Etymologically
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ubi

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈʊ.biː], [ˈʊ.bɪ][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈuː.bi][1]

Forms

ubī̆ (not comparable)[1] Varro has the spelling ube, and inscriptions ubei.[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *kʷuþei (“where”), built on the pronominal stem *kʷu- (“where”).[3][1] De Vaan notes that the form could reflect ⟨*kʷubʰei⟩, with the PIE instrumental ending ⟨*-bʰi⟩, or ⟨*kʷudʰei⟩, an Italic remodelling of ⟨*kʷu-dʰe⟩ “where”; the agreement with Indo-Iranian and Slavic makes the latter slightly more likely.[3] The initial ⟨c-⟩ was lost, but it survives in compounds such as alicubī and sīcubī; the final ⟨-ī⟩ was often shortened by iambic shortening.[1]

Cognate with Oscan puf (“where”), Umbrian pufe (“where”), Sanskrit कुह (kúha, “where”), Avestan kudā (“where”) and Old Church Slavonic къде (kŭde, “where, when”).[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Naevius;[3] Köbler lists the Twelve Tables.[4] Plautus has ubi patera nunc est? “where is the bowl now?”[2]

Semantic evolution

Ubi asks “where?” (ubi gentium? “where in the world?”), often in rhetorical questions implying that something is absent, and “in what situation?”; in colloquial Latin it also means “where to?”.[2] As a relative it means “where, in the place where”, often answered by ibi, “in which” of a situation, and colloquially it stands for a relative pronoun with a preposition, “in which, by which”.[2][1]

In time clauses it means “when, as soon as” (ubi prīmum), and as an indefinite adverb “anywhere, at any time”.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Found in Naevius.[3]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: ubi fuistī? ubi lūstrātu's? ubi bibistī?[2][4]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of time: quōs ubi rēx … spexit, “when the king saw them”.[2][4]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it for “where to?”: ubi dūcis asinum istum?[2][4]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. (interrogative) where? in what place?[2][5] ubi gentium?, where in the world?[2]
  2. In what situation?[2]
  3. (colloquial) Where to?[2]
  4. (relative) Where, in the place where.[2][1]
  5. In which (situation); by which, with which.[2][1]
  6. (temporal) when, as soon as.[2][1]
  7. (indefinite) Anywhere; at any time.[2]

Word family

  • ubinam
  • ubīquāquē
  • ubiubī̆
  • ubivīs
  • ubicumque
  • ubilibet
  • alicubī̆
  • aliubī
  • nēcubī̆
  • neutrubi
  • nuncubi
  • sīcubī̆

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 o p q Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press