495. (1.) The nominative singular of gender stems in a mute is formed by
adding #-s# to the stem (422): as,
#rēg-#, _king_, N. #rēx# (164, 1); #duc-#, _leader_, N. #dux# (135, 1);
#custōd-#, _guard_, N. #custōs# (171, 5); #aetāt-#, _age_, N. #aetās#
(171, 5); #caelib-#, _unmarried_, N. #caelebs# (54); #mūnicip-#,
_burgher_, N. #mūniceps#. #hiem-#, _winter_, the only stem in #-m-#, N.
#hiemps# (167) or #hiems#, also takes #-s#.
496. (2.) Stems in a continuous consonant, #-l-#, #-n-#, #-r-#, or
#-s-#, and neuters have no nominative suffix (422, 423): as,
#cōnsul-#, _consul_, N. _cōnsul_; #flāmin-#, _special priest_, N.
#flāmen#; #agger-#, _mound_, N. #agger#; #iūr-# for #iūs-#, _right_, N.
#iūs#.
For #cor#, _heart_, see 476; #lacte#, #lac#, _milk_, 478; #sanguī̆s#,
_blood_, 486; #-s# in neuter adjectives, 612.
497. (_a._) Stems in #-ōn-# drop #-n-# in the nominative; stems in
#-in-# for #-on-# drop #-n-#, and end in #-ō#: as,
#leōn-#, _lion_, N. #leō#; #imāgin-# for #imāgon-#, _likeness_, N.
#imāgō#.
498. (_b._) Stems of one syllable in #-r-# for #-s-# usually retain #-s#
in the nominative: as, #flōr-# for #flōs-#, M., _flower_, N. #flōs#;
#iūr-# for #iūs-#, Ne., _right_, N. #iūs#. Some of more than one
syllable also retain #-s#: see 491; but in others #-s# is changed to
#-r#, and in masculines a preceding #ō# is shortened: as, #odōs#,
_smell_, #odor#. #lepōs#, _grace_, retains #-ōs#.
499. (_c._) Four stems in #-er-# for #-is-# have the nominative singular
in #-is#: #cinis#, _ashes_, #cineris#; #cucumis#, _cucumber_,
#cucumeris# or #cucumis#; #pulvī̆s#, _dust_, #pulveris#; and #vōmis#,
oftener #vōmer#, _ploughshare_, #vōmeris#.
500. The following have the nominative singular formed from a different
stem from that of the other cases (401):
#iter#, _journey_, #itineris#, stems #iter-#, #itiner-#; #Iuppiter#
(389) #Iovis#; #supellēx#, _furniture_, #supellēctilis# (545); #senex#,
_old man_, _man of forty or more_, #senis#, stems #senec-#, #sen-#. For
#sēdēs#, _seat_, see 476; #vātēs#, _bard_, 478. #canis#, _dog_, N. also
#canēs# (Plaut. Enn., Lucil.), #iuvenis#, _young_ or _middle-aged
person_ (486), #volucris#, _bird_ (490), and #mēnsis#, _month_ (492),
have their nominatives formed like those of #-i-# stems.
501. An old dative in #-ē# is sometimes retained in set phrases (507):
as, #aerē#, _money_; #iūrē#, _right_. See 98.
502. Substantives have rarely an ablative in #-ī# or #-ei# like #-i-#
stems: as, #capitī# (Catull.), _head_, for #capite#; #dōtei# (Plaut.),
_dowry_, for #dōte#. Substantives used as adjectives have sometimes
#-ī#: as #artificī manū#, _with artist hand_; but often #-e#: as, #ālite
lāpsū#, _with winged glide_. For #-ē# in old Latin there is no certain
evidence.
503. Adjectives in the comparative degree have sometimes an ablative in
#-ī#: as, #meliōrī#, better, for #meliōre#. Adjectives ‘of one ending’
with consonant stems (624) have always #-e#, except #vetus#, _old_,
which has sometimes #veterī#.
504. Town names and a few appellatives have a locative case in #-ī#: as,
#Karthāginī#, _at Carthage_; #rūrī#, _a-field_, _in the country_.
[Erratum:
502 ... as, #ālite lāpsū#, _with winged glide_
as.]