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ne

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Latin has two words spelled nē: the negative “not, lest”, and the affirmative particle “truly”.[1][2] The enclitic question particle is -ne.[2]

ne1 not, lest

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈneː][3]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈnɛː][3]

Forms

nē (+ subjunctive)[3]

Etymology

The negative is inherited from Proto-Italic *nē, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *nē (“not”).[4][3] De Vaan explains the long vowel either as the stressed form of *ne (“not”) (the base of nōn and neque) or as a remodelling of *meh₁ (“that not”) with ⟨n-⟩; since nēve matches the Celtic word for “or”, he prefers the first view.[4] Old Latin also writes ⟨nei⟩ and ⟨ni⟩.[1][3]

Cognate with Oscan ni, Umbrian ne and Sanskrit ना (nā).[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It appears on the Duenos inscription and in the Twelve Tables: hominem mortuum in urbe nē sepelītō nēve ūritō “let no one bury or burn a dead man in the city”.[4][1][5]

Semantic evolution

Nē is the negative of commands and prohibitions (with the imperative in early laws, with the subjunctive in speech: nē fēceris), of wishes (nē vīvam sī sciō “may I die if I know”), and of purpose clauses (“so that not, lest”).[1][3] After verbs of fearing it means “that”, and after verbs of looking or considering “to make sure that not”.[1][6] Nē … quidem means “not even”.[1][3]

Nē quis, nē quandō and the like are sometimes written as single words.[1] The negative prefix ne- of nefās, nēmō and nesciō belongs here.[1]

Timeline

  • 7th–3rd century BC – On the Duenos inscription.[4][5]
  • c. 450 BC – nē sepelītō nēve ūritō in the Twelve Tables.[1][5]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: nē flē, “don't cry”.[1][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero: nē vīvam sī sciō.[1][5]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. not (in commands, prohibitions and wishes): nē fēceris, don't do it.[1][3]
  2. nē … quidem, not even.[1][3]

Conjunction

  1. (with subjunctive) That not, so that not, lest.[1][3]
  2. (after verbs of fearing) That.[6][1]
  3. (after verbs of looking) To make sure that not;[1] vidē nē, perhaps.[1]

Word family

  • nēve
  • nēquīquam
  • nēquam
  • nēquāquam

ne2 truly

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈneː][3]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈnɛː][3]

Forms

nē [3]

Etymology

The affirmative particle is either taken from or cognate with Ancient Greek νή (nḗ) and ναί (naí, “yes, truly”).[1][2] Wiktionary derives it from *né-h₁ (“that way, so”).[3] The spelling ⟨nae⟩ is found in Fronto and as an inferior reading elsewhere.[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found in Plautus: nē ego homō īnfēlīx fuī “truly I was an unlucky man”.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It is used almost only with a personal pronoun or with ille and iste (nē ego, nē tū, nē ille), and in Classical prose usually with a conditional clause.[1][2]

Meanings

Interjection

  1. truly, indeed, assuredly (with a pronoun).[1][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  4. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  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 Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson