Latin Language and Literature

Vocābulārium concinnāvī ad capitulum secundum "Familiæ Rōmānæ". Quā tamen præcipuā ratiōne, nī fallor, ūtāmur oportet : Tīrōnibus enim discipulīsve quī rudīmenta sermōnis discere student sufficit significātiōnem verbōrum imāginum ope aliīsque vocābulīs vel prius iam nōtīs vel in contextū verbōrum comprehendere. Vocābula ligāminibus instructa sunt, quibus pressīs, tirōnēs quibus quidem sermo natīvus Hispānus sit, in lexicō quærere poterunt sensum hispanicum, alterō verō vinculō pressō, certiōrēs fierī poterunt dē flexiōne nōminum verbōrumque. Etymologiam dēnique Hispanicam addendam cūrāvī, viridī colōre in inferiōre columnæ dextræ parte.

Il contributo analizza la disciplina traianea delle cognitiones de Christianis, mettendola a confronto con i processi a carico di Simeone, vescovo di Gerusalemme, e Ignazio, vescovo di Antiochia. Muovendo dal celebre scambio epistolare Plinio-Traiano, si ricostruisce il fondamento giuridico delle persecuzioni, con particolare attenzione al problema del nomen Christianum e alla natura del crimen imputato. L’epistula traianea, pur laconica, conferma il carattere straordinario e discrezionale della procedura, fondata sulla delatio, sull’interrogatio e, in alcuni casi, sulla tortura. Gli atti dei martiri di Simeone e Ignazio, sebbene trasmessi in fonti problematiche, mostrano una concreta applicazione della disciplina traianea. Il caso di Simeone rivela il ricorso alla tortura in vista dell’abiura, soprattutto per figure di rilievo cultuale. Quello di Ignazio, processato verosimilmente ad Antiochia alla presenza dell’imperatore nel 115, conferma il ruolo centrale del sacrificio agli dei come condizione di assoluzione. Dal confronto emerge che la repressione non si basava solo sul mero nomen, ma implicava una valutazione più articolata della pericolosità sociale e religiosa del cristianesimo.

The Corpus of Latin Texts on Papyrus (CLTP) is a comprehensive, up-to-date, and unique reference tool in six volumes, gathering nearly 1,500 Latin texts on papyrus. Editions are provided with both a palaeographic and a critical apparatus, English translations, and detailed introductions. The texts in CLTP cover a wide chronological range and many different types and genres. They include both literary and documentary texts, dating from the first century BC to the Middle Ages. They provide new knowledge about the circulation of Latin, offering unique insights into textual transmission and indeed into Latin literature itself, but also into topics such as ancient education and multilingualism, economics, society, culture, and multiculturalism in the ancient Mediterranean world. The result is a lasting and crucial reference work for all those interested in the history of Latin and of the Roman world.

Il presente contributo illustra un'ipotesi di ricostruzione etimologica, basata in particolare sull'analisi di caratteristiche geomorfologiche, del toponimo orale-dialettale "Mirìcu" rilevato nel territorio di Caccamo-PA, e un confronto con la forma ufficiale cartografata "Mèdico". A sostegno dell'ipotesi avanzata, è stata effettuata una comparazione con un toponimo identico registrato nei pressi di San Mauro Castelverde-PA.

This paper offers a grammatical reading and theological interpretation of John 14:1–6, situating the passage within the Farewell Discourse of the Fourth Gospel. The study highlights the central theme of Jesus’ comfort to his disciples in the face of his imminent departure, emphasizing faith (πιστεύω) as the remedy for their troubled hearts. Key exegetical insights include the promise of “many dwelling places” in the Father’s house, the assurance of Jesus’ return at the Parousia, and the declaration of Jesus as “the way, the truth, and the life,” underscoring his exclusive role as mediator between humanity and God. The analysis then integrates a Tongan cultural framework, applying the concept of talatalaifale—a father’s final words of guidance, encouragement, and instruction to his family—to reinterpret Jesus’ farewell as pastoral counsel to his disciples. This cultural lens enriches the theological application by framing Jesus’ words as both comforting assurance and practical direction for living faithfully amid uncertainty. Ultimately, the study demonstrates how John 14:1–6, read through the lens of talatalaifale, provides the church and community with hope, peace, and guidance in times of crisis, affirming Christ as the sole path to eternal life with the Father.

