants to find out
who owns the property." The phrase "who owned the property" would be translated into Latin using a
relative pronoun qui, quae, quod - who, what, which and a
subjunctive habeo, -ere, -ui -- have, hold, (own).
These are some of the
most important uses of the subjunctive in Latin, but there are several others. However, it is important to note that the
tense of the subjunctive depends on the tense of the
main (indicative) verb. This follows a pattern called a
sequence of tenses.
Ok, so what about this Friar, then?
A
present subjunctive - a verb in the subjunctive mood and the present tense - is used, according to the sequence of tenses, when the
main verb is in the present tense and the action of the
subjunctive occurs at the same time or later than that of the main verb.
Whoo! That was a mouthful! Basically, it is often,
really useful to know the present subjunctive form of a verb.
Latin verbs exist in
conjugations, or classifications based upon how their endings are formed.
For each conjugation, a partical
vowel string is appended to the
root or
stem of the verb in question. To this is then appending the appropriate ending from the chart below:
N.B. - this depends on whether the verb is to be in the active or the passive voice.
Person: Singular: Plural:
1st - I, we -m/or -mus/mur
2nd - you -s/ris -tis/mini
3rd - he, she, it / they -t/tur -nt/ntur
Read up about
Latin to understand this chart better!
The conjugations and their present subjunctive forms are below:
First Conjugation. E.g.
amo, amare, amavi, amatus - to love. Characterized by
-are in the second
principal part.
Present subjunctive formed about
-e-. For example,
amet - "let him love / may she love"
or however you want to translate it...
Second Conjugation. E.g.
maneo, manère, manui, manitus - to warn. Characterized by
-ère in the
infinitive.
Present subjunctive formed about
-ea-. For example
maneat - "may it warn"
Third Conjugation. E.g.
mitto, mittere, misi, misus - to send (away). Characterized by
-ere in
second principal part.
Present subjunctive formed about
-a-. E.g.
mittat - "let it send"
Third Conjugation I-Stem. E.g.
capio, capere, cepi, captus - to take, capture, seize. Characterized by
-io in
present active indicative first person singular* (i.e. first
principal part) and by
-ere in the
infinitive.
Present subjunctive formed about
-ia-. E.g.
capiat - "may he take"
Fourth Conjugation. E.g.
audio, audire, audivi, auditus - to hear, listen. Characterized by
-ire in the second
principal part.
Present subjunctive formed about
-ia-. E.g.
audiat - "let her hear"
Thus, the all-important vowel strings are, in
order:
-e- -ea- -a- -ia- -ia-
Hence the
mnemonic is:
We Beat A Friar's Liar.
* - Ya gotta love Latin, dontcha? ;)