o Latin · revision 17823

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=onomatopoeia|attested=Carmen Saliare; 204–169 BC, Ennius}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈoː], [ˈɔ]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɔː]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ō''' (interjection; also short ''ŏ'')^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ The vowel is long, even before another vowel (''ō ego''), but Virgil has ''ŏ Alexi''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is an expressive word, an exclamation.^(Wiktionary) Köbler compares a PIE interjection [[ine-pro|*ō]].^(Köbler 2010) The use as a vocative particle (“O …!”) is a semantic loan from [[grc|ὦ|tr=ô]]; older Latin uses ''[[prō]]'' or the bare vocative.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found in the Carmen Saliare and in Ennius:^(Köbler 2010) ''ō Rōmule, Rōmule dīe'', “O Romulus, divine Romulus”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Ō'' is the commonest exclamation of joy, astonishment, desire, grief or indignation.^(Lewis & Short 1879) It is used with a vocative (''ō mī Furnī!''), with an accusative of exclamation (''ō mē perditum!'' “ah, I am ruined!”), rarely with a nominative (''ō vir fortis atque amīcus!''), and with ''utinam'' or ''sī'' in wishes (''ō sī …!'' “oh, if only …!”).^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ The TLL notes that a distinction between ''ō'' and ''oh'', which some editors find in the manuscripts of Plautus and Terence, is not kept by later writers.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Archaic – Found in the Carmen Saliare.^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius: ''ō Rōmule, Rōmule dīe''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence: ''ō faciem pulchram!''^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero: ''ō mē perditum, ō mē afflīctum!''^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil: ''ō sī solitae quicquam virtūtis adesset!''^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Interjection===

+ # [[m|en|oh]]!, [[m|en|O]]! (of joy, surprise, desire, grief or indignation).^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(with vocative)'' O …!^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(with accusative)'' ''ō mē perditum!'', ah, I am ruined!^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''ō utinam …'', ''ō sī …'', oh, if only …!^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[prō]]

+ * [[heu]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Ō'' is also the name of the letter O, an indeclinable neuter or feminine.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}