Expert: Michael - 11/1/2009

Question

Dear Michael,
Could you help me with the declension of the name Antiochia in the following sentence: (in general, how can you tell the gender and declension of a proper noun in Latin?)
In civitate Antiochia rex fuit quidam nomine Antiochus, a quo ipsa civitas nomen accepit Antiochia.
Thank you.
Robert


Answer
It is a normal feminine-gender noun of the first declension.  If you look it up in a Latin dictionary, you will see it given with the ending -a in the nominative and -ae in the genitive, and with the gender feminine (f).  Those forms are characteristic of the first declension, as a check in your Latin grammar will indicate.