The Latin of the Introits, Advent 1 - Ad Te Levavi

The Latin of the Introits, Advent 1 - Ad Te Levavi

The Introit for the first Sunday of the liturgical year is taken from the first four verses of Psalm 24.

Ad te levavi animam meam: Deus meus, in te confido, non erubescam; neque irrideant me inimici mei, etenim universi qui te exspectant non confundentur. Ps. Vias tuas, Domine, demonstra mihi: et semitas tuas edoce me.
To thee have I lifted up my soul: in thee, O my God, I put my trust, let me not be ashamed: neither let my enemies laugh at me: for none of them that wait on thee shall be confounded. Ps. Show, O Lord, thy ways to me, and teach me thy paths.
 
Ad - To or unto (preposition). It's followed by a noun or pronoun in the accusative case.
te - you/thee (singular). Te is accusative case, to follow ad.
levavi - I have lifted. I lift is levo; the -avi ending indicates past tense.
animam - soul. Anima is soul. The -am ending indicates accusative case, since this is the direct object of the verb levavi.
meam - my. Meus is my. The ending -am indicates agreement with animam, the word it qualifies.
 
Deus - God. Strictly this is the vocative case, since God is being addressed.
meus - my. Ending indicates agreement with Deus, which it qualifies.
in - in. Followed by the ablative case where it indicates state or location, rather than motion.
te - you/thee (singular). Although this is the same form as the te used in the previous sentence, strictly this is the ablative case, to follow in.
confido - I trust. Present tense.
 
non - not, negating the verb erubescam.
erubescam -  I may be ashamed. I am ashamed is erubesco. Here the -am ending indicates a subjunctive verb - 'I may be' rather than 'I am'. See grammatical note below.
 
neque - and not.
irrideant - they may laugh at. Irrideo is I laugh at. The ending -eant indicates that the subject is 'they' but also that this is a subjunctive verb, indicating 'may' rather than 'is'. See the grammatical note below!
me - me. Accusative case, as direct object of the verb irrideant.
inimici - enemies. Inimicus is enemy, inimici is plural. Nominative case as subject of the verb irrideant.
mei - my. The ending indicates agreement with inimici, which it qualifies.
 
etenim - and indeed. A connective word, which doesn't differ very much from et.
universi - All of them.
qui - who. This is a relative pronoun.
te - thee/you (singular). Accusative case, as direct object of the verb exspectant.
exspectant - they expect or wait for.
non - not, negating the verb confundentur.
confundentur - They will be confounded, thrown into confusion. Confundo is I confound. The ending -entur here indicates that the verb indicates the future; also that it is passive - They will be confounded - done to the subject - rather than they will confound. See grammatical note below.
 
Universi non confundentur is the main sentence here; qui te exspectant is a relative clause - a sub-sentence which describes universi.
 
Vias - Ways. Via is way or road. The ending indicates plural and also accusative case, as the direct object of the verb demonstra.
tuas - your/thy. The ending is modified to go with vias, which the word qualifies.
Domine - O Lord. Lord is Dominus. The ending indicates the vocative case, since the Lord in being addressed.
demonstra - show or indicate. I show is demonstro. This ending here indicates a command or request - it's called the imperative. See grammatical note below.
mihi - to me. This is the dative case, since we have an indirect object of the verb demonstra. (Something that was being shown would be a direct object; the person it is being shown to is the indirect object, which takes the dative case.)
 
et - and
semitas - paths. Semita is path. The ending indicates plural, and the accusative case, since it is the direct object of the verb edoce.
tuas - your. Tuus is your. The ending here shows agreement with semitas, which it qualifies.
edoce - Teach. I teach is edoceo. The ending indicates the imperative, since this is a request.
me - me. Accusative case, as direct object of the verb edoce.
Notice that the verb edoce has two objects - semitas and me - and that they are both in the accusative case.
 
 
Grammatical Note - The Two voices and Three Moods of Verbs

As well as verbs having a tense - e.g. past, present and future - they also have two voices and three moods!

The two voices are the Active and the Passive.

Active: the subject is doing whatever the verb expresses: I rule, I love.
Passive: the subject is the recipient of the action that the verb expresses: I am ruled, I am loved.

Rego - I rule; Regor - I am ruled
Amo - I love; Amor - I am loved

The three voices are the Indicative, the Subjunctive, and the Imperative

The Indicative expresses that something is happening: I love, I rule
The Subjunctive expresses that something may happen, or wishes that it may: I may rule, I may love.
The Imperative gives a command: love! rule!

Amo - I love; Amem - I may love; Ama - love!
Rego - I rule: Regem - I may rule; Rege - rule!

Ama - rule! is directed towards one person (singular)
Amate - rule! is directed towards more than one person (plural)

The endings of verbs in Latin change to show the tense, the voice, and the mood.

Today's antiphon uses all three moods of verbs: the indicative, the subjunctive, and the imperative.


Bonus - Communion Antiphon

Dominus dabit benignitatem: et terra nostra dabit fructum suum.
The Lord will give his goodness: and our earth shall yield her fruit.

Dominus - The Lord. Subject of the verb dabit.
dabit - he will give. Do is I give. The ending indicates future tense.
benignitatem - Goodness. Benignitas is goodness; the -atem ending indicates accusative case, as the direct object of the verb dabit.

et - and.
terra - land. Subject of the verb.
nostra - Our. The ending -ra is agreement with terra, which it qualifies.
dabit - it will give. Dabit can mean he, she or it will give.
fructum - fruit. Fructus means fruit, or produce. The ending indicates accusative case, as direct object of the verb dabit.
suum - its. Suus is his, hers, or its. The ending shows agreement with fructum.