Latin beginner here, so apologies if this is a stupid question.
If we consider a sentence such as:
Librum bonum meum habeo.
Is there any limitation to the order of the words in the noun phrase? That is:
Librum bonum meum
It feels like I can put these three words in any order. My natural inclination is to put the noun itself first, followed by adjectives/modifiers. I also feel like I want to put words like meus or tuus at the end of the phrase.
By no means a stupid question. It’s a tricky business, but yes the words can go in any order. The verb can go anywhere too. (So some call Latin word order “free.”) But no order is quite the equivalent of any other. Don’t trust your instincts, or not until you develop good ones. An adjective is just as likely (if not more likely) to go before the noun as after it, and that goes for possessive adjectives (meus etc.) too. If I wanted to say “my good book” in as flat and neutral a way as possible I’d say meus bonus liber, but a lot depends on the context.
General principles. First word has prominence (it’s what you hit first, duh.) Last word may or may not. (Verb at the end sews everything up.) Words that go together tend to stay together, at least in prose. Separation throws weight on the separated item, e.g. meum librum habeo bonum could mean “I consider my book a good one” (as could meum librum bonum habeo). That’s a “predicative” use of the adjective (e.g. the book [is] good) as distinct from an “attributive” one (e.g. the good book), an important distinction even though in Latin it can’t always be made clear. No hard-and-fast rules (except no hard-and-fast rules).
This is not meant to substitute for the resources in the link, but just to give you a little preliminary orientation. Don’t expect to understand everything all at once. But it’s good to develop an appreciation of the niceties and nuances of Latin word order. Most of the time it’s straightforward enough, and I wouldn’t worry too much about it.