The Latin Neuter Plurals in Romance - Page ON
The Latin Neuter Plurals in Romance - Page ON
The Latin Neuter Plurals in Romance - Page ON
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-A type of plural. Here the only possibility I can suggest is that these nouns,<br />
hav<strong>in</strong>g -U, and even -Ū, rather than -O as their stem vowel, were felt to have a<br />
greater aff<strong>in</strong>ity with the neuter nouns <strong>in</strong> -US, which likewise had no -O forms (cf.<br />
the contrary move to the 4th declension evidenced by the southern Italian<br />
plurals le peco, le capo), though I fear this argument does not carry much<br />
weight when one considers firstly that the Italian remnants of the 4th-declension<br />
plurals end <strong>in</strong> -o, and further that the neuter nouns <strong>in</strong> -US also show early traces<br />
of -O forms, such as CORPO <strong>in</strong> the Pereg. (Grandgent, §356.3), to which<br />
compare also the PECTUM <strong>in</strong> an <strong>in</strong>scription from Italy (Bour., §218b). Anyway,<br />
the fact is that the 4th-declension mascul<strong>in</strong>es all became neuters, and <strong>in</strong> many<br />
cases adopted -ORA rather than -A as the plural end<strong>in</strong>g; here we f<strong>in</strong>d many<br />
examples of abstract nouns <strong>in</strong> Lombard <strong>Lat<strong>in</strong></strong>, such as the praeceptora,<br />
<strong>in</strong>gressora, scriptora, mansoras, traversoras I quoted earlier, and similar<br />
formations such as Rum. aluaturi, drepturi, salturi, vânaturi, viersuri,<br />
Istro-Rum. traveršur (Schicks., p. 53), It. dial. peccatərə, pərtosərə, reposora<br />
(Wartburg, Raccolta, 37:548). Once established, this type may be supposed to<br />
have attracted to itself firstly the 2nd-declension nouns <strong>in</strong> -TUS, -TUM, giv<strong>in</strong>g<br />
forms like Lomb. Lat. (h)ortora, pavimentora, tectora, ventora, as well as the<br />
lectora, pratora just quoted, Rum. pământuri, vânturi; of the former, ortora,<br />
tettora, lettora and pratora have survived <strong>in</strong> modern Italian, and been jo<strong>in</strong>ed by<br />
others like detərə (DIGITA), vutura (VOTA). <strong>The</strong>se were also jo<strong>in</strong>ed by other<br />
2nd-declension neuters (<strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g those that became neuter at a later stage),<br />
giv<strong>in</strong>g forms like Lomb. Lat., OIt. locora, Rum. locuri, or Lomb. Lat.<br />
extromentora (= INSTRUMENTA), ferroras, modiora, poiora (PODIA), ramora,<br />
stariora (SEXTARIA), vadora, paralleled by Rum. aiuri, ajunuri, arg<strong>in</strong>turi,<br />
aururi, ceruri, chiaguri, coturi, cuiuri, dosuri, fânuri, frâiuri, fusuri,<br />
genunchiuri, grâiuri, juguri, lucruri, meiuri, nasuri, ochiuri, prânzuri, preŃuri,<br />
ramuri, schimburi, scuturi, seuri, somnuri, spicuri, stauluri, vâscuri, ven<strong>in</strong>uri,<br />
v<strong>in</strong>uri and so on, to which we f<strong>in</strong>d occasional Italian correspondences <strong>in</strong> forms<br />
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