Etymologically
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ecquis

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈɛk.kʷɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈɛk.kʷis][1]

Forms

ecquis or ecquī (feminine ecqua or ecquae, neuter ecquid); interrogative pronoun[1] Manuscripts and printed texts sometimes wrongly write etquis.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin ec- + quis (“who?”).[2][1] De Vaan explains the particle ⟨ec-⟩, as in ecce (“look!”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁e- (“he”) extended with ⟨*k⟩, as in Oscan ekúk (“this”).[3] The TLL reports the older view that it grew from ⟨et⟩ and ⟨quis⟩, but shows that the oldest manuscripts and the grammarians support the form ⟨ecquis⟩.[4] Köbler also gives the pronominal stem Proto-Indo-European *e- (Pokorny 281).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest examples are from Plautus, in direct questions at a door: “hey, is anyone here? will anyone open this door?”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It asks impatiently or with feeling whether there is anyone or anything: “is there any other Sosia inside who looks like me?”.[2][6] In indirect questions it is “whether anyone”, as Plautus' “I'll ask whether anyone knows this young man”, and later in Cicero and Livy.[2] It is used both as a pronoun and as an adjective, beside ecquī.[2][1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus in direct and indirect questions.[2][5]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero.[2][5]

Meanings

Pronoun

  1. (in direct questions) Is there anyone who…?;[2][6][1] (neuter) is there anything that…?[2][6][1]
  2. (in indirect questions) Whether anyone or anything.[2][1]

Determiner

  1. Any? (is there) any…?[2][1]

Usage notes

The neuter ecquid is also used as an interrogative particle, “at all?”, “is it true that…?”, as in Plautus' “do you love me at all?”, often in impatient questions expecting “yes”, and in indirect questions as “whether”: “you ask me whether I like the house?”.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press