Re: Borrowing Latin case forms (was Re: EAK nouns)

Mark J. Reed wrote:
> Sorry for tofu - bberry interface not amenable to intermixing.
>
> I assume that "Jesum" is the acc of "Jesus"?
> (And is that the normal German spelling of the name?)
Yep - and in Latin texts that write he consonant /j/ as _j_.

> That reminds me of a question I've had for a while - whence "Jesu"
> (e.g. "Joy of Man's Desiring")?  Wouldn't the voc of "Jesus" be
> "Jese"?
Nope. It's _Jesu_

> Or is it 4th decl with long -us in the nom?
No - a 4th declension vocative is the same as the nominative, i.e. ends
in -us (short u).

> Or is "Jesu"
> just the nom with the -s dropped as part of the sound changes made in
> Latin en route from CL to Romance?
Nope.

It doesn't belong to any declension; it's a Latinized _Greek_ name; to
add to fun the Greek is taken from Aramaic [je:Su:a], a form of the name
which comes in English versions of the Old Testament as "Joshua."

Greek has Ιησοῦ (Ie:soû) for the vocative, genitive & dative. The
nominative adds a final -ς (-s) and the accusative adds  -ν.  When the
name was taken into Latin it was treated in an analogous manner, i.e.
most case just  _Iesu_  /jes:su:/, but -s is added in the nominative
(and in the older Classical pronunciation the _u_ remained long) and the
accusative by adding -m (which would normally shorten the preceding
vowel). In Medieval & ecclesiastical Latin there is no phonemic vowel
length.

Thus the Latin declension is (with the _J_ spelling):
NOM. Jesus
ACC. Jesum
GEN., DAT., ABL. and VOC. Jesu

--
Ray
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ray@carolandray.plus.com
http://www.carolandray.plus.com
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Nid rhy hen neb i ddysgu.
There's none too old to learn.
[WELSH PROVERB]