coturnix Latin · revision 36489

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [koːˈtʊr.niːks], [kɔˈtʊr.niːks]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [koˈtur.niks]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cō̆turnīx''' ''f'' (genitive cō̆turnīcis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+ The first vowel is long in Plautus and Lucretius and short in Ovid, Martial and Juvenal.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ The archetype of Lucretius spells it ''cocturnīx''.^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is uncertain.^(TLL)^(Wiktionary) The OLD takes it to be originally imitative,^(OLD 2012) and Köbler likewise calls it probably imitative of the bird's call;^(Köbler 2010) Festus, as epitomised by Paulus, already said the quail was named from the sound of its voice.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Some scholars take an older form with ⟨qu⟩ as the original and compare [[goh|wahtala]] and [[ang|wyhtel]], names of the quail.^(TLL) Wiktionary starts from an earlier ⟨cocturnīx⟩, perhaps from [[itc-pro|*kwaktrīx]], reshaped after [[m|la|cōrnīx|t=crow]], and traces it to [[ine-pro|*kʷóǵ⁽ʰ⁾-tr-ih₂-k-s]], from [[m|ine-pro|*kʷeǵ⁽ʰ⁾-|t=to flee]], with [[gmw-pro|*hwahtlā|t=quail]] as a cognate.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus has it first, both for the bird, the [[m|en|quail]], in the ''Captivi'' and as a pet name in the ''Asinaria''.^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Varro, Lucretius, Ovid and Pliny the Elder mention the bird.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Like other small animal names it served as a [[m|en|term of endearment]] in comedy.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) The Vulgate uses it in Exodus,^(Georges 1913) and Ecclesiastical Latin keeps the plain sense “quail”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for the quail and as a pet name.^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro writes about quails in his work on farming.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius scans the first vowel long.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid scans it short, as later poets do.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes the bird.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it in Exodus.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|quail]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A pet name, “my little quail”.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}