Questions tagged [morphologia]
For questions about morphology.
93
questions
8
votes
4answers
469 views
Is there a diminutive form for agent nouns?
I recently read a joke about the use of Latin -tor and -trix nouns in modern English. The punchline was that "trix is for kids".
This got me wondering: Is there a way to make diminutives from agent ...
6
votes
1answer
196 views
Why had the word “gold” morphed from “ausum” into “aurum”?
Etymologists/Linguists posit that the prefix for gold in Proto-Indo-European was:
*aus-
Which gave way to *auzom in Proto-Italic languages and ausum in Classical Latin.
At some point, ausum ...
8
votes
1answer
128 views
In Ancient Greek, why ἑπτά vs. ἕβδομος?
I was marveling today at the word hebdomadal, from the Greek ἑπτά for seven. But that had me wondering why words derived from seven sometimes use /bd/ and other times /pt/. I notice, for instance, ...
7
votes
2answers
161 views
How can I find a verb root in ancient greek?
If I have a verb in ancient greek, how can I find its root?
For instance, if I have
λείπω
νέω
ἔμαθον
μανθάνω
how can I do to know that, respectively, these verbs have
λιπ-/λειπ-/λοιπ-
νευ- (<*...
5
votes
1answer
162 views
Does an ig- prefix mean there's an underlying g in the root?
There seem to be certain words in Latin which start with an underlying /gn/, such as noscō /gnosko:/ [nɔsko:]—this "hidden" /g/ appears when prefixes are added, as in cognoscō /congnosko:/ [cɔŋnɔsko:] ...
5
votes
1answer
122 views
Is it better to memorize verb's 1st person perfect tense?
Is it necessary to memorize verb's perfect form like paro, parare, paravi?
Or can I predict a verb's perfect forms if I remember the rules by which perfect stems are formed. Like, the suffix -v/iv or ...
6
votes
1answer
92 views
Dies and the fifth declension
In an answer to this question on Ζεύς Draconis mentions (quoting his own post on another site):
The accusative form of the root, *dyēm (cf AGrk Zēn), also survived in Latin, in the form *diēm > ...
4
votes
1answer
221 views
Why “amatus est” instead of “*amavitur”
Is there any diachronic reason whereby synthetic perfective passive forms like *amavitur (and similar ones) are not possible and analytic forms like amatus est (and similar ones) are selected instead? ...
1
vote
1answer
43 views
Does anyone know of a resource that lists 'root morphemes' of latin words?
I having been searching the web like crazy trying to find a resource that list Latin root morphemes. That is, words which all share the same base meaning and are listed in their word families.
For ...
3
votes
3answers
247 views
The lexical root of the perfect tense forms differs from the lexical root of the infinitive form
Do the Latin have any other verbs, whose perfect tense forms base on the lexical root, that differs from the lexical root of the infinitive form (by analogy with the verb fero > tuli)?
3
votes
0answers
57 views
When did the infinitive in -ier fall out of use?
At one point, the Latin passive infinitive was formed with a suffix -(r)ier, as in agier "to be driven", amārier "to be loved".
Allen and Greenough call this an "ancient form[…] found chiefly in ...
2
votes
1answer
49 views
Composites from -σις words
How does one form composites from words in '-σις'?
For example, if one wishes to name the fear of vaxing fat,
using πάχυνσις, is it παχυνσοφοβία; or παχυνσεοφοβία?
4
votes
2answers
975 views
How to find the stem of any word?
I am wondering if the stem of every word has an exact form?
For example:
For the word genus, how could you determine is it gen or gener?
For the word līber, how could you determine is it līber or ...
4
votes
1answer
64 views
Present Participles: can “respicienti” be part of an ablative absolute in this sentence?
Suetonius, Caius (Caligula) 58:
...alii Sabinum summota per conscios centuriones turba signum more militiae petisse et Caio "lovem" dante Chaeream exclamasse: "accipe ratum" respicientique maxillam ...
1
vote
2answers
83 views
Do contracted perfects have long or short vowels?
Many verbs have a suffix -v- in the perfect tense, which tends to disappear (or "contract" or "syncopate") before the ending: amā- > amāvisti > amāsti "you loved", audī- > audīvisti > audīsti "you ...
5
votes
1answer
81 views
When were different agent noun endings used in Ancient Greek?
