Re: OT: Roman Calendar (was Re: USAGE: syllables)
| From: | Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...> |
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| Date: | Friday, June 13, 2003, 19:07 |
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On Fri, Jun 13, 2003 at 08:40:13PM +0200, Christophe Grandsire wrote:
> >Actually, I'm pretty sure it was Quinctilis, though several Internet
> >sources seem to have lost their 'c's somewhere along the way.
>
> Well, you may be sure of it, but you're nevertheless wrong.
Uhm, how sure are you about that?
> It was "Quintilis", from "quintus": fifth (with a year beginning the 1st
> of March, Quintilis was indeed the fifth month).
There is no doubt that it comes from the same root as Classical Latin
"quintus". That does not rule out the name "Quinctus".
> There has never been a 'c' in it.
Again with the strong statement of fact. This URL disagrees:
http://www.ukans.edu/history/index/europe/ancient_rome/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Calendarium.html
And while I am away from my books at the moment, I'm pretty sure that both the
_Oxford_Companion_to_the_Year_ and _Calendrical_Calculations_ also give it
as "Quinctilis".
-Mark
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