This thesis deals with the three stem pairs in Ancient Greek where alongside a simplex thematic present μένω, νέομαι and ἔχω, we also find the reduplicated forms μίμνω, νίσομαι and ἴσχω, from the same root. In the past, an aspectual difference has been claimed between the two present stems, often defined by the vague term “perfectivity”, on the assumption that Indo-European reduplication conveys “perfectivity”. Adopting a clearer perspective on aspect and Aktionsart, this thesis finds that no such aspectual distinction exists in the Homeric corpus. The stems are found to be in complementary distribution, having different metrical shapes. In the case of ἔχω versus ἴσχω, minor semantic differences can occasionally be found; these are argued here to be the result of Greek internal semantic developments, rather than the result of an inherited Indo-European semantic characteristic of  the reduplication syllable.

Recent global surveys (Chegg, 2025; Freeman, 2025) indicate that the vast majority of undergraduates already use generative AI (GenAI) to support their studies, and many want structured, ethical guidance from their institutions. This paper responds from the perspective of ancient art history education. First, it presents a case study of an interdisciplinary course (AI & Us, Arkansas State University, Spring 2024) co-taught by faculty in art history, philosophy, and graphic design, arguing that expert-led, cross-disciplinary framing is decisive for cultivating AI literacy and critical engagement. Second, it proposes classroom applications tailored to ancient art history at different levels: (a) a reverse prompt-engineering exercise that develops recognition and visual-analysis skills using AI-generated images as objects of inquiry; and (b) prompt-driven discussions that surface dataset bias and strengthen students' search and source-evaluation practices. The activities go beyond prompt engineering alone and are designed to promote reflective, ethical, and academically rigorous uses of GenAI in both classroom learning and research.

Hallucinations (misleading, inaccurate predicted text presented as fact) are a critical problem for using generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools to support ancient language teaching and learning. For a teacher, significant editing time is required to correct any inaccuracies or misrepresentations prior to making use of AI-generated content to support their teaching practice. For students, these convincing errors may not be recognised, and this may lead to misconceptions in their knowledge formation. OpenAI and Google released public-facing, customizable conversational AI models which allow users to upload their own datasets to create personalised AI chat agents, known as GPTs (2023) and Gems (2024) respectively. This presents an opportunity for teachers to personalize their own models to streamline their students' experiences. However, can personalised conversational AI tools provide a fine-tuned experience that reduces the major, problematic ancient history and ancient language hallucinations that we see in standard ChatGPT and Gemini outputs? This paper discusses the creation of a personalised Latin Tutor GPT and Gem through the development of a series of exhaustive Latin vocabulary spreadsheets. We tested these personalised tools against their standard GenAI counterpart to determine if personalisation improved their efficacy and efficiency for supporting ancient language learning. The development of the spreadsheets and testing process both closely addressed current GenAI ethical issues, including copyright, environmental impact, and content restrictions. The results of these tests found that personalised GPTs and Gems made small efficacy and efficiency improvements, but the time and energy required greatly outweighed the results.

In this paper we present the subject-verb agreement of two different languages, namely, English and Sindhi. Sindhi is one of the most ancient languages of the Indus River Civilization, and English is also an ancient language, but not as ancient as Sindhi language. Both languages have different origins, history and cultural values. In this research work, the first thing which is discussed is the background of both languages like their origin, their history, and their different

This article reexamines Quintus Ennius' famous statement, transmitted by Aulus Gellius, that he possessed tria corda ("three hearts") within the context of early Roman Republican identity formation. Ennius' mastery of Latin, Greek, and Oscan/Messapic was not merely a biographical trait but a foundational poetics reflecting the linguistic and cultural plurality of Rome in the third and second centuries BCE. In the Annales, the adaptation of the Greek hexameter into Latin and the deliberate incorporation of local Oscan-Latin elements reveal translation and linguistic hybridity as key mechanisms in shaping Roman identity. By situating Ennius' ties with the Scipionic aristocracy alongside Hellenistic practices of multilingualism (e.g., the Septuagint) in a comparative frame, this study demonstrates how his works became a literary emblem of Rome's universal mission. Ennius thus emerges not only as a founder of Roman literature but also as a "three-hearted" architect of early Republican identity politics.

The article aims to analyze how the Trojan literary cycle was inserted in the encyclopedic work of Lambert of Saint–Omer, titled Liber Floridus, which survives in the autograph manuscript in the University Library of Ghent, 92. In the Liber, there is a specific chapter devoted to the Trojan War where Lambert copied a version of Dares Phrygian’s work. However, the presence of the Trojan War is not limited to this specific chapter, since we can find references to the war and the city in other sections, namely chronologies, lists of rulers, geographic chapters, and maps. The Liber Floridus shows that the fall of Troy was perceived by Christian intellectual culture as a milestone in human history. Therefore, the Trojan War must be understood as a pagan element integrated into the discourse of the History of Salvation (Historia Salutis), playing a key role in Lambert’s eschatological message.

