Questions tagged [example-request]
For questions that ask for an example of usage of a particular word or construction, either artificial or from literature.
84
questions
7
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1answer
334 views
Are there minimal pairs between vowels and semivowels?
In Classical times, no distinction was made in writing between /u/ and /w/, or between /i/ and /j/. This distinction seems to have been phonemic, because we see names like Jūlius vs Iūlus.
But are ...
6
votes
0answers
59 views
Was deliberately bad grammar ever used for emphasis in Latin?
In English, we can sometimes use deliberately incorrect grammar for effect in speech. The first example that comes to mind is a more colloquial example:
I ain't never going to do...
When I hear this ...
9
votes
1answer
110 views
Did poets elide across consonants?
I have a definite recollection that Plautus, Ennius, or some other early poet had a tendency to elide across a word-final S, as in (made-up examples) domus et → dom'et and domus est → domu'st. If ...
6
votes
1answer
490 views
Where is φιλημι attested?
I've often heard it said that Aeolic Greek used -μι endings on contract verbs, like φιλημι in Sappho (for Attic φιλέω/φιλῶ).
However, I can't seem to find this supposed "φιλημι" anywhere. It ...
1
vote
1answer
48 views
Do any Greek words have stems ending in labiovelars?
I know that Ancient Greek lost its labiovelar consonants at some point before alphabetic writing caught on. We know of the labiovelars' previous existence mostly because of different reflexes in ...
4
votes
0answers
111 views
Are any phonemic distinctions not represented in Latin?
Latin orthography seems to have been relatively phonemic. In other words, if long vowels are marked somehow (macrons or apices), there seems to be a straightforward mapping between letters and ...
3
votes
0answers
66 views
Did Romulus and Remus have other names?
Throughout Classical times, Romans would often have several names: one person might be identified by praenomen, nomen gentilicum, cognomen, agnomen, signum, and patronymic, all together.
Were Roman ...
6
votes
1answer
324 views
Do neuter plural nouns ever take singular verbs in Latin?
In Greek, it's well-known that neuter plural subjects take singular verb forms. This seems to be an old Indo-European feature, as it shows up in e.g. Anatolian languages as well.
Does this feature ...
8
votes
3answers
390 views
An example sentence for Latin pronunciation
Latin pronunciation varies between times and locations, and to some extent individuals.
If I want learn a new kind of pronunciation, make sure I have properly switched to a new pronunciation, or want ...
5
votes
1answer
96 views
Is there a Latin equivalent to ἐπίκοινος?
The Ancient Greek grammatical tradition, going back to Dionysius Thrax (or maybe farther), distinguishes five types of nouns: masculine, feminine, neuter, common, and epicene (ἐπίκοινος). Four of ...
6
votes
1answer
314 views
Is 'volo' ever used with a future infinitive?
One can certainly use volo with an infinitive to express a wish:
Volo amari!
I want to be loved!
A future sense is often implied, as one would probably interpret that I'm not loved now if I wish ...
5
votes
1answer
183 views
How did the Romans refer to people of unknown gender?
Reference to other people's gender has become a delicate issue in today's world.
I expect that the Romans had no controversy over it, but they must have encountered situations where they have to write ...
3
votes
1answer
181 views
When were /k/ and /q/ first distinguished in the Greek or Latin alphabet?
Nowadays, in languages which make a distinction between velar and uvular stops, it's common to use K for the first and Q for the second. This is best-known nowadays from transcriptions of Arabic names,...
9
votes
1answer
234 views
Substantive adjectives “Latīna, Graeca” as language names
For example, I want to say: Latīna placet mihi magis quam Graeca, quamquam in Graecā multō plūra et doctiōra dē philosophiā scrīpta sunt.
I've seen people claiming that this use is incorrect and that ...
6
votes
1answer
115 views
An unambiguous example of 'īt'
The regular perfect them form for "he went" is iit.
In an answer to this question about two short versus one long vowel, TKR mentions that this form can be contracted to īt.
In a text without macrons ...
9
votes
4answers
2k views
Can 'in-' mean both 'in' and 'no'?
The prefix in- can mean "in" or "into" or similar, as in inire.
