Appendix:Survivals of the Latin nominative in Romance
This list mainly cites outcomes in Romanian, Italian, French, Catalan, Spanish, and Sardinian (in that order). If one of these languages lacks the form in question, another nearby language may be cited in its place.
The following categories of word have been excluded:[1]
- Personal pronouns
- Old French nominatives
- Italian or Romanian masculine plurals with /-i/
Symbols used:
- † 'archaic or obsolete'
- ⁑ 'lacks an entry on Wiktionary'
Clear survivals edit
Adjectives edit
- invitus > Spanish amidos†
- minor > French moindre
- peior > French pire
- melior > Gascon miélhe
- recens > Romanian rece
- solus > Sardinian solus†
- vetus > Italian vieto[2]
Pronouns edit
- aliquis > Sardinian alikis†
- alteri > Portuguese outrem
- nati[3] > Spanish nadie
- nemo > Italian nimo Sardinian nemos
- qui (+quis) > Italian chi French qui Catalan qui Spanish qui†
Nouns edit
Referring to non-humans edit
Animate edit
- apis > Gascon aps
- vespertilio > Asturian esperteyu
Inanimate edit
- caespes > Italian cespo[4]
- *cotis > French queux†
- fundus > French fonds Catalan fons
- laus > French los
- *lilius > French lis
- res[5] > Catalan res Spanish res Sardinian rese
- sitis > Sardinian sidis
- vitis > French vis
Referring to humans edit
Kinship terms, etc. edit
- filius > French fils
- homo > Romanian om Italian uomo Catalan hom French on
- mulier > Italian moglie
- nepos > Ligurian nêvo
- soror > Italian suoro† French sœur Catalan sor Romanian soru† Sardinian sorre
Proper edit
- Carolus > French Charles Spanish Carlos
- Dominicus > Spanish Domingos†⁑
- Iacobus > French Jacques
- Ludovicus > French Louis
- Marcus > Spanish Marcos
Agentives edit
- advocator > Venetian avogadro⁑
- antecessor > French ancêtre
- cantor > French chantre
- mediator > Venetian mezzadro⁑
- pastor > French pâtre
- *pinctor > French peintre
- sartor > Italian sarto French Sartre Catalan sastre
- *texator > Venetian tessadro⁑
- traditor > French traître Portuguese tredo†
- *tropator > French trouvère
- -ator > Catalan -aire[6]
Titles, occupations, etc. edit
Debated survivals edit
Some scholars have dismissed outcomes like serpens > Spanish sierpe on the grounds that they were remodelled, noting that the nominative /-s/ was lost along the way. Nevertheless they are left to assume a development (Late Latin [sɛ́rpes] > *[sɛ́rpe] > Spanish [sjéɾpe]) that begins with a Latin nominative. That is, the fact remains that sierpe derives from serpens (with an extra step) and not from the accusative serpentem. In the list that follows, cases where this is the main objection will be labelled as trivial.
Misc. animates edit
- daemon > Portuguese demo (could be a borrowing)
- Deus > Spanish Dios Sardinian Deus (could be 'semi-learned' or borrowed from Latin[7])
- frater > Romanian frate Italian frate Portuguese frade Sardinian frade (could reflect the accusative fratrem, with dissimilation)
- hospes > Romanian oaspe (could be shortened from oaspete < accusative hospitem)
- imperator > Romanian împărat (trivial case)
- iudex > Romanian jude (could be shortened from judece† < accusative iudicem)
- magister > Spanish maestre (could be borrowed from Gallo-Romance)
- miles > Romanian mire (uncertain etymology)
- rex > Italian re (could be a clipped outcome of regem)
- serpens > Romanian șarpe Italian serpe Catalan serp Spanish sierpe (trivial cases)
Misc. inanimates edit
- calx > Spanish cal (trivial case)
- pulvis > Italian polve (trivial case)
- turbo > Catalan torb (could be a deverbal of torbar < turbare)
Nouns ending in /as/ edit
Trivial cases.
Abstracts in -tas edit
- potestas > Italian podesta† French poeste†⁑
- siccitas > Romanian secetă Neapolitan sécceta⁑ Romansch sedscha⁑
- societas > Italian soccida
- tempestas > Italian tempesta Catalan tempesta French tempête
Greek borrowings edit
Nouns ending in /oː/ edit
Challenged on the grounds that -ōnem yielded an augmentative suffix in Romance. The reasoning goes that the Spanish gorgojo, for instance, could derive not from the Latin nominative gurgulio but instead from the accusative gurgulionem via an unattested Spanish *gorgojón, taken to be a form augmented with -ón and then 'de-augmented' as gorgojo.[9]
Animates edit
- companio > Italian compagno French copain Catalan company Spanish compaño
- but also companionem > Italian compagnone French compagnon Catalan companyó Spanish compañón
- *coquistro > French cuistre
- curculio (+gurgulio) > Italian gorgoglio† Catalan corcoll Spanish gorgojo
- but also gurgulionem > Italian gorgoglione
- draco > Italian drago Catalan drac Spanish drago Romanian drac
- falco > Italian falco
- but also falconem > Italian falcone
- glutto > Italian ghiotto Catalan glot⁑
- latro > Italian ladro Franco-Provençal lârro Catalan lladre Portuguese ladro†
- pavo > Spanish pavo
- but also pavonem > Spanish pavón
- struthio > Italian struzzo French autruche Catalan estruç
- vasco > Spanish vasco
- but also vasconem > Spanish vascón
Inanimates edit
- exclamatio > Italian schiamazzo[10]
- statio > Italian stazzo
- but also stationem > Italian stazzone†
- titio > Italian tizzo Spanish tizo
Notes edit
- ^ On the grounds that the survival of Latin nominatives amongst them is well-known or trivial.
- ^ Possibly also the Romanian biet if that etymology holds.
- ^ Not originally a pronoun in Latin, of course.
- ^ Possibly back-formed from cespi pl.
- ^ 'Inanimate' as far as Latin is concerned, at any rate. The Spanish and Sardinian reflexes have taken on animal senses.
- ^ Still a productive suffix.
- ^ The only possible basis for this claim is the final /-s/. That the latter must imply borrowing is debatable in light of the aforementioned names.
- ^ Could also derive from lampada via an unattested stage like */lámpəðə/.
- ^ Whatever else one may say about this, it is impossible to apply to the French forms, since they are attested in a nominative :: accusative distribution in Old French (e.g. compaing :: compaignon).
- ^ Could also be a deverbal of schiamazzare, but vice-versa seems more likely (*exclamatiare is a bit absurd).