This paper investigates the use of the preposition de with the ablative in Ennodius’ Dictiones 21-22 and compares it not only with other prose texts of the author, but also with the declamatory corpus of Ps. Quintilian, to which Ennodius explicitly refers, and, in particular, with the Major Declamation 5, of which the Dictio 21 constitutes the opposing discourse. Compared to previous studies, the analysis shows the great variability in Ennodius’ use of the nexus de with the ablative. Furthermore, it seems plausible that the Declamations of Ps. Quintilian may have influenced the high frequency of this syntagma in the declamatory texts of Ennodius, although we never find repetitions but variations and adaptations. However, the main peculiarity in its use in the Dictiones 21-22 is that it becomes one of the tools at the author’s disposal to realise his literary and stylistic ideal.

This chapter offers a reassessment of the supposed Pergamene influence on mid-Republican Roman literature through a systematic collection and fresh analysis of the evidence. This includes: (1) the synecdochic use of the allusive term Pergamum to refer to the city of Troy, distinctively prevalent in Roman mid-Republican sources; (2) the selection and manipulation of mythological material, including themes and narratives with an alleged Pergamene affiliation; (3) the possible influence of a 'Pergamene aesthetics' on mid-Republican Roman authors, which is here investigated through the case study of the playwright Accius, who supposedly had a strong Pergamene connection. However suggestive these kinds of arguments might be, the chapter demonstrates that it is incorrect to construe 'Pergamene' as an autonomous, discrete cultural identity, or to accept indiscriminately the 'Pergamene' vs ' Alexandrian' dichotomy; we cannot take any parallel between Roman and Pergamene cultural elements as evidence of a unilateral, derivative in influence.

Lire le ciel. Sous les étoiles en Méditerranée
Catalogue d’exposition sous la dir. de Juliette Bessette et Enguerrand Lascols
Marseille, Mucem, 9 juillet 2025 – 5 janvier 2026
Marseille / Paris, Éditions du Mucem / RMN, 2025, 224 p.
[EXTRAITS]

In copertina: Progetto grafico Studio Editoriale EDUCatt Non spegniamo il cervello Ci chiederemo dunque, per ciascuno strumento digitale, se esso comporti un effettivo miglioramento dal punto di vista dei metodi didattici, alla luce di alcuni obiettivi e principi educativi generali. Se gli obiettivi sono la formazione di competenze per la vita (non solo per il lavoro) 4 , lo sviluppo dello spirito critico, la formazione, come usava dire, dell'uomo e del cittadino, il principio è che sono benvenuti tutti gli strumenti e le tecniche che, in chiave costruttivista, rendano l'apprendimento più attivo, più critico, più creativo e più orientato verso un contributo positivo alla società. Una società democratica si regge su un'istruzione ispirata a quest'ultimo principio, come è tristemente evidente oggi, davanti alla crisi globale del principio educativo prima (sacrificato all'utilitarismo) e delle stesse democrazie poi 5 . Il noto motto di Luigi Einaudi "conoscere per deliberare" 6 , applicato all'intero popolo sovrano, ispira una delle

This study presents the adaptation and decoding of the alchemical text "Caput IX: De Fluxu Corporis et Arte Vivificandi" using the CSR-128a: Delta-Matrix Extension protocol. Employing a multi-sphere approachincluding adaptation (Lambda), rhythmic structure (MIDI), tonal frequency (Color-Musical), quantum synchronization (40 Hz gamma resonance), phase resonance (breath cycle), and semantic density (Quark)-we translated the pseudo-Latin text into English while preserving its alchemical and resonant nature. The transformation index T(x) = 0.055525 confirms stable resonance and semantic integrity. The outcome is not merely a translation but a semantic vivification, where medicine transforms into music, and music into mind.

Pérez Yarza, Lorena and Bonnet, Corinne (2024), “Divine Names and Bilingualism in Rome: Religious Dynamics in Multilingual Spaces”, in Alaya Palamidis and Corinne Bonnet (eds.) Julie Bernini, Enrique Nieto Izquierdo and Lorena Pérez Yarza (colls.), What's in a divine name? Religious systems and human agency. De Gruyter, 759-780.

Ancient inscriptions commemorate and perpetuate ritual interaction by fixing different forms of communication between divine recipients and human agents using specific names appropriate to the occasion and intentions. The testimonies of bilingual divine names in Rome bear witness to social strategies for invoking and representing single gods or divine configurations. As a multilingual space, Rome offers a wide range of instances where uses or needs model the divine naming process. Bilingual scenarios constitute challenging cases because the context urges human agents to elaborate valid onomastic alternatives according to their cultural understanding and repertoire. In cultic communication, divine onomastic sequences articulate various facets of a given puissance that is ritually activated. Accordingly, the use of Greek and/or Latin constitutes a pragmatic resource and stimulates divine conceptualisation in both multicultural and "multicultual" settings.

