-dem

See also: Appendix:Variations of "dem"

Jamaican Creole edit

Etymology edit

Derived from English them.

Pronunciation edit

IPA^(key): /dem/

Suffix edit

-dem

Used to indicate plurality.
Di gyal-dem a come. ― The girls are coming.

Usage notes edit

This suffix is only used when there is a clear need to indicate a plural. Otherwise, the plural is implied and understood without any marking.

References edit

L. Emilie Adams (1991) Understanding Jamaican Patois: An Introduction to Afro-Jamaican Grammar, LMH Publishing, →ISBN, page 13

Latin edit

Etymology edit

Misinterpretation of -em. When the old ablative cases of is, eōd, eād, became eō, eā, the true forms eōd-em, eād-em were interpreted as eō-dem, eā-dem. The neuter nominative singular id-em is natural and gives earlier emem (= later eundem). The new marker -dem then served to create totidem, tantumdem, ibīdem, etc. Compare tam-en with its later doublet: tan-dem (← *tam-dem).

Pronunciation edit

(Classical) IPA^(key): /dem/, [d̪ɛ̃ˑ]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /dem/, [d̪em]

Suffix edit

-dem (not comparable)

(unproductive) demonstrative ending
ibī (“in that place”) > ibidem (“in that very place”)

ita (“in this way”) > itidem (“likewise”)

quī (“whereby”) > quidem (“indeed”)

is (“he, it”) > īdem (“the same”)

tam (“to such an extent”) > tandem (“finally”)

tantus (“of much size”) > tantusdem (“just as much”)

*pri ("before") > prīdem (“long ago; previously”)

Derived terms edit

Latin terms suffixed with -dem

References edit

Sihler, Andrew L. (1995) New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN