Questions & Answers about Canis mulae latrat, et mula timet.
Why is mulae ending in -ae instead of just mula?
Because mulae is dative singular, not nominative.
With latrare, Latin often uses the dative for the animal or person being barked at. So:
- canis = the dog (subject, nominative)
- mulae = to/at the mule (dative)
So Canis mulae latrat literally means something like The dog barks to/at the mule.
In English we normally say barks at the mule, but Latin often expresses that idea with the dative rather than a preposition.
How do we know canis is the subject of latrat?
We know from both case and meaning.
- canis is in the nominative singular, which is the usual case for the subject.
- latrat means barks, and a dog is the natural thing doing that action.
- mulae is in the dative singular, so it is not the subject here.
So the structure is:
- canis = the dog does the barking
- mulae = the mule is the one barked at
Why is mula used in the second clause instead of mulae?
Because in the second clause is the .