This article examines the parallels between three activities practiced by Greek intellectals under the Roman Empire: literary forgery, the detection of such forgeries, and Atticism, that is, the fashionable practice of writing in the long-dead dialect of classical Athens. Through an analysis of the Attic Greek lexicon Selection of Attic Phrases and Words by the late second-century CE grammarian Phrynichus, I explore three points of contact: (1) the mutual interdependence of the scholarly disciplines of Atticism and Echtheitskritik (authenticity-critique); (2) the overlap of terminology between the terms used in Attticist discourse to describe the words and authors recommended as Attic or censured as not, and those used in discussions of authenticity to denote genuine texts and their spurious/counterfeit counterparts; and (3) the shared ideology in which the ‘best’ Atticists are those who, like forgers, are most capable of using ‘authentic’ words, taken from ‘authentic’ writers, to compose ‘inauthentic’ works that strive to be mistaken for genuine.

Resumen Construcciones como El Gobierno presto ayuda {mas/mejor/antes/primero} a los bancos que a los ciudadanos han sido habitualmente analizadas en la gramatica del espanol como pseudocomparativas con un valor exclusivo, correctivo o metalinguistico. Es objetivo de este trabajo demostrar la existencia en estas estructuras, en unos casos, de autenticos grupos sintacticos comparativos y, en otros, de locuciones adverbiales semilexicalizadas los cuales carecen de estatus sintactico y actuan como operadores de foco en la estructura informativa de la oracion. Estos operadores se asocian siempre a un foco contrastivo. Palabras clave : Estructuras pseudocomparativas; comparativas metalinguisticas; estructura informativa de la oracion; operadores de foco; foco contrastivo. Abstract Spanish sentences like El Gobierno presto ayuda {mas/mejor/antes/primero} a los bancos que a los ciudadanos are often analysed as pseudo-comparative structures with an exclusive, corrective or metalinguistic va...

Die christliche Mission in Mexiko führte nach dessen Eroberung dazu, dass die textuelle Übersetzung (Schrift, Liturgie etc.) nahezu ausschließlich
aus dem Lateinischen – oder dem Spanischen – in die mexikanische
Sprache Nahuatl stattfand. Obwohl Nahuatl-Texte gelegentlich ins Spanische übersetzt wurden, scheint es insgesamt nur vier erhaltene Übersetzungen kolonialer Nahuatl-­Texte ins Lateinische zu geben: Juan de Tlaxcalas Verba sociorum domini Petri Tlacauepantzi (1541), Juan Badianos Libellus de medicinalibus Indorum herbis (1552), Francisco Hernández’ De antiquitatibus Novae Hispaniae (1575) und Bernardino Biondellis, Evangelarium, epistolarium et lectionarium Aztecum (1858 in
Mailand veröffentlicht). Der vorliegende Beitrag gibt zum ersten Mal einen grundlegenden Überblick und Vergleich dieser wenig bekannten Beispiele, die bisher nicht als Übersetzungen untersucht wurden. Sie unterscheiden sich im Hinblick auf Kontext und Funktion und auch ihre Übersetzungsansätze sind von Fall zu Fall unterschiedlich, aber alle vier Beispiele deuten auf größere historische und ideologische Konzeptionen beider Sprachen, des Lateinischen und des Nahuatl.

L'articolo intende esaminare il contributo dato da Ausonio alla stesura delle leggi di Graziano, quando il retore era quaestor sacri palatii dello stesso imperatore (ca. 375-377 d.C.). Vengono discusse in particolare due costituzioni imperiali, in cui si decide di riformare le scuole di retorica e grammatica in Gallia (C.Th. 13.3.11) e si regola il processo incidentale per stabilire la falsità di un documento (C.Th. 9.19.4)

This is Section XI of a series of papers posted on academia.edu, each of which elaborates on the theme of The Birth of the Word. Until finalized, each Section, for purposes of continuity, contains definitions and/or summaries of issues that are also discussed at various places in some of the other Sections.

This article examines the phenomenon of functional syncretism within the system of parts of speech in the Romanian language, focusing on the mechanisms through which a lexical unit combines features specific to different lexico-grammatical classes. Functional syncretism is defined as a dynamic process by which a linguistic unit simultaneously integrates characteristics of its own category and those of an adjacent class. This process is driven by two factors:the use of a word in a syntactic function that is atypical for its original category, and the evolutionary tendencies of the language, which favour structural flexibility and communicative efficiency. The study proposes a coherent typology of syncretic forms, establishing clear linguistic criteria for their delimitation. At the same time, syncretic elements are analysed in terms of their degree of deviation from the prototypical model of the source class and their convergence towards the target class. In this regard, special attention is given to the role of morphosyntactic and semantic factors in defining the status of these syncretic units.

