Nonne proscriptio bonorum venditionem nuntiat?

Nonne introduces a yes-or-no question that expects the answer yes.

So this is not a completely neutral question. It has the feel of:

• Surely ... ?
• Doesn't ... ?
• Isn't it true that ... ?

That is why the sentence sounds a bit rhetorical or confirmatory.

The sentence breaks down like this:

• proscriptio = subject
• bonorum = genitive dependent on proscriptio
• venditionem = direct object
• nuntiat = verb

So the core structure is:

proscriptio ... venditionem nuntiat
= the posting/proscription ... announces a sale

Because proscriptio is in the nominative singular, which is the normal case for the subject of a finite verb.

Also, the verb is nuntiat, which is third person singular, so it matches a singular subject:

• proscriptio = singular
• nuntiat = he/she/it announces

That agreement helps confirm that proscriptio is the subject.

Bonorum is a genitive plural form meaning of goods or of property.

Here it depends on proscriptio, giving the phrase:

proscriptio bonorum
= the posting up / proscription of goods or property

In Latin, the genitive often shows a relationship like of in English.

Because Latin often uses the neuter plural bona to mean goods, possessions, property, estate.

So:

• bona = goods, property
• bonorum = of goods, of property

This is very common in legal and formal Latin. English may use singular property, but Latin often prefers the plural idea goods/possessions.

Yes. It comes from bonus, bona, bonum, meaning good.

But the neuter plural bona is often used as a noun, not just as an adjective. In that substantivized use, it means:

• goods
• possessions
• property

So bonorum is the genitive plural of that substantivized neuter plural idea.

Because venditionem is the direct object of nuntiat.

The verb nuntiat means announces, reports, or gives notice of, and the thing being announced is in the accusative:

• venditionem = sale
• nuntiat venditionem = announces a sale

So the accusative tells you what is being announced.

Nuntiat is:

• present tense
• indicative mood
• active voice
• third person singular

It comes from nuntio, nuntiare, meaning to announce, to report, to give notice of.

So nuntiat means:

• he announces
• she announces
• it announces

Here the natural translation is it announces, referring to proscriptio.

Latin word order is much freer than English word order because Latin uses case endings to show each word’s job in the sentence.

So Latin does not need to rely on position as heavily as English does.

In this sentence:

• nonne comes first because it marks the whole sentence as a question expecting yes
• proscriptio appears early as the subject
• venditionem comes before the verb as the object
• nuntiat comes last, which is very common in Latin, though not required

A more English-like order would be something like:

Nonne proscriptio bonorum nuntiat venditionem?

But the original order is perfectly normal Latin.

Related, yes — but not always identical in meaning.

A learner should be careful here, because proscriptio in Latin can have a more specific Roman legal sense, such as:

• a public posting
• an official notice
• a proclamation
• in some contexts, proscription or confiscatory listing

So although English proscription is connected etymologically, the best meaning in a given sentence depends on context. In a sentence like this, it can suggest a formal public notice connected with property and sale.

These are three common ways to form yes-or-no questions in Latin:

• -ne = neutral question
  Nuntiatne? = Does it announce?

• nonne = question expecting yes
  Nonne nuntiat? = Doesn’t it announce? / Surely it announces?

• num = question expecting no
  Num nuntiat? = It doesn’t announce, does it?

So in your sentence, nonne tells you the speaker expects agreement.