Josquin wrote:reineke wrote:"A fully declined Latin adjective would have two numbers, seven cases, and three genders, or forty-two forms, of which you will most likely need to learn thirty..."
That's total nonsense. All you need to know is the nominative singular and maybe the genitive singular, if there are stem changes. All other forms are regular and can be derived.
By the way, Latin has five cases, or maybe six if we count the vocative...
You should take it up with the author:
Donald Fairbairn is the Robert E. Cooley Professor of Early Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He is the author of Life in the Trinity: An Introduction to Theology with the Help of the Church Fathers, Grace and Christology in the Early Church, and Eastern Orthodoxy through Western Eyes.
PRAISE FOR THE BOOK:
"This is an essential companion to introductory texts on first-year Greek or first-year Latin. As students learn less and less English grammar in primary and secondary education, virtually all foreign-language instructors must supplement their standard introductions. Why not do it with a book that teaches exactly what is needed to understand beginning Greek and Latin grammar, no more and no less? Equally valuable for both languages, with little that is superfluous for either, Fairbairn's book is clear, concise, and motivational. I recommend it enthusiastically."--Craig L. Blomberg, Distinguished Professor of New Testament, Denver Seminary
"Fairbairn's Understanding Language illuminates the complexities of both classical tongues in many helpful ways by anticipating major challenges faced by today's classics teachers in explaining, and their Anglophone students in comprehending, grammatical issues. His emphasis on the functions of forms is especially welcome and impressive."--Judith P. Hallett, Professor of Classics, University of Maryland