New answers tagged etymology
11
votes
Accepted
Why is the infinitive of "fero" "ferre" and not "ferse"?
There was a regular sound change PIt. (= Proto-Italic) *-rs- > Lat. -rr-, or rather PIt. *-Rs- > Lat. -RR- where R stands for a liquid (/r/ or /l/). Examples (from Weiss Hist. Comp. Gram. Lat. ...
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3
votes
Are there well-assimilated Latin words from Semitic languages?
To add other possibilities according to Wiktionary (filtering those words that convincingly pass through Ancient Greek):
ferrum: [possible Phoenician and maybe through Etruscan]
genius: [from Proto-...
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4
votes
Are there well-assimilated Latin words from Semitic languages?
Some more probable direct Phoenician/Punic loanwords:
sūfes 'suffete' (a Carthaginian magistrate) from 𐤔𐤐𐤈 špṭ 'judge'. Compare Hebrew שׁוֹפֵט šōp̄ēṭ 'judge' (as in the Book of Judges), also a ...
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