heu Latin · revision 30778

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|attested=204–169 BC, Ennius}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈhɛu̯]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈɛːu̯]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''heu''' (interjection)^(Wiktionary)

+ Ovid and Statius let it stand in hiatus before a vowel.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is an expressive interjection; compare [[m|la|ēheu]].^(Wiktionary) Köbler sets it beside the Indo-European interjection that Pokorny gives as ⟨*eheu⟩.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Ennius: ''heu quam crūdēlī condēbat membra sepulcrō'', “alas, in what a cruel tomb he was burying the limbs”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010) Plautus has ''heu, cor meum … finditur'', “alas, my heart is breaking”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Heu'' expresses grief, regret, pain or indignation, “alas, ah, oh”, used alone or with an accusative.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) In elegy it is weakened to little more than a sigh (Propertius: ''heu quantum per sē candida fōrma valet'', “ah, how much a fair face can do by itself”).^(OLD 2012) The Vulgate and later texts also have ''heu mihi'', “woe is me”.^(TLL)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “alas, woe”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius: ''heu quam crūdēlī…''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: ''heu, cor meum … finditur''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 57/46–12 BC – Propertius: ''heu quantum per sē candida fōrma valet''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 390–406 AD – The Vulgate: ''heu mihi''.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Interjection===

+ # [[m|en|alas|alt=Alas]]!, ah!, oh! (of grief, pain or indignation).^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # Ah! (a sigh).^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ēheu]]

+ * [[vae]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}