Which common nouns have a locative?

Question

I recently mentioned to someone the mnemonic I'd learned for the locative: "cities, towns, islands smaller than Rhodes, and domus and rus". In other words, only the names of cities, towns, and small islands, plus two common nouns, were able to take the locative case.

To my surprise, though, they had learned a different mnemonic, ending in "domus, rus, and humus". And another chimed in that focus could also take the locative.

Is there a complete list of common nouns which have commonly-accepted locative forms? (I'm looking primarily for Classical Latin, but earlier or later citations are fine also, so long as the locative wasn't productive at that time.)

Answer 1

I don't know of a complete list, but Albert Hoefer has an extensive one:

"Pronouns":

ubi, ibi, hic, illic

However, I doubt these are true locatives. See de Vaan on ubi:

ubi 'where' [adv.]...PIt. *k^wu-þ/fei 'where'. It. cognates: O. puf, U. pufe, pufe [adv.] 'where' < *k^wu-b/d^hei. PIE *k^wu-d^hi/-b^hi 'where.' IE cognates: Skt. kuham OAv. kuda 'where'...

Theoretically, ubi can reflect *k^wub^hei or *k^wud^hei. The suffix *-b^hi would be the PIE ins[trumental] ending, whereas *-d^hei could be an Italic innovation.

The long i ending on the ubi etc. seems to have lead to Hoefer making them all locatives, but I don't know if that holds up.

Common nouns:

terrae, militiae, viciniae, belli, humi, domi, foci, crastini (die), ruri, tempori, vesperi, and luci

I've yet to come across someone else adding another to any list.

I have to eat crow. Seems plenty of people do add animi, though some point out it could be a genitive. But sources for it being a locative include Bennett, Oakley, Jones & Sidwell, and Duckworth.

Answer 2

I would add other two words now crystallised as adverbs: diu (during the day) is the old locative for dies-diei and noctu (at night) which is the analogic locative for nox-noctis. See the expression "diu noctuque". The locative was intended to express not only spatial position but also a temporal one.

Answer 3

Aren't you confusing the idea of 'motion to' with that of actual location?

'Motion to' usually has ad + accusative, the exceptions being those in various mnemonics similar to those you quote: cities, towns, small islands, domus, rus and humus (I've never come across focus in such a list, but wouldn't rule it out). Thus, Romam and NOT ad Romam (which means 'near Rome') 'to Rome', and so on. The critical size of the island of Rhodes is questionable, and my guess is that using ad depended entirely on the writer's idea of an island's importance.

The locative simply indicates, as you might expect, place where, a position without the idea of motion to it. It takes its form regularly from a genitive or ablative, according to declension, for which the rules are to be found in any elementary grammar. Romae means 'at Rome'; Athenis, 'at Athens'.

There are a few irregularities to be learnt, such as domi for 'at home' (where domus, the 4th Decl. genitive might have been expected) and militiae, 'in battle' or 'on the battlefield'. Such a list as you ask for would probably be limited to the few exceptions of whatever mnemonic (or maybe aide-memoire?) you choose.

[Edit following responses]:

I'm quite baffled by the responses (below) to this answer. No noun "takes" a locative, but it can certainly can adopt a locative form (e.g. Romae), where appropriate, to indicate a "place where" — including those on Draconis's list. Motion towards a place is quite a different thing, usually indicated by ad (sometimes in) + accusative, but there are exceptions where the preposition is omitted: these are listed in (and are the purpose of) Draconis's mnemonic, and in these cases the preposition, if used, indicates proximity: ad Romam, for instance, means 'near Rome'