It can also mean "non-" or "un-", as in infelix.
Both meanings of the prefix are attested, but I am not familiar with any case where ...
2
votes
1answer
126 views
What evidence is there for volēre over volere?
In this answer, fdb mentions the Classical verb volō, velle transforming into *voleō, volēre in Vulgar Latin. The main evidence for this is a form volendi in Augustine and reflexes like voglio, volere ...
7
votes
4answers
584 views
Do non-deponent Latin verbs ever have a “middle voice”?
In Ancient Greek, verbs often take a "middle voice", neither active nor passive. The forms usually look identical to the passive on the surface, but can take direct objects and cannot take an agent (...
8
votes
1answer
1k views
Does Latin have any neuter words for humans?
In Ancient Greek, diminutives are almost always neuter, regardless of the original noun's gender. This leads to words like paidíon, "small child" (from país "child"), which are neuter even though they ...
4
votes
0answers
64 views
Do we have evidence of clipped words in Latin?
In English, it's common for words to be clipped down to their first couple syllables: "brother" becomes "bro", "university" becomes "uni", "doctor" becomes "doc", "veteran" becomes "vet", and so on. ...
3
votes
1answer
112 views
Did the Romans make bilingual puns?
I know that the Romans appreciated wordplay. But there's a rare and specific type of pun that I'm curious about now: a pun based on words sounding similar between languages.
For example:
Have you ...
6
votes
2answers
260 views
Can 'non' with gerundive mean both lack of obligation and negative obligation?
If a gerundive is used with non, can it mean both lack of obligation and negative obligation?
For example, can non loquendum est mean both "it is not necessary to speak" and "it is necessary not to ...
10
votes
2answers
202 views
Omission of a repeated verb in second part of a μέν … δέ
This question is about the Greek equivalent of sentences like
I do not fear the Greeks, but I do fear the Romans.
Socrates didn't write dialogues, but Plato did.
These sentences use or imply the ...
16
votes
3answers
3k views
Can “ee” appear in Latin?
There are a few instances in Latin where words are spelled with two vowels next to each other, in hiatus: filii "sons", metuunt "they fear".
Now, the last words of the Emperor Julian II are normally ...
7
votes
1answer
132 views
Do we know how Greek dialects sounded?
To some extent, we know how sounds varied between ancient Greek dialects: the Aeolians lost rough breathings but preserved digamma, for example, while the Attics changed many of their long alphas into ...
5
votes
1answer
547 views
Are there any words in Latin that are “light”?
In Latin, every syllable is either "light" or "heavy". A "heavy" syllable is one that has a long vowel and/or a coda consonant, and a "light" syllable is anything else. This distinction is important ...
5
votes
0answers
56 views
Is *rīcus attested?
The word for "rich" in most Romance languages looks something like, well, "rich". It declines like a first/second declension adjective, and seems to go back to Germanic *rīkijaz (possibly through ...
3
votes
1answer
97 views
Can “libella maris” be “sea level”?
I came across the expression libella maris in a scientific text from 19th century.
There are many ways to parse it in the context, and one option that occurred to me is that maybe it stands for "sea ...
9
votes
2answers
2k views
“There is” in Latin
In English you use the phrasal verb there+[to be] to mean something different than just an object being placed somewhere visible or known to the speaker and/or listener (i.e., there).
According to ...
5
votes
2answers
91 views
Are the pronoun-looking forms of quire attested?
The verb quire is conjugated like ire, and there are some forms that look like an interrogative or relative pronoun.
Those forms are quīs and quī.
Are these attested in classical ...
8
votes
1answer
193 views
Is the nominative gerund attested?
I'd always heard that the gerund had no nominative, with the present active infinitive taking the place of the missing form: volāre difficile est, rather than *volāndum.
However, in the comments on ...
5
votes
1answer
143 views
Vocative Gerund
I am 99.9999% confident there is no purpose for a vocative gerund. Yet nothing seems to specifically disallow for such a construction. In theory something such as "odi te currendum" (in English, "I ...
5
votes
2answers
106 views
Irreal condition expressed by a prepositional phrase
In English one can say:
Without you I would not be here.
