Monetarius argentum cudit.

Monetarius is the subject.

It is in the nominative singular, which is the case normally used for the doer of the action. So monetarius is the person doing the minting/striking.

Because argentum is a neuter noun.

In the second declension, neuter nouns have the same form in the nominative singular and the accusative singular. So:

• nominative singular: argentum
• accusative singular: argentum

That means the form by itself does not change here, even though its job in the sentence is different. In this sentence, argentum is the direct object of cudit.

Cudit is:

• 3rd person singular
• present tense
• indicative mood
• active voice

It comes from the verb cudere.

So grammatically it means he/she/it strikes, beats, forges, or mints, depending on context.

Cudere is a third-conjugation verb.

Its basic forms are commonly given as:

• cudō
• cudere
• cūsī
• cussum

A learner may notice that cudit does not look like amat from amare. That is because cudere belongs to a different conjugation, with different present-tense endings and stem patterns.

In form, monetarius is originally an adjective of the first-and-second-declension type, meaning something like of the mint or connected with money.

But in this sentence it is being used substantively, meaning it functions as a noun: a mint worker, moneyer, or official of the mint.

Latin does this often: an adjective can be used by itself as a noun when the meaning is clear.

They belong to different noun/adjective patterns:

• monetarius: first-and-second-declension adjective, here used as a masculine noun
• argentum: second-declension neuter noun

So a learner could parse them like this:

• monetarius = nominative singular masculine
• argentum = accusative singular neuter

Because Latin has no articles.

So monetarius can mean:

• a moneyer
• the moneyer

And argentum can mean:

• silver
• the silver

Context tells you which English translation sounds best.

The word order matters much less in Latin than in English, because the endings already show each word’s role.

Monetarius argentum cudit is a normal and clear order: subject - object - verb.

But Latin could also say things like:

• Argentum monetarius cudit
• Cudit monetarius argentum
• Argentum cudit monetarius

Those can all mean the same basic thing, though the emphasis may shift. English usually cannot do that so freely.

Not necessarily.

It is capitalized here simply because it is the first word of the sentence. In normal Latin writing for learners, the first word is capitalized just as in English.

So Monetarius here should not automatically be taken as a personal name.

In a common classical pronunciation, it would be approximately:

mo-ne-TA-ri-us ar-GEN-tum KOO-dit

A few helpful points:

• c is always hard, like k
• g is always hard
• u is pronounced like oo
• stress falls on:
  • ta in monetarius
  • gen in argentum
  • cu in cudit

Yes.

Latin often leaves out the subject pronoun, and sometimes even the subject noun, if it is clear from context. Since cudit already means he/she/it strikes, a sentence could simply say argentum cudit if the subject were understood from the surrounding context.

Here, monetarius is included to state clearly who is doing the action.

Not necessarily.

Like English silver, argentum can refer to the metal as a substance, not just to one separate object. So singular argentum can naturally mean silver in a general or material sense.

That is very normal Latin usage.