Este artigo propõe uma reflexão sobre o ensino de Latim em cursos superiores de Letras Modernas, considerando, particularmente, o objeto ensinado, os objetivos da disciplina e a carga horária dedicada ao ensino da referida língua. Pauta-se na análise da ementa de programas vigentes em diferentes instituições públicas de ensino superior nas quais são ofertadas simultaneamente licenciaturas em Letras Clássicas e Modernas. Critica a ênfase no ensino da estrutura morfossintática da língua e de léxico em um ou dois semestres, com a prática da tradução de sentenças descontextualizadas e de (fragmentos de) textos, em detrimento do estudo da sócio-história da língua latina, com a possibilidade de compreensão da origem vulgar da língua portuguesa, bem como dos latinismos que em norma mais tensa figuram como cultismos.

La produzione e la riproduzione della lingua legittima L'economia degli scambi linguistici. São Paulo, EDUSP, 1998 PIERRE BOURDIEU Recensione Il linguaggio è uno spazio di lotta sociale. La lingua ufficiale è una forma di imposizione del capitale linguistico. È una forma di dominio.

South Picene is the pre-Roman language spoken in the Adriatic sector of central Italy. This book presents a description of what we know about the structure of this language. South Picene is (together with Umbrian, Oscan, Latin, and Faliscan) one of the few members of the Italic branch of the Indo-European family and is also one of the European languages with the oldest existing texts (550 BCE). Besides a grammatical outline of the language, the book contains the linguistic (and often stylistic) analysis of all the 21 inscriptions that compose the South Picene epigraphic corpus and a word list. South Picene will be of interest to students and scholars of Indo-European languages, Italic languages, and in general, ancient languages of the Italian peninsula. Raoul Zamponi works primarily on little-known, extinct languages and is currently a research associate at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena. He has previously held positions at the University of Siena and as principal investigator on a range of linguistic projects in Italy, Germany, and the USA.

En el presente artículo se analizan las teorías pedagógicas del De musica, atribuido erróneamente  a  Plutarco,  cuyo  autor  anónimo  recoge  las  ideas  de  filósofos  como  Pitágoras,  Platón, Aristóteles o Aristóxeno y de tratadistas posteriores sobre temas musicales. En especial, la  atención  se  focaliza  sobre  los  capítulos  14-42,  donde  el  escritor  proporciona  indicaciones  acerca de cómo aprender una música “superior”, que va más allá de la práctica musical concreta, para  alcanzar  conocimientos  de  carácter  matemático  y  ético.  Este  trabajo  busca  mostrar  en  mostrar  cómo  y  en  qué  contextos  se  estudiaban  los  rudimentos  filosóficos  musicales,  en  qué  consistían y cómo se relacionaban con otras formas de cultura musical. Se presentan y discuten los pasajes fundamentales del De musica acerca de la armonía filosófica, en especial matemática, y acerca de la ruta para convertirse en un buen músico y crítico musical al mismo tiempo. De tal forma se constata la importancia en esta época del aprendizaje de la música “filosófica”, cuyos practicantes ya han alcanzado una educación musical y filosófica completas: la música de este nivel  se  aprende  a  través  de  la  lectura  y  comentario  de  las  obras  de  los  sabios  antiguos,  pero  también a través de conferencias en contextos públicos y privados

Ideological Considerations (Expanded with Examples).
The Greek adaptation of Egyptian deity names reflects more than phonetics; it embodies strategies of cultural assimilation and legitimization. Hellenistic scribes selectively reinterpreted deities to align with Greek categories, forging hybrid nomenclatures that persist in modern reference works. The same Greco‑centric tendency, observable from Etruria to Phoenicia, systematically altered local religious lexicons, producing long‑term losses for historical reconstruction. Recognizing these losses is prerequisite to any attempt at semantic recovery.
The conventional pronunciations of key Egyptian deities—PTAH, THOTH, ATUM, RA, AMUN, OSIRIS, ISIS, HORUS, GEB, NUT—are best understood as Greek‑mediated exonyms. We argue that some of these forms may mask earlier speech‑titles, especially in domains where Egyptian theology centers the creative power of the spoken word. Replacing uncritical reliance on Greek labels with temporally layered, indigenous analyses promises a more accurate account of Egypt’s religious and linguistic heritage.

