In Exercitia for Cap xxxvi (exercitium 6) Orberg has an exercise which he introduces as follows:
Exempla:
media Italia = medium (= media pars) Italiae
prima/postrema aestas = initium / inis (=prima/postrema pars) aestatis
summus/infimus mons = summum/infimum (= summa/infima pars) montis...
I don't really understand this. Is this an exercise to distinguise between adjectival use ‘media Italia’ and the noun + gen ‘medium Italiae’?
By some instinct I did get most of it right – but I’m ont really clear what he’s trying to teach.
The following questions are thus confusing to me (all of the text below is Orberg):
3. Naxos in medi__ mar__ Aegaeo [= in medio maris Aegaei] sita est.
4. Hora sexta dicitur 'meridies', id est medi__ di__ [= medium diei].
5. Sol altissimus est hora sexta vel meridie, id est med__ di__ [= medio diei]
The correct answer to these is given by Orberg as follows:
3. Naxos in medi[o] mar[i] Aegaeo [= in medio maris Aegaei] sita est.
4. Hora sexta dicitur 'meridies', id est medi[us] di[es] [= medium diei].
5. Sol altissimus est hora sexta vel meridie, id est med[io] di[e] [= medio diei]
Let me try to explain my thinking:
3. Naxos in medio mari Aegaeo [= in medio maris Aegaei] sita est.
- ‘medio’ = neuter ablative adjective to agree with noun ablative ‘mari’
- ‘mari’ = ablative of neuter noun ‘mare’.
4. Hora sexta dicitur 'meridies', id est medius dies [= medium diei].
- ‘medius’ = masculine nominative singular adjective to agree with ‘dies’. It is the middle of the day.
5. Sol altissimus est hora sexta vel meridie, id est medio die [= medio diei]
- ‘medio’ = masculine ablative to agree with ‘die’ – to indicate a time when.
This is just about agreement of adjectives isn't it..?