ovicula

Latin

Alternative forms

• ovecula

Etymology

From ovis (“sheep”) +‎ -cula (diminutive ending).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /oˈu̯i.ku.la/, [oˈu̯ɪkʊɫ̪ä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /oˈvi.ku.la/, [oˈviːkulä]

Noun

ovicula f (genitive oviculae); first declension

1. diminutive of ovis; little sheep

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ovicula	oviculae
Genitive	oviculae	oviculārum
Dative	oviculae	oviculīs
Accusative	oviculam	oviculās
Ablative	oviculā	oviculīs
Vocative	ovicula	oviculae

Related terms

• oviārius
• ovīle
• ovīliō
• ovīlis
• ovillīnus
• ovillus
• ovīnus
• ovis

 

Descendants

• Gallo-Romance:
  • Old French: oeille ⇒ oaille (influenced by the suffix -aille)
    • Angevin: oueille
    • Bourbonnais-Berrichon: oueille, ouille
    • Bourguignon: oueille, voueille, oille, ouille
    • French: ouaille
    • Gallo: oveille, oueille
    • Lorrain: ouille
    • Poitevin-Saintongeais: oueille
• Occitano-Romance:
  • Old Catalan: oveylla, oveila, ovela, oveya, hoveila, hovela, hovella, auvella, euveya, obella
    • Catalan: ovella, oveia, auvella, ouvella, auveia, auvea, aovella, uella, güella, auella, avolla, avoia, voia (from Vulgar Latin *ovuc(u)la)
  • Gascon: oelha, aulha, avelha, òlha, agoelha, goelha, auelha
  • Old Occitan: ovella, oelha

    Auvergnat: oelha, olha

    Languedocien: oelha

    Limousin: ovelha, oelha (Marchois), olha (Bas-Limousin)

• Ibero-Romance:
  • Aragonese: ovella, uella
  • Asturian: oveya
  • Mirandese: oubeilha
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: ovella
    • Galician: ovella
    • Portuguese: ovelha
  • Old Spanish: oueja, ouega, oueia (alternative spellings)
    • Ladino: oveja
    • Spanish: oveja
• Vulgar Latin: *ovucula
  • Catalan: avolla, avoia, voia
• Borrowings:
  • →? Lusitanian: oilam

References

• ALF: Atlas Linguistique de la France^[1] [Linguistic Atlas of France] – map 173: “brebis” – on lig-tdcge.imag.fr
• Petit Atles Lingüístic del Domini Català 6 'ovella'
• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “ŏvĭcula”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volumes 7: N–Pas, page 446

Further reading

• “ovicula”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• ovicula in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.