Etymologically
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suus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈsu.ʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈsuː.us][1]

Forms

suus (feminine sua, neuter suum); first/second-declension determiner, with locative[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *sowos, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *sewos (“one's own”), from the reflexive *swé (“self”).[1][2] De Vaan explains the vowels as *suós remade after the genitive ⟨*seue⟩ of the reflexive.[2] Early inscriptions write ⟨sou-⟩ (ablative ⟨souo⟩, plural ⟨soueis⟩), and Ennius used short forms such as ⟨sos⟩, ⟨sas⟩ and ⟨sīs⟩.[3][4]

Cognate with Oscan suvad, Ancient Greek ἑός (heós) and Gothic 𐍃𐍅𐌴𐍃 (swēs, “one's own”).[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found in the Twelve Tables;[5][2] Old Latin inscriptions have soueis for suīs.[5][2]

Semantic evolution

Suus is the reflexive possessive: “his, her, its, their (own)”, referring to the subject of the clause or, in reported speech, to the subject of the main verb.[3][4] It is closely linked with quisque (sibi quisque habeant quod suom est “let each keep what is his”, Plautus).[3] Used emphatically it means “his own”, and as a noun suī are “one's family or followers” and sua “one's property”.[3][4]

It is strengthened with -pte and -met (suōpte, suamet).[3]

Timeline

  • c. 450 BC – Used in the Twelve Tables.[5]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses the short forms sīs and sas.[4][5]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses suom “his property”.[4][5]

Meanings

Determiner

  1. his, her, its, their (own), one's own (referring to the subject).[3][4]
  2. His own, proper, peculiar to him.[3]
  3. (masculine plural as noun) One's family, friends, followers.[4]
  4. (neuter plural as noun) One's property.[4]

Word family

  • suātim

References

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