heri

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈhɛ.riː], [ˈhɛ.rɪ]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɛː.ri]^[1]

Forms

herī̆ (not comparable)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *χes-i, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰdi-es (“yesterday”).^[2][1] Cognate with Sanskrit ह्यस् (hyás), Ancient Greek χθές (khthés), Albanian dje, Old Irish indé and, with a suffix *-tero-, Old English giestron and Gothic 𐌲𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍂𐌰𐌳𐌰𐌲𐌹𐍃 (gistradagis, “tomorrow”).^[2][3] The older form here continues *-si, and heri is explained by iambic shortening of *herī, a locative like domī.^[2][1] De Vaan mentions a suggestion that the form was originally *ǵʰ-di-es “on that day”, with a pronoun stem and the genitive of the word for “day”.^[2] hesternus “of yesterday” has the same suffix as the Germanic words.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Naevius.^[2] Köbler dates Naevius c. 235–200 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant “yesterday”, as Cicero's herī vesperī “yesterday evening”, and loosely “lately”, as Tertullian uses it.^[5][3] Quintilian says that in here neither /e/ nor /i/ was clearly heard, and that he found here in the old comic poets and in Augustus' own letters.^[6]

It survives in Italian ieri, French hier and Spanish ayer.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it.^[2][4]
• 190–159 BC – Terence has both here and herī.^[2][4]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian discusses the spelling here.^[6][4]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Yesterday.^[3]
2. Lately, recently.^[5][7]

Word family

• hesternus

Related words

• hic
• English yesterday

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press