vernus
Latin
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *wósr̥ "spring" (also reconstructed alternatively as *wésr̥ or *wḗsr̥), the root of Latin vēr "spring". The details of the derivation differ between sources. Vernus could be the reflex of a deadverbial adjective in -*no- built on a locative form of the *wósr̥/*wésr̥/*wḗsr̥ noun. Piotr Gąsiorowski (2012) presents the following derivation from the PIE locative stem *wesri where the final Latin form vernus results from haplology or syncope of *er: *wesri-no- > *wezr̥₂no- > *wererno- > vernus.[1] In the case of a locative formation, vernus could instead come from a form vēri-no (with syncope of *i) (Alan Nussbaum, cited in de Vaan, 2008). As an alternative to the locative derivation, de Vaan suggests that the word could come from *wesinos (with rhotacism of *s and syncope of *i).[2] By surface analysis, vēr -nus.
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): /ˈu̯eːr.nus/, [ˈu̯eːrnʊs̠] or IPA(key): /ˈu̯er.nus/, [ˈu̯ɛrnʊs̠]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈver.nus/, [ˈvɛrnus]
There seems to be no definite evidence of the length of the vowel in the first syllable in Classical Latin. Some etymologies imply an originally short vowel; furthermore, it is hypothesized that at certain points in time, an originally long vowel in Latin was subject to shortening (called Osthoff's Law) before any consonant cluster starting with a resonant.[3] On the other hand, some sources give the pronunciation of this word as vērnus because of the long vowel in the related noun vēr;[4] it is plausible that analogical pressure from the noun could have resulted in the adjective having a long vowel in Classical Latin, even if a short vowel would be expected as the outcome of regular phonetic changes. (Compare the lack of Osthoff's Law–shortening in fūrtum (“theft”) from fūr (“thief”).)
Adjective
[edit]vē̆rnus (feminine vē̆rna, neuter vē̆rnum); first/second-declension adjective
Declension
[edit]First/second-declension adjective.
| singular | plural | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | feminine | neuter | masculine | feminine | neuter | ||
| nominative | vē̆rnus | vē̆rna | vē̆rnum | vē̆rnī | vē̆rnae | vē̆rna | |
| genitive | vē̆rnī | vē̆rnae | vē̆rnī | vē̆rnōrum | vē̆rnārum | vē̆rnōrum | |
| dative | vē̆rnō | vē̆rnae | vē̆rnō | vē̆rnīs | |||
| accusative | vē̆rnum | vē̆rnam | vē̆rnum | vē̆rnōs | vē̆rnās | vē̆rna | |
| ablative | vē̆rnō | vē̆rnā | vē̆rnō | vē̆rnīs | |||
| vocative | vē̆rne | vē̆rna | vē̆rnum | vē̆rnī | vē̆rnae | vē̆rna | |
Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Gąsiorowski, Piotr (2012) “The Germanic reflexes of PIE *-sr- in the context of Verner's Law”, in The Sound of Indo-European: Phonetics, Phonemics, and Morphophonemics[1], Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, , →ISSN, pages 117-129
- ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7)[2], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN
- ^ Ollie Sayeed (2017 January 1) “Osthoff’s Law in Latin”, in Indo-European Linguistics[3], volume 5, number 1, Brill, →ISSN, page 157 of 147–177
- ^ Charles E. Bennett (1907) “Hidden Quantity”, in The Latin Language – a historical outline of its sounds, inflections, and syntax, Boston: Allyn and Bacon, page 55
Further reading
[edit]- “vernus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “vernus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- vernus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- vernus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
- Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book[4], London: Macmillan and Co.
- the charms of spring: suavitas verni temporis
- (ambiguous) in spring, summer, autumn, winter time: verno, aestivo, auctumnali, hiberno tempore
- the charms of spring: suavitas verni temporis