This is roughly the same thing as:
If you had not helped, I would not be here.
The exact wording depends on context.
In the second ...
9
votes
1answer
140 views
Garden path sentences in classical Latin
A garden path sentence is a sentence that leads the reader astray and forces them to reanalyze.
The obvious first interpretation when one starts reading is a red herring and it comes clear that the ...
11
votes
3answers
625 views
Comparison of participles
Participles behave much like adjectives.
Do they also have comparative and superlative forms?
They are easy enough to form: ferentior, dicturissimus.
More precisely, are any comparatives or ...
5
votes
1answer
189 views
Has any Latin literature survived through the Arabs?
Some pieces of Greek literature have survived only through the Arabs.
But is there any classical Latin literature that has survived the same way?
This could mean translations from Latin to Arabic and ...
5
votes
1answer
64 views
How has literature helped archaeology?
Is there a good example case where extant ancient literature has helped understand archaeological findings?
This could mean, for example, a Roman author mentioning a tool and its use, which has helped ...
5
votes
0answers
53 views
damnatio memoriae
The Wikipedia article on the subject notes that the term damnatio memoriae, referring to the relegation of a person's name to oblivion, as if they never existed, is a neo-Latin expression first ...
4
votes
1answer
126 views
Ancient plagiarism
I have no doubt that plagiarism existed in the Greek and Roman antiquity: some authors must have copied material more or less directly from others without attribution.
(The moral requirement to cite ...
3
votes
1answer
129 views
Politically (in)correct Latin
I am looking for an example of a pair of adjectives or nouns (broadly defined) in classical Latin which mean the same thing but one is considered rude and the other one polite.
I could list several ...
7
votes
2answers
680 views
Regular passive forms of “facere”
Have regular passive forms of the verb facere ever been used?
If so, what is the first occurrence?
In all of the Latin I have seen, the passive forms of facere are replaced by fieri.
Regular passive ...
2
votes
1answer
67 views
What is the earliest Latin crossword puzzle?
I think it is safe to assume that there have been crossword puzzles in Latin, and I think I have seen some in textbooks as well.
But what was the earliest Latin crossword puzzle?
I do not mean word ...
8
votes
1answer
85 views
What was the first name of Christmas?
What was the first Latin word or expression used for Christmas, the Christian event in the honor of Jesus' birth?
I know what to call Christmas in Latin, but it occurred to me that there is no ...
6
votes
1answer
203 views
Are there Roman examples of “of Rome” instead of “Roman”?
In my experience it is extremely common to say, for example, rex Romanus instead of rex Romae.
In fact, I do not recall ever seeing a genitive when a local adjective can be used.
Translating to ...
7
votes
2answers
130 views
Are there attested prohibition signs?
Are there preserved inscriptions or other such texts from ancient Rome that contain a prohibition?
I would prefer original signs that have survived, but mentions in the literature are also interesting....
11
votes
2answers
124 views
Are there any instances of long oblique cases of Iuppiter?
The name Iuppiter is declined weirdly.
It has otherwise regular third declension endings with the stem Iov-, but the nominative comes with the suffix -pater, producing Iuppiter.
At least this is what ...
16
votes
2answers
2k views
Latin plural of Curriculum Vitae?
Curriculum vitae (often abbreviated CV) is a common Latin locution present in a high number of languages, including English.
In English, as in other languages, how to pluralize these foreign locutions ...
8
votes
1answer
1k views
Are there Latin puns? [duplicate]
This may seem like a lame question without much thought, and it really is, but did any (mainly Classical because we're all brainwashed into believing that this is the optimal stage of Latin, but other ...
10
votes
2answers
446 views
Did the Romans use war-dogs?
I was surprised a few days ago to find myself in an argument with a reputable historian about the Romans' use of dogs in war, which I dismissed as a fantasy — or possibly a mere misunderstanding of ...
5
votes
2answers
215 views
Classical example of homesickness
My dictionary translates "homesickness" as nostalgia or desiderium loci natalis, but the dictionary gives no source or era information.
Both of these are understandable, but I haven't found classical ...
