Viator per tenebras ambulat.

Viator is the subject of the sentence: the person doing the action.

It is in the nominative singular, which is the case Latin normally uses for the subject. The dictionary form is viator, viatoris, meaning traveler or wayfarer.

So:

• viator = the traveler / a traveler

Latin often uses tenebrae, tenebrarum in the plural to mean darkness or gloom.

So even though English usually says darkness as a singular idea, Latin commonly says tenebrae literally as darknesses/shadows, but it simply means darkness in normal translation.

In this sentence:

• tenebras is the accusative plural form

This is very normal Latin usage.

Because per is the preposition that means through.

Latin prepositions often require a specific case, and per takes the accusative. That is why tenebrae becomes tenebras here.

So:

• per = through
• tenebras = accusative plural after per
• per tenebras = through the darkness

Ambulat is the 3rd person singular present active indicative of ambulare, meaning to walk.

Breaking it down:

• ambul- = the verb stem
• -at = he/she/it in the present tense for a 1st-conjugation verb

So ambulat means:

• he walks
• she walks
• it walks
• or, with the subject stated, the traveler walks

Latin has no articles. It does not have separate words for the, a, or an.

So viator can mean:

• a traveler
• the traveler

And tenebras can mean:

• darkness
• the darkness

The exact choice in English depends on context and natural translation.

Not as much as in English. Latin word order is flexible because the endings show each word’s function.

So all of these could mean basically the same thing:

• Viator per tenebras ambulat
• Per tenebras viator ambulat
• Ambulat viator per tenebras

However, word order can change emphasis:

• putting per tenebras first can emphasize through the darkness
• putting ambulat first can emphasize the action walks

The version given is a straightforward, easy sentence order.

Yes, but it would mean something slightly different.

• per tenebras = through the darkness
• in tenebris = in the darkness

Per emphasizes movement through or across something.
In with the ablative emphasizes being in a place or within a setting.

So Viator per tenebras ambulat suggests the traveler is moving through darkness, not just walking in it.

No. Here ambulat is intransitive, so it does not take a direct object.

The phrase per tenebras is not a direct object. It is a prepositional phrase showing where or through what the traveler walks.

So the structure is:

• viator = subject
• ambulat = verb
• per tenebras = prepositional phrase

Viator is a 3rd-declension noun.

Its basic forms are:

• nominative singular: viator
• genitive singular: viatoris

That -oris in the genitive tells you it belongs to the 3rd declension.

In this sentence, the nominative singular viator is used because it is the subject.

In a restored classical pronunciation, it would sound approximately like:

WEE-ah-tor per teh-NEH-brahs ahm-boo-laht

A few points:

• v is pronounced like English w
• c and g are always hard, though they do not appear here
• ae is usually pronounced like ai in aisle, though it does not appear here either
• tenebras has the stress on NEH
• ambulat has the stress on boo

So the whole sentence is read smoothly as:

WEE-ah-tor per teh-NEH-brahs ahm-boo-laht