cuius

Forms

cūius (feminine cūia, neuter cūium); first/second-declension adjective^[1][2] Old Latin spelled it quōius.^[1][3][2] Older editions write it cujus.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *kʷosjo- (“whose”).^[2] De Vaan explains it as the genitive singular of quī (“who, what”), ⟨cuiius⟩, taken as the nominative of a new possessive adjective; since Sabellic shows the same development, it goes back to Proto-Italic, and the genitive itself to Proto-Indo-European *kʷosio (“of whom”).^[2] The OLD likewise derives it from the genitive, formed on the analogy of suus and similar words.^[1] Wiktionary prefers a PIE adjective *kʷo-s-yo-s (“of what kind”), and calls the reinterpretation of the genitive less likely.^[4]

Cognate with Oscan púiiu (feminine) and púiieh (genitive), and Palaeo-Umbrian poiei (dative), all “whose”.^[2] De Vaan takes Ancient Greek ποῖος (poîos, “what kind of”) to be probably an independent Greek formation from the same PIE genitive.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus (c. 250–184 BC) on,^[2][5] for example in the question quoia vox sonat procul? “whose voice is that sounding far off?”^[3]

Semantic evolution

The interrogative use is most frequent in Plautus and Terence,^[3] and the relative use is rare.^[3] Cicero still has it in a legal phrase, is, cuia res, cuium periculum “the one whose property and whose risk it is”,^[3] Gellius quotes an ancient oath with cuium,^[3] and Virgil opens his third Eclogue with cuium pecus? an Meliboei? “whose flock? Meliboeus's?”^[3][6] Wiktionary notes that some Romans thought these forms rustic and mocked them, yet they survive in Romance:^[4] Spanish cuyo, Portuguese cujo and Sardinian cuju.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus often uses quoius in questions.^[3][5]
• 190–159 BC – Terence asks virgo quoia est? “whose is the girl?”^[6][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it as a relative.^[3][5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil writes cuium pecus? in the Eclogues.^[3][6][5]
• c. 165 AD – Gellius quotes an old formula of oath with it.^[3][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (interrogative) Whose?, of whom?, belonging to whom?, in direct and indirect questions.^[1][3][4]
2. (relative) Of or belonging to whom, whose.^[1][3][4]

Word family

• cūiās
• cūiusnam

Related words

• quī
• quis

Usage notes

The OLD's first cūius is the genitive of quī and quis, the form from which the adjective was made.^[1][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn