Nota accusativi

Okay kiddo, let's talk about something called nota accusativi. Have you ever heard of nouns? They are words that we use to name things, like "dog" or "car". In some languages, including Latin, we have different forms or endings for nouns depending on how they are being used in a sentence.

Sometimes, we use a noun to be the subject of a sentence, like "The dog chases the ball". But other times, we use a noun to be the object of a sentence, like "I throw the ball to the dog".

Now, in Latin, when we use a noun as the object of a sentence, we add a special ending to it called the accusative case. This helps us know exactly what role the noun is playing in the sentence - is it the one doing the action or the one receiving the action?

But sometimes, Latin writers would leave off the accusative ending, and instead put a little mark or symbol above the last letter of the noun. This is called the nota accusativi, and it tells us that even though the noun doesn't have the usual accusative ending, it is still the object of the sentence.

So, think of it like a little reminder for us to know how to read the sentence correctly. Without the nota accusativi, we might accidentally think the noun is the subject instead of the object, and that could change the whole meaning of the sentence!