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University of Bologna
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Pierluigi CUZZOLIN, University of Bergamo
Remarks on the graded forms with sub- in Latin
It is well-known that morphological devices are very rarely employed to express the comparison of majority among the world's languages, the richness thereof among the Indo-European languages being an exception. In addition, as far as we know, no language is attested in which the comparison of minority is expressed morphologically.
Latin, however, exhibits some peculiarities that deserve attention: beside two prefixes, per- and prae-, that express the superlative: clarus 'famous' but praeclarus 'very famous', there is the prefix sub- that exerts a "subtractive" function, contrary to that of per-/prae-. Beside, for example, the adjective rusticus 'rustic, of the country' the form subrusticus '(somewhat) rustic, uncouth'. This prefix seems a candidate to play the role of a morpheme exerting the function of comparative of minority, if any, expressed morphologically.
Two remarks are in order here: firstly, even though the function of the prefix sub- is apparently subtractive, in fact its meaning reinforces the basic value of the adjective: subrusticus does not mean 'less rustic' but rather 'less than rustic', a category that could probably be labelled "approximative". In this case, sub- could possibly be analysed as a form of absolute comparative of minority expressed morphologically, not lexically. Secondly, what is interesting is that subrusticus possesses nearly the same meaning as the diminutive form rusticulus and both forms co-occur in Latin texts.
In the present paper the data will be examined and some conclusion concerning this apparent typological peculiarity will be drawn.
Most recent modifications: February 18, 2003 – latling@classics.unibo.it
Source: Dipartimento di Filologia Classica e Medioevale
No rights can be derived from the information on this Internet-page.
Latin, however, exhibits some peculiarities that deserve attention: beside two prefixes, per- and prae-, that express the superlative: clarus 'famous' but praeclarus 'very famous', there is the prefix sub- that exerts a "subtractive" function, contrary to that of per-/prae-. Beside, for example, the adjective rusticus 'rustic, of the country' the form subrusticus '(somewhat) rustic, uncouth'. This prefix seems a candidate to play the role of a morpheme exerting the function of comparative of minority, if any, expressed morphologically.
Two remarks are in order here: firstly, even though the function of the prefix sub- is apparently subtractive, in fact its meaning reinforces the basic value of the adjective: subrusticus does not mean 'less rustic' but rather 'less than rustic', a category that could probably be labelled "approximative". In this case, sub- could possibly be analysed as a form of absolute comparative of minority expressed morphologically, not lexically. Secondly, what is interesting is that subrusticus possesses nearly the same meaning as the diminutive form rusticulus and both forms co-occur in Latin texts.
In the present paper the data will be examined and some conclusion concerning this apparent typological peculiarity will be drawn.
Most recent modifications: February 18, 2003 – latling@classics.unibo.it
Source: Dipartimento di Filologia Classica e Medioevale
No rights can be derived from the information on this Internet-page.