queo Latin · revision 18068

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=back-formation|attested=c. 235–200 BC, Naevius|origins=ine-pro *h₁ey-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈkʷe.oː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkʷɛː.o]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''queō''' (present infinitive quīre, perfect active quiī or quīvī, supine quitum); irregular conjugation^(Wiktionary)

+ The present is ''queō, quīs, quit, quīmus, quītis, queunt'', the imperfect ''quībam'', the future ''quībō''.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)

+ With a passive infinitive it has passive forms: Caecilius ''quītur'', Terence ''quitast''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a back-formation from [[m|la|nequeō|t=to be unable]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan explains that the mix of ⟨-eō, -eunt⟩ and ⟨ī⟩-forms shows the verb [[m|la|eō|t=to go]]: a contracted ⟨*neque īt⟩ or ⟨*neque ītur⟩ “it does not go, it is impossible” came to mean “he is unable”, and removing the negative gave a new verb meaning “to be able”.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Naevius.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Quīre'' is “to be able, can”, chiefly with an infinitive, and often with a negation.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) The infinitive can be left out or replaced by a pronoun or ''ut'' (Terence: ''ut tē redimās captum quam queās minimō'', “to ransom yourself, now you are caught, as cheaply as you can”).^(OLD 2012) Lewis & Short note that Cicero never uses ''nequeō'' in the first person singular, but ''nōn queō''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “to be able, can”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence: ''quam queās minimō''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To be [[m|en|able]], can.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[nequeō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[eō]]

+ * [[possum]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}