-men

Forms

-men n (genitive -minis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

The suffix is inherited from Proto-Italic *-mn̥, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥,^[2][1][3] genitive *-men-s, which made neuter nouns for an action or its result.^[4] Fortson derives carmen from *kan-mn̥, “thing sung”.^[4] It is the same type as the Greek nouns in -μα (-ma).^[2][4]

Weiss equates termen with τέρμα (térma) and compares nōmen with ὄνομα (ónoma).^[3] Sihler finds the Latin paradigm, nominative in -men and oblique in -min-, descriptively simple but hard to relate to the parent language.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Weiss's earliest example is carmen “song”, from the Twelve Tables.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It is mainly deverbal and denotes concrete things rather than abstracts:^[2] agmen from agō, flūmen from fluō, fragmen from frangō.^[3] The masculine flāmen¹ is an exception in gender.^[2] It stood close to the enlarged -mentum, as strāmen and strāmentum show.^[5] A table in Weiss, based on Quellet, counts about 380 words in -men.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus has sēmen.^[3][6]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius has agmen and flūmen.^[3][6]
• 120–67 BC – Sisenna has fragmen.^[3][6]

Meanings

Suffix

1. Forms neuter nouns, mainly from verbs, for concrete things, such as the means, instrument or result of an action: agmen, flūmen, nōmen.^[2][1]

Word family

• agmen
• flūmen
• nōmen
• sēmen
• carmen
• fragmen
• termen
• flāmen¹
• strāmen
• -mentum

Related words

• Italian -ame
• Italian -ume

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Weiss, Michael (2020), Outline of the Historical and Comparative Grammar of Latin, 2nd ed., Ann Arbor: Beech Stave
4. ^ a b c Fortson, Benjamin W., IV (2010), Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction, 2nd ed., Malden, MA / Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell
5. ^ a b Sihler, Andrew L. (1995), New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, New York: OUP
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de