[The Vocative Nominative and Vocative Proper.]
[1118.] The vocative nominative is used when a person or thing is addressed: as,
quō usque tandem abūtēre, Catilīna, patientiā nostrā? C. 1, 1, in heaven’s name, how long, Catiline, wilt trifle with our patience? valēte, dēsīderia mea, valēte, Fam. 14, 2, 4, good bye, my absent loves, good bye. Instead of a proper name, an emphatic tū is often used: as, advorte animum sīs tū, Pl. Cap. 110, just pay attention, sirrah, please.
[1119.] Masculine stems in -o- commonly use the special form for the second person singular called the vocative: as,
urbem, urbem, mī Rūfe, cole, Fam. 2, 12, 2, stick to town, dear Rufus, yes, to town. But the vocative nominative is sometimes used even of -o- stems: as, audī tū, populus Albānus, L. 1, 24, 7, hear thou, the people of Alba.
[1120.] Poets use the vocative nominative or vocative proper very freely, sometimes for liveliness, but often simply in place of other cases not allowed by the metre: as,
ōra manūsque tuā lavimus, Fērōnia, lymphā, H. S. 1, 5, 24, our faces and our hands, Feronia, in thy stream we wash. occiderat Tatius, populīsque aequāta duōbus, Rōmule, iūra dabās, O. 14, 805, now dead was Tatius, and to peoples twain thou gavest, Romulus, impartial laws. longum tibi, Daedale, crīmen, O. 8, 240, a lasting stigma, Daedalus, to thee. In these three examples, Fērōniae, Rōmulus, and Daedalō would be impossible. In poetry, the vocative is particularly common in questions.
[1121.] Nominative forms and vocative forms are often combined: as, dulcis amīce, H. E. 1, 7, 12, sweet friend. mī vir, Pl. Am. 716, my husband. Iāne pater, J. 6, 394, thou father Janus.
[1122.] In verse the vocative is occasionally used even in the predicate: as, quō moritūre ruis? V. 10, 811, whither, on death intent, fliest thou? quibus, Hector, ab ōrīs exspectāte venīs? V. 2, 282, out of what limboes, Hector, dost thou gladly welcomed come?