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quoniam

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈkʷɔ.ni.ãː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkʷɔː.ni.am][1]

Forms

quoniam (+ ind)[1]

Etymology

It is a univerbation of quom “when” and iam “now”, “when now”; it has three syllables.[2][3][1] Wiktionary notes that the change of ⟨m⟩ to ⟨n⟩ before ⟨i⟩ may reflect a sound law also proposed for veniō, though Fortson disputes it.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found in Livius Andronicus, still with a temporal sense: quoniam audīvī … gāvīsī, “as soon as I heard … we rejoiced”.[2]

Semantic evolution

In early Latin quoniam is temporal, “as soon as, after”; it then combines time and cause, “now that, seeing that”, especially in transitions.[2] In the classical language it is causal, “since, inasmuch as”, and in poetry also “because”.[2][1] Lewis and Short note that quoniam gives a ground or reason, while quod and quia give the determining cause.[3]

In Church Latin it also introduces what is said or known, “that”.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 280–200 BC – Livius Andronicus uses it in the sense “as soon as”.[2]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: quid nunc, quoniam tēcum servāvī fidem …? “well now, since I have kept faith with you …?”[2][5]
  • 57/46–12 BC – Propertius: īrāscor quoniam es, lente, morātus herī, “I am angry because you were slow yesterday”.[2][5]

Meanings

Conjunction

  1. (early) As soon as, after.[2]
  2. Now that, seeing that.[2][1]
  3. since, inasmuch as, seeing that.[2][3][4]
  4. because.[2][4]
  5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) That.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de