Reconstruction:Latin/aetaticum

This Latin entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Latin

Etymology

From aetātem +‎ -āticum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eˈdadjo/

Noun

*aetāticum m (Proto-Gallo-Romance)

1. age

Reconstruction notes

Attested in Old French from ca. 1100 as edage (Song of Roland) and Old Franco-Provençal from the thirteenth century as eajo (Li Via seiti Biatrix). Originated in the north, where it competed with and eventually displaced the descendants of Latin aetātem (> Old French eé), possibly due to severe phonetic attrition in the latter. Failed to penetrate south in the early Gallo-Roman period, judging by the absence of *edatge from Occitan and Catalan, which have instead retained Latin aetātem (> edat). Both later borrowed the French word as atge.

The expected gender of nouns with this suffix in Gallo-Romance is masculine. The variable gender of Old French eage m or f may be due to contamination with the aforementioned synonym eé f.

Declension

	singular	plural
nominative	*/eˈdadjos/	*/eˈdadjo/
oblique	*/eˈdadjo/	*/eˈdadjos/

Descendants

• Old Franco-Provençal: eajo
  • Franco-Provençal: âjo, azhou, âdzo, âdjyó; eajo m
• Old French: edage, eage, aage m or f (see there for further descendants)

References

• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “aetas”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volumes 24: Refonte A–Aorte, page 237