num Latin · revision 17939

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 235–200 BC, Naevius|origins=ine-pro *nu}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈnũː]^(Wiktionary)

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

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''num''' (not comparable)^(Wiktionary)

+ ''Num quis'', ''num quandō'' and the like are also written as one word.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*num|t=now]], [[inh|ine-pro|*nu|t=now]], first meaning “now”, as it still does in [[etiamnum]]; [[nunc]] (from ⟨*num-ce⟩) and [[nūper]] belong to the same adverb.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010) De Vaan explains the final ⟨-m⟩ either from a PIE ⟨*-n⟩ or as a remodelling of ⟨*nun⟩ after [[nam]].^(de Vaan 2008) The OLD compares the similar shift in [[hit|kinun|t=now]].^(OLD 2012)

+

+ Cognate with [[sa|नूनम्|tr=nūnám|t=now, indeed]], [[hit|nu|t=and, but]] and [[peo|nūram|t=now]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler date it from Naevius.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) Terence has ''vīse … num sit'', “go and see whether she is there”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Num'' introduces a direct question in which the speaker fears or doubts a positive answer, and especially rhetorical questions that demand the answer “no” (“surely not…?”).^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) In indirect questions it means “whether (by any chance)”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) The old sense “now” survives only in ''etiam num''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Church Latin uses it, like ''[[numquid]]'', for questions expecting a negative answer, and for “if, whether”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 235–200 BC – Used by Naevius.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence: ''vīse … num sit''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # ''(in direct questions expecting “no”)'' Surely not?, can it be that…?^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(in indirect questions)'' [[m|en|whether]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(in etiam num)'' Now.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[numnam]]

+ * [[numquis]]

+ * [[etiamnum]]

+ * [[numne]]

+ * [[numquid]]

+ * [[nunc]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[nōnne]]

+ * [[nūper]]

+ * [[-ne]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}