Terminology
This section provides terms appropriate for the upper-intermediate level of study of Latin language and literature in a North American context and is intended to give students a shared vocabulary with which to describe the grammar, syntax, and literary style of the required Latin texts. The list attempts to avoid both highly specialized and very basic terms, and focuses instead on those that are most important for precise translation, comprehension, and literary analysis in the AP course.
This list of terms is neither exclusive nor exhaustive, but rather is representative of the level of difficulty of the required Latin texts. Potential AP Exam questions may require students to demonstrate knowledge of the terms. The list does not include very basic grammar terms from first- and second-year Latin study (e.g., predicate nominative, direct object, temporal clause), nor does it include metrical terms already provided in the evidence statements of the Reading and Comprehending section. These basic terms, however, may also be tested on the AP Exam.
Grammar and Syntax
Modifies, complements, is dependent on, antecedent
Gerundive, gerund, supine
Fearing clause, result clause, purpose clause, relative clause, relative clause of characteristic, relative clause of purpose
Indirect statement, indirect question, indirect command
Conditionals
Mood, imperative, hortatory, or jussive subjunctive
Passive periphrastic, deponent
Partitive genitive, genitive with impersonal verb, genitive with adjective, genitive with verb of remembering (forgetting)
Dative of possession, dative of purpose, dative with compound verb, dative of agent, dative of reference, dative with special verbs
Accusative of duration of time, accusative of respect
Ablative, ablative absolute, ablative of separation, ablative of comparison, ablative of specification, ablative of cause, ablative of description, ablative of degree of difference, ablative with special verbs, ablative of time when, ablative of time within which
Vocative
Literary Style
Alliteration, anaphora, apostrophe, asyndeton, chiasmus, enjambment, hyperbaton, hyperbole, litotes, metaphor, metonymy, onomatopoeia, personification, polysyndeton, rhetorical question, simile, synchesis, tmesis.