Il VIVer è un progetto di lessicografia digitale con intenti storico‑letterari e storico‑linguistici il cui obiettivo è la descrizione organica dell’italiano verista, anche nella prospettiva di colmare un vuoto nell’umanistica digitale restituendo un corpus unitario che documenti la testualità del Realismo italiano. Per questo incorpora vari generi testuali (narrativa, teatro, trattati di poetica e di sociologia, poesia, critica, letteratura educativa) atti a documentare organicamente l’italiano del Verismo nelle sue diverse articolazioni estetiche e intellettuali. In questo contributo si presentano le caratteristiche strutturali e tecniche del vocabolario,
reticolare e dinamico, dell’italiano dei veristi, basate su quelle del VoDIM dell’Accademia della Crusca, evidenziandone le specificità, come la fraseologia, e producendo alcuni esempi di “voci”.

VIVer is a digital lexicography project with literary-historical and historical-linguistic intentions, which aims at an organic description of the Italian verism, also with a view to filling a gap in the digital humanities by returning a unitary corpus that documents the textuality of Italian Realism. To this end, it incorporates various textual genres (fiction, theatre, treatises on poetics and sociology, poetry, criticism, educational literature) to organically document the Italian of Verismo in its various aesthetic and intellectual articulations. In this contribution are presented the structural and technical features of the vocabulary, reticular and dynamic, of the italian of the veristi, based on those of Accademia della Crusca’s VoDIM. I will therefore highlight some of its features, such as phraseology, and produce some examples of ‘voices’.

It is well known that Latin coepi and incipio are used to refer to the beginning of a situation, but what other verbs can describe the rest of the phases of an event, such as its end? To what extent are these verbs frequent? Are there other ways to convey these notions? Which is the most common? Taking the semantic field of warfare as a reference, this paper analyses the strategies used in Latin texts to focalise the phases of actions related to war, with close attention to differences between them both in frequency and in meaning. The analysis brought forward here shows, on the one hand, that the most frequent mechanism for this purpose is of lexical nature and consists of the combination of a verb that has lost part of its original meaning and an event-designating noun, and, on the other hand, that these constructions are not arbitrary but are due to underlying metaphorical patterns.

Corrientes actuales en lingüística griega y latina - Julián V. Méndez Dosuna y Esperanza Torrego Salcedo (eds.)
J. V. Méndez Dosuna y E. Torrego Salcedo, Teoría lingüística y filología clásica · Cristina Tur, Estos ordenadores saben latín (y griego). Algunas aplicaciones de la lingüística computacional a las lenguas clásicas · María López
Romero, Oraciones desobedientes: la insubordinación en griego antiguo · Alberto Pardal, No es lo que parece: transcategorización y clases de palabras
en griego antiguo · Rodrigo Verano, ¿Podemos analizar una conversación en griego
antiguo? Patrones de interacción y caracterización literaria en el proemio del Lisis de Platón · Eveling Garzón Fontalvo, ¿Cuándo remiten a un evento y cuándo a un
resultado los sustantivos deverbales en -tio del latín? · Guillermo
Salas Jiménez, ¿Cómo se dice en latín «ponerse a luchar»? La expresión léxica de las fases del evento en latín · Luis Unceta Gómez, Nuevos retos para los
diccionarios de latín. La dimensión pragmática del significado

Indo-European Roots Reconsidered 78:  *spH3ongo- ‘sponge / mushroom’ (Draft 2)

Sean Whalen
stlatos@yahoo.com

August 12, 2025



Indo-European words for ‘sponge / mushroom’ are of disputed origin & show oddities in both outcomes of C (*(s)P- and *-nK-) and V (-o- & -u-) :

Ar. sunk / sung, L. fungus, G. sp(h)óngos
S. phuṅgī-, Li. spungė̃
S. bhaṅgá-s, Av. baŋha-, NP m\bang


Using previous ideas about IE alternation, I think it is related to *spoH3-imo- \ *(s)pH3o-ino- \ etc. with similar alternations (Whalen 2025b, Note 1) :

*(s)poH3imo- > Gmc. *faimaz > E. foam, L. spūma
*(s)poH3ino- > Li. spáinė, S. phéna-s \ pheṇa-s \ phaṇá-s
*(s)powino- > *fowino > W. ewyn, OI *owuno > úan ‘froth/foam/scum’

Though *-ng(h)o- is a fairly rare suffix, I see no other way to explain these shared oddities than *spoH3- 'moist / damp?' with different suffixes.  Mushrooms sometimes are named <- 'damp', maybe with 'mold' intermediate.  With laryngeal-metathesis (Whalen 2025a) and optional H3 \ w (Note 1), also in Celtic *fowino-, the -o- vs. -u- can fit.  I think *(s)p(h)- vs. *(z)bh- can be due to *spH3- (when *pipH3- > *pibH3- 'drink', with optionality likely caused by *s- ) :

