Adjectives without nouns

[MrKennedy]

I’m slightly confused by them. What governs the stem ending? For example..

‘’Graeci multos nostrum necaverant’’ (which as far as I can work out means ‘the Greeks had killed many of us’’).

The pronoun is a genitive but I do not understand how the multos is inflected as such (second declension masc; plural-accusative). Why not 'multas'?

Or is the 'multos' governing the 'greeks' (which is in nom.plu). The case ending still doesn't conform even if the declension is correct).

 

[Matthaeus]

"multos nostrum" refers to "many of us", it is the object in that sentence, the masculine accusative plural being used to denote everyone, including women and children, although it could also refer to men only.

 

[wtfpwndd]

I’m slightly confused by them. What governs the stem ending? For example..

‘’Graeci multos nostrum necaverant’’ (which as far as I can work out means ‘the Greeks had killed many of us’’).

The pronoun is a genitive but I do not understand how the multos is inflected as such (second declension masc; plural-accusative). Why not 'multas'?

Or is the 'multos' governing the 'greeks' (which is in nom.plu). The case ending still doesn't conform even if the declension is correct).

They're called "substantive" adjectives. Think of the phrase "The Few. The Proud The Marines. Both the few and the brave are both adjectives with an implied "Men" at the end.

The problem you're having lies in your translation. Think of it more as "The Greeks had killed many men of ours"

Multos is used because we are talking about either a group of men, or an undefined group. If it were a group of women, it would be Multas. If it were a group of things it would be Multa.

Multos can't govern the Greeks in this sentence because they do not agree. Graeci is a substantive adjective as well. It implies "The Greek men" because Graeci is Nom. Pl.

 

[MrKennedy]

Thanks, I think I understand. So, if I am reading this correctly, the adjective is governed by the noun that is implied.

 

[x apatheia x]

Thanks, I think I understand. So, if I am reading this correctly, the adjective is governed by the noun that is implied.

Correct.

We do this in English as well - especially in parallel structures. (i.e.: Many are going to the party tomorrow.)
Many Latin writers omit words like res or people, if there is some clue that references it's connotation.

 

[Decimvs]

You can also think of "multos nostrum" as "many men of us (ours)." Multos, used substantively means "many men."