The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville - Pot-pourri

44 I.vii.29–viii.4 Isidore of Seville
have assigned them gender. A neuter (neuter, lit.“neither”)
noun is so named because it is neither one nor the
other, that is, neither masculine nor feminine. A common
(communis)noun is so called because one noun has
a share in both genders, as hic canis (“this male dog”) and
haec canis (“this female dog”). 29.Theopposite of this is
an epicene (epicoenos)noun, because it expresses either
sex with a single gender, as in hic piscis (“this fish”). It is
of uncertain sex, because it can be distinguished neither
by nature nor by sight, but only by expert discernment.
The inclusive (omne genus) noun is so named because
it serves for all genders: for masculine and feminine,
neuter, common – for all (omnis).
30. ‘Grammatical number’ (numerus) issonamed
because it shows whether a noun is singular or plural.
‘Morphological form’ (figura), because nouns are
either simple or compound. 31.Cases (casus)aresocalled
from ‘having an ending’ (cadere, ppl. casus): through
the cases inflected nouns are varied and have their endings.
The nominative (nominativus) case is so called
because through it we name (nominare) something,as
hic magister (“this teacher”). The genitive (genetivus),
because through it we find the descent of someone, as
huius magistri filius (“this teacher’s son”), or because
we assign a thing to someone, as huius magistri liber
(“this teacher’s book”). 32.Thedative (dativus), because
through it we show that we give (dare,ppl. datus)something
to someone, as da huic magistro (“give to this
teacher”). The accusative (accusativus), because through
it we accuse someone, as accuso hunc magistrum (“I
accuse this teacher”). The vocative (vocativus), because
through it we call (vocare)someone, as O magister (“hey,
teacher!”). Ablative (ablativus), because through it we
indicate that we take away (auferre, ppl. ablatus) something
from someone, as in aufer a magistro (“take from
the teacher”). 33.Certain nouns and adjectives are called
hexaptota because they have distinct inflection in six
cases, as the word unus (“one”). Pentaptota,because they
are declined in only five cases, as doctus (“learned”).
Tetraptota,because they are only declined in four cases,
as latus (“side”). Triptota because only in three, as templum
(“temple”). Diptota, because only in two, as Iuppiter
(“Jupiter”). Monoptota, because they only use one
case, as frugi (“thrifty”). 10
viii. The pronoun (De pronomine) 1. Thepronoun
(pronomen)issonamed because it is put ‘in place of the
noun’ (pro vice nominis), lest the noun itself cause annoyance
when it is repeated. When we say, “Vergil wrote
the Bucolics,” we continue with the pronoun, “he (ipse)
wrote the Georgics,” and thus the variation in expression
both removes annoyance and introduces ornament. 2.
Pronouns are either definite or indefinite. Definite (finitus)pronouns
are so called because they define (definire)
acertainperson, as ego (“I”); for you immediately understand
this to be me. The indefinite (infinitus)ones are so
named because the persons referred to are not certain.
Indefinite pronouns are used for those who are absent
or undetermined, as quis (“anyone” (masc. or fem.)),
quae (“any” (fem.)), quod (“any” (neut.)). 11 Some are
called ‘less than definite’ (minus quam finitus), since they
make mention of a known person, as ipse (“he himself”),
iste (“that one”) – for we know who is spoken
of. 3. Possessives (possessivus) aresocalled because they
show that we possess something, for when I say meus
(“my”), tuus (“your”), I define something as mine, or
yours. Correspondent (relativus)pronouns are so called
because they are said in response (refero,ppl. relatus)to
aquestion,as“whois?”(quis est?) isanswered by “he
is” (is est). Demonstratives (demonstrativus), because
they have the sense of indicating (demonstrare). By them
we indicate someone who is present, as hic, haec, hoc
(“this one” (masc., fem., and neut.)); these three are
also called articles. 4. Articles (articulus) aresocalled
because they are ‘pressed together’ (artare), that is, they
are connected, withnouns,aswhenwesayhic orator
(“the orator”). There is this difference between the article
and the pronoun: it is an article when it is joined to
anoun, as hic sapiens (“the wise man”). But when it is
not joined, then it is a demonstrative pronoun, as hic et
10 The terms are derived from Greek numerical prefixes and the
root of ¯ω, “grammatical case.” Unus has six distinct forms for
the six cases in the singular; doctus has five forms, with the dative
and ablative singular sharing the same form; latus has four, with
the nominative, accusative, and vocative singular sharing one form;
templum has three, with the nominative, accusative, and vocative singular
sharing one form, and the dative and ablative singular sharing
another; frugi is “indeclinable,” with only the one form. The conception
seems to shift with the noun Iuppiter, which actually has only
the one form, used only in the nominative and vocative; its oblique
forms are supplied by the synonymous noun Iovis, which itself has
four forms.
11 Quis is the masculine and feminine substantive form of the
indefinite pronoun; quae and quod are adjectival forms, sometimes
used substantively.