*spoH3-ngo- > *sphH3ongo- > *(s)p(h)ongo- > Ar. sunk / sung, L. fungus, G. sp(h)óngos >> Ar. spung ‘sponge’
*sphH3ongo- > *sphwongo- > *(s)phungo- > S. phuṅgī- f. ‘mushroom’, Li. spungė̃ ‘growth on the body / small pimple / spot’
*zbhH3ongo- > S. bhaṅgá-s ‘hemp’, *banxHa- > Av. baŋha- '?', NP m\bang ‘henbane/hemp/hashish/narcotic’
*pongaH2- > PU *pïŋka ‘kind of mushroom, esp. narcotic fly agaric’ > PMh/v. *paŋgǝ, Mr. *poŋgǝ, Mi. *pï:ŋk, X. *pāŋk, Smd. *pëŋkå-

In Ir. only, there was also a 2nd laryngeal-metathesis with devoicing & fric. (Whalen 2025a).  For the relevance of Uralic (not a loan, as seen by V's), see previous papers including (Whalen 2025c).  There is also a North Caucasian word that is very similar.  Starostin :
>
Proto-North Caucasian: *sħwǝ̆mḳ_V ( ~ -ʕ-)
Meaning: mushroom, tinder
Proto-Avaro-Andian: *s:iḳu / *siḳu
Proto-Tsezian: *zɔḳʷǝ B
Proto-Lezghian: *s:(ʷ)Vmḳ-
Notes: Reconstructed for the PEC level. An interesting root, attested in EC, Kartvelian and IE. The PK form is *soḳo-, see Klimov 1964, 165 (with a variant zoḳo- in Georgian: the voiced z- shows that the original source of at least this variant in Kartvelian could have been Tsezian). From Georgian the word was borrowed into some Caucasian languages: back into some Tsezian (e.g., Gunz. zoḳo; see above), Bacb. zoḳŏ, Osset. zoḳo. Despite Klimov (ibid.), however, Arm. sunk: can not be explained as a loan from Kartvelian, but has rather an Indo-European etymology (see below).

    In Indo-European we have *spongo- (see WP 2, 681-682) 'sponge, mushroom, tinder'; some authors (see ibid.) even try to reconstruct a complicated protoform *sphwongo- (to explain, beside Greek spóngo-s, Arm. sunk: also forms like Germ. *swamba- and Slav. *gõba). We must note that however improbable it seems, the form *sphwongo- lies very close to the reconstructed PEC *sħwǝ̆mḳ_V.
>

This odd-looking rec. is too close to IE, also an odd form, to be ignored.  Using previous ideas about NC sound changes, I think :

*sphH3ongaH2-
*sfχWïnga:                V's as in Uralic (for o > ï, see also *bhermtlɨ̆ below, previous drafts)
*sfχWǝnga:                a-umlaut (ï-a > ǝ-a, compare i-umlaut, previous drafts)
*sxχWǝnga:               C-asm.
*sχWǝngxa:               met. (same type as in Ir. *banxHa- )
*sχWǝnkhxa:             C-asm.
*sχWǝmkhxa:            C-asm., P-n > P-m, W-n > W-m (Note 2)
*sχWǝmkh:a:
*sχWǝmk':a:
*sχwǝmk':a:

It is possible that Starostin's rec. is exactly correct, & further sound changes applied.  However, without more ex. of various C-clusters (some unique within NC), I can't be more detailed.  Note that the V's of the proto-languages match best in PU & PNC.


Notes

1.  H3 \ w is also seen in many other words in IE (Whalen 2025b, Note 1), including :

*k^oH3t- > L. cōt- ‘whetstone’, *k^awt- > cautēs ‘rough pointed rock’, *k^H3to- > catus ‘sharp/shrill/clever’

*plew- \ *ploH3- ‘flow’, Gmc. *flōanaN ‘flow’, Go. flōdus m. ‘river’, E. flood

*troH3- > G. trṓō \ titrṓskō ‘wound / kill’, *troH3mn \ *trawmn > trôma \ traûma ‘wound / damage’

*sk^oH3to- / *sk^otH3o- / *sk^ot(h)wo- > OI scáth, G. skótos, Gmc. *skadwá- > E. shadow

*lowbho- ‘bark’ > Al. labë, R. lub; *loH3bho- > *lo:bho- > Li. luõbas

*doH3- \ *dow- ‘give’
*dow-y(eH1) >> OL. duim sj., G. duwánoi op. (with rounding or dialect o / u by P / W, G. stóma, Aeo. stuma)
*dow-enH2ai > G. Cyp. inf. dowenai, S. dāváne (with *o > ā in open syllable), maybe Li. dav-
*dow-ondo- > CI dundom, gerund of ‘to give’
*dH3-s- ao. > *dRWǝs- > *dwäs- > TB wäs-


