vocativus

Forms

vocātīvus (feminine vocātīva, neuter vocātīvum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin vocō (“to call”) + -īvus.^[2][1] Wiktionary takes it as a calque of Ancient Greek κλητική (klētikḗ).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Aulus Gellius uses vocativus casus for the vocative case.^[3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

Varro had still called the case vocandi casus, “the case of calling”.^[4] The later grammarians, among them Charisius, Diomedes and Priscian, use vocativus alone as a noun,^[3][4] and Priscian also has the adjective in the general sense “serving for calling”, of verbs.^[4][6] Medieval grammarians such as Bede and Alcuin kept the term, and Alcuin notes that the case was also called salutativus.^[7] In the Carmina Burana it is a noun meaning one who calls.^[5] English took vocative in the early 15th century from Old French and directly from Latin.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 165 AD – Aulus Gellius uses vocativus casus for the vocative case.^[3][5]
• second half of the 4th century AD – Diomedes uses vocativus alone as a noun.^[4][5]
• 6th century AD – Priscian uses the adjective of verbs of calling.^[4][5]
• 12th–13th century – The Carmina Burana have vocativus for one who calls.^[5]
• early 15th century – English borrows it as vocative.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (grammar) vocative; of calling.^[2][3]
2. Serving to call (of verbs).^[4][6]

Noun

1. (grammar, masculine, sc. casus) The vocative case.^[2][3][9]
2. (Medieval Latin) One who calls.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
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
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ VoLat: Vocabolario della Lingua Latina (2018), Milan: Hoepli