Lexicon and semantics: meaning of words and expressions in context
This domain tests meaning in use, not the dictionary list: the paper asks for the Spanish equivalent of a few words or expressions as they appear in the passage, and often for Spanish derivatives or for the sense of a Latin phrase still current in law, science or everyday speech.
Context beats the dictionary
Latin is heavily polysemous; give the single equivalent that fits the sentence.
- res: cosa, asunto, situación, hecho; ea res often «esta noticia».
- imperium: poder, mando militar; «imperio» only in later, territorial senses.
- ratio: razón, método, plan, cuenta.
- consilium: plan, decisión, consejo (≠ concilium, asamblea).
- vis: fuerza, violencia; plural vires: fuerzas, tropas.
- signum: señal, enseña militar, estatua.
- animus: ánimo, valor, mente (≠ anima, aliento, alma).
- gratia: favor, influencia, gratitud; gratias agere: dar las gracias. Expressions: in dies (día a día), quam primum (cuanto antes), res publica (el estado), bellum gerere (hacer la guerra).
Etymology and derivatives
Show the chain Latin → Spanish with the regular changes (f- → h-, -tio → -ción, -arius → -ero).
- bellum → bélico, belicoso
- ius, iuris → jurídico, justicia, juicio
- lex, legis → legal, legislar, ley
- civis → civil, cívico, ciudadano
- miles, militis → militar, milicia
- caput, capitis → capital, capítulo
Latin still in use
Sui generis, ipso facto, de facto, a priori, quorum, referendum, curriculum vitae, modus operandi, alter ego, ad hoc; in law, habeas corpus, in dubio pro reo, nulla poena sine lege.
Worked example
Consilio hostium cognito legati discesserunt.
- consilio is ablative of consilium, and here it means «plan, estrategia» - the enemy's plan - not «consejo» in the sense of an advisory body, which would be concilium.
- Derivative to quote: «consejo», from consilium; the pair consilium/concilium explains why Spanish distinguishes consejo and concilio. The reasoning should always be: which sense makes the sentence coherent?
Traps that cost marks
- Listing three meanings instead of choosing the one that fits.
- Lookalike pairs: consilium/concilium, malus (malo) / malus (manzano), liber (libro) / liber (libre), os (boca) / os (hueso).
- Giving the Latin root when the question asks for a Spanish derivative.
- Inventing derivatives that do not exist in Spanish.