2.  From previous drafts, ex. of *n > *m :

*bhrentro- 'antler / stag' (Note 3), P-n > P-m (like *meHms- > *weHms- > 'moon')
tr > tl > ƛ: , met. > *bhermtlɨ̆ > *bhe:mtlɨ̆
Proto-North Caucasian: *bHēmƛ_ɨ̆ (~ -ŭ,-i)
Meaning: deer, mountain goat

>
*meH1no:t > *miǝx^no:t > *myǝyno:t > *mǝntyo: [y-y dsm.] > *mǝmtsyo: [P-n>m] > NC *wǝ̆mc̣_ŏ 'moon'
>
or similar, part of several C-asm. like :

>
Forni:  16. PNC *nĕmʣ̲ĭ/ĕ ‘louse’ : PIE *(d/s)k̑ (o/h3)nid- / (s)k(o)nid- / gni(n)d- / hxnid- ‘nit’

Uralic *ančwi 'louse', *nawči > *namči with N-asm.  This is based on my :

Uralic *ančwi 'louse', PIE *k^H3nid- 'louse egg / young louse'

I reconstruct Uralic *ančwi 'louse' (also 'beetle' in Mordvinic) with met. of *w to account for *nčw > Smd. *nč in most vs. *mč > Nga. (Castrén) ŋomtuŋ (all others as in https://www.academia.edu/41659514 and *-w- providing the motivation for Smd. -u instead of his *-iw ). This is much too close if *ančwi : anic

*k^H3nid- > Armenian anic 'louse egg', Albanian thëni, G. konís, OE hnitu, E. nit
*k^snid- > Old Irish sned 'nit'

with H > s opt. (as in https://www.academia.edu/128052798 ). In PU, *k^H3nids > *nk^H3ids > *anc'wi: > *ančwi 'louse' (with H3 > w as in many previous drafts). Met. could be to prevent a word beginning with čw-. If k'w > c'w > čw it would likely resemble Armenian k'w > c'w > čw (*k'wo:n > šun 'dog'). Armenian did not have H3 > w, so *kH > *xH > *(h)a > a (or a similar path). I think *(k^o)nid- makes little sense, and comparison with PU can support G. -o- from *-H3- (lost in Gmc, as in *-CHC-).
>


3.  wiktionary:  *bhren- 'project / point'

G.  bréntion \ βρέντιον 'stag's head'

A Messapic word like βρένδος (bréndos, “deer”), βρένδον (bréndon), possibly also found in place names like Βρεντέσιον (Brentésion, “Brindisi”). Further possible cognates are Latvian briedis (“deer”), Old Prussian braidis (“elk”), Elfdalian brinde (“elk”) and Albanian bri (“horn, antler”).


Albanian brinjë f (plural brinjë, definite brinja, definite plural brinjët) 'rib; (geometry) side, edge; shore, bank; high ground'

From Proto-Albanian *bren-, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰren- (“to stick out; edge”). Compare Old English brant, Old Norse brattr (“high, sharp”), brand (“sword”), Irish braine (“front part of the ship; guide, leader; edge, border”), Swedish brå (“sharp”). Alternatively a formation from bri.


Nikolayev S. L. & Starostin, S. A. (1994) A North Caucasian Etymological Dictionary
https://starlingdb.org/cgi-bin/query.cgi?basename=%252fdata%252fcauc%252fcaucet

Whalen, Sean (2025a) Laryngeals and Metathesis in Greek as a Part of Widespread Indo-European Changes (Draft 7)
https://www.academia.edu/127283240

Whalen, Sean (2025b) Indo-European v / w, new f, new xW, K(W) / P, P-s / P-f, rounding (Draft 7)
https://www.academia.edu/127709618

Whalen, Sean (2025c) Uralic *mb, *mp > *mf, *mpy, *nkw, *mk, etc. (Draft)
https://www.academia.edu/129064273/Uralic_mb_mp_mf_mpy_nkw_mk_etc_Draft_

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%B2%CF%81%CE%AD%CE%BD%CF%84%CE%B9%CE%BF%CE%BD

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/brinj%C3%AB

Many of Pius Parsch's writings were widely read beyond the German-speaking world. His most widely read work, Das Jahr des Heils, which went through 14 editions, has been translated into nine languages, and his shorter book, Lernet die Messe verstehen, into 13 languages.
The reception of Parsch abroad is still an area of research that needs to be explored. This article aims to briefly outline examples of Parsch's influence in the US by interviewing two very different representatives of the American liturgical movement about their connections to Parsch: Michael Mathis, who, inspired by his reading of Pius Parsch, founded the still very fruitful “Liturgy Program” at the University of Notre Dame, and Herman Josef Untraut, who worked as a parish priest for German immigrants in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and is an example of the very early reception of Parsch in the USA. This is followed by an overview of English translations of Parsch's works and their reception in the authoritative journal Orate fratres.