numquid Latin · revision 30727

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *nu}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈnʊŋ.kʷɪd]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈnum.kʷid]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

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

+ It is also spelled ''nunquid''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed from [[m|la|num|t=interrogative particle]] and [[m|la|quid|t=anything]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan traces ⟨num⟩ to [[itc-pro|*num|t=now]] and [[ine-pro|*nu|t=now]], cognate with [[grc|νῦν|tr=nûn|t=now]], [[sa|नूनम्|tr=nūnám|t=now, indeed]] and [[got|𐌽𐌿|tr=nu|t=now]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus, ''Pseudolus'': ''numquid īrātus es … propter hās rēs, Simō?'', “you're not angry over this, are you, Simo?”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Numquid'' introduces a question expecting the answer “no”, “is it really possible that…?”, and in indirect questions means “whether” (Cicero: I should like to know whether it is necessary).^(OLD 2012) In rhetorical questions it implies a firm denial (Ovid: ''numquid tua signa relīquī?'', “did I ever desert your standards?”).^(OLD 2012) Lewis & Short note that it can also stand in plain questions where English has no equivalent word, as Terence's ''numquid meministī?'', “do you remember?”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus in a question expecting “no”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence: ''numquid meministī?''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero in an indirect question.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Particle===

+ # ''(in questions expecting a negative answer)'' Surely not? is it possible that?^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(in indirect questions)'' Whether.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(in rhetorical questions)'' Can it be said that…? (implying “no”).^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[num]]

+ * [[quis]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}