Zenoni dicto

Latin Learning Latin
1

Latine (adv.); Latinus, Latina, Latinum

I’m revising vocubulary in LLPSI Pars 1 and have found the following, the grammar of which I don’t understand (must have been asleep the first time around.

Marcus "Ego ipse non scribo, sed Zenoni dicto. Zeno est servus doctus qui et Latine et Graece scit.

mmmm.. Now I know what this means. He doesn’t write but dictates to his servant but what’s the grammar.

Is ‘…sed Zenoni dicto’ an ablative absolute 'I don’t write myself but my servant is dictated to…? Is Zeononi ablative? or is it dative…but then what would be the subject of dicto…

Then we have ‘Zeno est…qui et Latine et scit..’

‘Latine’ is an adverb . Latine scit … knowing latin ?

2

Zenoni is dative. Dicto, dictare is “to dictate,” so it’s just the first person verb “I dictate to Zeno.” As with many verbs of speaking, the object is in the dative.

3

Thanks Thesaurus