In Ancient Greek, it seems that there were various endings for agent nouns. Thomas Dwight Goodell's School Grammar of Attic Greek (1902) mentions -τηρ, -τωρ, -της, -εύς, -τειρα, -τρια, -τρις (-τριδ-), ...
5
votes
1answer
107 views
Genitives like “axeos”
I recently encountered a text written in Latin in Finland about two centuries ago using the form axeos.
From context it was clear that it was a genitive, and it looks just like the Greek genitive of ...
6
votes
2answers
309 views
What consonants can a noun stem end in?
As TKR mentions, third-declension nouns in Latin have stems ending with a consonant (*). Off the top of my head, I can think of stems ending in various different consonants: rex, for example, has a G ...
7
votes
1answer
163 views
When did unsyncopated forms become archaic?
I'd always learned that the regular way to say "you loved" was amāvisti, with the "syncopated" version amāsti being poetic and uncommon.
However, Unbrutal_Russian says differently (with good ...
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 ...
4
votes
1answer
97 views
Why aren't cardinal numbers over three inflected?
I've been looking through some etymologies and it seems to me that cardinals past trēs aren't inflected. Is this correct, and if so, what's the logic in forming words with indeclinable numbers? Take, ...
4
votes
2answers
270 views
'plecto, plectere, plexi', -tor/-sor form (agent noun)
How would one add the agent noun suffix (normally -tor) to the verb 'plecto' (I weave/twist)? It's been a few years — about 10 — but if I recall correctly, verbs whose stem ends in 't' ...
7
votes
1answer
236 views
Is there a gerundive of “faciō”?
Faciō, "to make" or "to do", is a common Latin verb. It's famous for being suppletive: it's missing most of its passive forms, and instead uses the active forms of the separate verb fiō "to become". (...
4
votes
1answer
209 views
“Deus meus”, aut “Deus mī”?
I was taught that meus had a special irregular vocative, mī. (So "my father" in the vocative would be pater mī, not pater meus.)
However, there's a line that shows up a few times in the Vulgate that ...
8
votes
1answer
400 views
Why is it Iuppiter rather than Iuppater?
Iuppiter comes from the vocative of the Indo-European *dyeus-patēr, cognate with Zeus in Greek. However, as *a > a in Latin and 'pater' survives elsewhere in Latin, one would expect Iuppater. How has ...
2
votes
1answer
191 views
Different greek cases for Theos
Trying to improve my understanding of biblical greek and ran across something odd.
Theos - Θεός is nominative.
Theon - Θεόν is accusative.
TheO - Θεῷ is dative.
Theou - Θεοῦ genitive.
Theoi - θεοί ...
6
votes
1answer
60 views
how to interpret ‘formosus’ via its morphological components
The adj. formosus can be decomposed as follows:
forma + -os-us
where forma means ‘shape, form’ and -os- ‘with abundance’. However, when the two notions come together, the whole, which literally ...
6
votes
1answer
148 views
on the word–analysis of ‘viridis’
According to OLD, the adj. viridis derives from the verb vireo, but nothing is mentioned about the suffix that turns the verb to the adj. Could anyone tell about the suffix that transforms the verb ...
3
votes
2answers
226 views
How to choose correct word variants?
I asked a question earlier.
For some time now, it's occured to me that a pattern is forming: All my questions about the Latin language are basically the same. The subjects change, but the underlying ...
5
votes
1answer
119 views
Plural in 4th declension
I know that virtually all masculine and feminine nouns in Latin have an e or i in the nominative plural and that the genitive singular is often similar. This is quite widespread in Indo-European ...
7
votes
2answers
116 views
Do non-Attic-Ionic dialects distinguish the accusatives of the ἀσπίς and χάρις types?
In Attic-Ionic Greek, nouns with dental stems show two types of accusative singular endings, depending on the position of the accent:
If the accent is on the final syllable of the stem, the ...
9
votes
2answers
428 views
Can enclitics be chained?
I am active in a small Latin Discord group; a member brought up a question concerning the validity of the following phrase with chained enclitics:
Valēsneque?
(with the enclitics distinguished) ...
5
votes
1answer
853 views
What’s the difference between meminisse and memini?
I’d love to get a tattoo saying ‘remember’ in Latin, but would rather not use memento. Would it be possible to either use meminisse or memini? I’d like remember to be like a reminder for myself to ...
