quantulus Latin · revision 34471

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=la quantus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈkʷan.tʊ.ɫʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈkʷan.tu.lus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''quantulus''' (feminine quantula, neuter quantulum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|quantus|-ulus|t1=how great]], a diminutive.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879) De Vaan derives [[m|la|quantus]] from a preform [[ine-pro|*kweh2-nt-]], built on the stem of the relative and interrogative pronoun [[quī]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Lewis and Short cite it first from Plautus,^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010) whose ''Bacchides'' has ''nescio quantulum attulerit'', “I don't know how little he brought”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is the diminutive counterpart of ''quantus'', used in questions, exclamations and relative clauses about how small something is.^(OLD 2012) Lucretius asks how small certain limbs and joints are, Cicero exclaims how small the sun looks to us, and Juvenal says how little the bodies of men are.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) The neuter ''quantulum'' is used as a noun, how small an amount or how trifling a matter, as in Cicero's ''id autem quantulum est?'', and as an adverb.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Gellius uses ''quantulum est mihi memoriae'', as much (that is, as little) as I remember.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Apuleius repeats it, ''quantulum quantulum'', for what little one can give.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses the neuter ''quantulum'', how little.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it in a question about the size of limbs.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero exclaims how small the sun seems.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses the doubled ''quantulum quantulum''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(interrogative)'' How small? how little?; neuter, how small an amount, how [[m|en|trifling]] a matter?^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(exclamatory)'' How small!^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(relative)'' Of what (small) size; neuter, what small amount.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(repeated)'' What little one can.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[quantuluscumque]]

+ * [[quantuluslibet]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}