Keep Track of Contractions

Occasionally, words are taken together and presented as such within a Latin edition of the text; this is especially frequent with the older poets and comedians.

• ūnusquisque (ūnus quisque) every single one
• sīquis (sī quis) if anyone
• quārē (quā rē) therefore
• quamobrem (quam ob rem) on account of which
• rēspūblica (rēs pūblica) republic
• iūsiūrandum (iūs iūrandum) oath
• paterfamiliās (pater familiās) head of family

Sometimes, this slurring will alter spoken pronunciation.

• homōst (homō est) it’s a man
• perīculumst (perīculum est) danger (Will Robinson)!
• ausust (ausus est) there’s a hazard
• quālist (quālis est) as it is
• vīn’ (vīsne) don’t you see?
• scīn’ (scīsne) don’t you know?
• sīs (sī vīs) if you want
• sōdēs (sī audēs) if you don’t mind
• sūltis (sī vultis) if you want

The Essential AG: 13, 13n

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Alternative and Archaic Quī and Quis

The relative and interrogative pronouns (quī, quae, quod) and (quis? quod?) are originally of the same root, so their older forms overlap in many places. The majority of this post will cover features of Latin you might only live to see once, or never.

• The archaic genitive singular of this root is quōius, and the archaic dative singular, quoi.
• The form quī is alternative of the ablative in all genders, though most often appears as an adverb (quī, how, in what way, inanway–using the same semantic field as the Greek ὅπῃ), or as quīcum, with whom? However, there are more general instances, even in classical Latin, for instance:

Which chest did the spears pierce: quī pectōre tela / transmittant (Lucan, Bellum Civile 7)

• The archaic nominative plural, quēs, is only found in early Latin, though the archaic dative/ablative plural quīs is found in classical poetry.

The Essential AG: 150