2
votes
1answer
125 views
Forming compound words in Latin: helicopter
I would like to understand the formation of Latin compound words through the example of the word "helicopter".
This obviously has a Greek origin, and I would like redo the construction with two Latin ...
8
votes
1answer
103 views
Future: why -am instead of -em?
The future tense of third and fourth conjugation verbs is marked by -ē-, as in trahes and audies.
The regular personal endings are added after this vowel.
But in the first person singular the ...
5
votes
1answer
159 views
Adjectives that decline as consonant stems in the neuter plural nominative/accusative
From what I have read, most third-declension Latin adjectives other than comparatives take the i-stem endings -ī, ium and -ia in the ablative singular, genitive plural and neuter nominative/accusative ...
11
votes
1answer
182 views
Third conjugation passive infinitive: why -i and not -eri?
The active infinitive is uniform (-re from -se by rhotacism) across the regular Latin conjugations, but the passive one is not: the third conjugation loses the consonant.
We have amare/amari, habere/...
4
votes
1answer
77 views
Does 'fiebam' contain the same root twice?
I learned from this question and its answers that the imperfect marker -ba- comes from the same PIE root as fui and fio.
What about the form fiebam (and other persons) then?
Does it contain the same ...
6
votes
2answers
553 views
What is the origin of the future suffix -b-?
I read in this answer that there may be a relation between the future endings -bo, -bis, etc. on the one hand and the verb fio "become" on the other. Is this true? If so, do we have any more details ...
5
votes
1answer
251 views
Where does the infinitive 'fieri' come from?
What is the origin of the infinitive fieri?
It is unusual in many respects.
The stem seems to be fi- and the infinitive ending -eri is only found in the second conjugation.
However, the second ...
8
votes
1answer
235 views
Active perfect stem conjugation and forms of esse
Many forms formed from the perfect stem (habitav-, fec-, tetig-, and others) resemble forms of esse.
It looks as if a form of esse was directly attached to the perfect stem.
In perfect conjunctive an -...
8
votes
2answers
262 views
Vowel length in future perfect indicative and perfect conjunctive
I want to compare future perfect active indicative and perfect active conjunctive.
They look identical, apart from first person singular (cogitavero ≠ cogitaverim).
But is there a difference in the ...
3
votes
2answers
95 views
Understanding 'percepset' instead of 'percepisset'
When looking at the L&S entry for percipio, I came across a surprising perfect form: percepset.
The contraction percepisset > percepset lookst similar to cogitavisset > cogitasset.
Are ...
5
votes
1answer
79 views
Why vesperascit instead of vesperescit?
I was recently working on a little translation project and my intuition and memory suggested that "evening comes" is vesperescit.
Checking dictionaries corrected me: it is vesperascit instead.
Why is ...
2
votes
1answer
121 views
Why does Latin use declensions instead of just cases and gender?
What is the purpose of declensions? I know that 1st declension is female second is male and 3rd is neuter, but then why 4 and 5? What is the purpose of several declensions?
5
votes
1answer
149 views
Why do some pronoun nominatives look like vocatives?
The forms ipse, ille, and iste look like vocatives instead of nominatives, and one would expect to see ipsus, illus, and istus instead.
In fact, ipsus is attested but far rarer than ipse, but the ...
6
votes
0answers
295 views
How did “glutaeus/gluteus” come from Greek “gloutos”? Would “glutiaeus” be more correct?
In anatomy, the muscles of the buttocks are referred to collectively as the "glut(a)eal muscles" in English, and are individually given the following Latin names: glut(a)eus maximus, glut(a)eus medius ...
4
votes
2answers
226 views
Is visne > vin unique?
There is a contraction from the regular visne to vin.
Is the same contraction with -ne attested with other verbs in classical Latin?
I don't recall seeing questions like loquerin Latine or haben equum ...
5
votes
1answer
182 views
Plura or pluria?
Before answering this recent question about the US motto, I had to check whether the neuter version of plures is plura or pluria.
I had recalled right: plura appears to be indeed the sole form used in ...
8
votes
1answer
222 views
The length of the final vowel in first declension nouns (Greek)
How can you tell whether a first declension noun ends in a short or long vowel?
Background
When the word is written and accented, I may be able to tell. (Not always. E.g. θύρᾱ if without the macron)...
