hem Latin · revision 33359

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=onomatopoeia|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈhẽː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈɛm]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''hem''' (interjection)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is an onomatopoeic interjection, like [[de|hm]] and [[fr|hum]].^(TLL) Compare the stronger [[m|la|ehem]].^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler records it from Plautus,^(Köbler 2010) who has it in surprise, as in the ''Aulularia'': ''hem, erumne ego aspicio meum?'', “what's this, do I see my master?”^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It expresses surprise or concern, in a good or a bad sense: Terence has ''hem, quid id est?'', “what, what is that?”, and Sulpicius Rufus, in a letter to Cicero, ''hem! nos homunculi indignamur'', “what! do we little men take it ill …?”.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) It also expresses grief, alas, as Terence's ''hem misera occidi'', “ah, poor me, I'm done for”, and in Cicero.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) The grammarians count it among the interjections of feeling;^(TLL) Donatus explains it as the cry of someone hearing news, and with ''hui'' as a sneer at people one is angry with.^(TLL) Apuleius still uses it.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, in surprise.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence, in surprise and in grief.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero, in grief.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Interjection===

+ # Expressing [[m|en|surprise]] or concern: what? what's that? well, well!^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Expressing grief: ah! [[m|en|alas]]!^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Manuscripts and editions often confuse it with [[em]] and [[ēn]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}