Re: Question about Latin.
| From: | Paul Bennett <paul-bennett@...> |
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| Date: | Sunday, October 17, 2004, 22:15 |
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On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 09:13:49 +0200, Philippe Caquant
<herodote92@...> wrote:
> I liked this '-que' form and always found it very
> elegant.
Indeed.
One question for the Latinists:
Was it always considered an enclitic, or was it at some point analysed as
a standalone word?
I've always wondered about the initials of SPQR - Senatus PopulusQue
Romanus. That seems an abberration of sorts, to the untrained eye.
> I think it's really a pity it disappeared
> nowadays, because clearly it indicated a nuance which
> was lost when the 'et' generalized. It seems to belong
> to a different way of thinking and analyzing (since it
> was attached at the end of the secund term, which
> looks very weird to us): perhaps it came from some
> ancient language of a different type ?
The suffixing "and" is from Proto-Indo-European, being therein simply
*-kwe, and it's retained in Latin and Sanskrit, and quite possibly others
about which I have no immediate memory, but a clear and present vague
feeling.
Paul
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