Etruscans (was: minimal pairs)

[A. G. Kozak]

I am certain that the Spanish "cuyo, -a" is a survival of a Latin colloquial
form of considerable antiquity.  Virgil's 3rd Eclogue begins with the
question, "Dic mihi, Damoeta, quoium [= cuium] pecus?  An Meliboei?"  ("Tell
me, Damoetas, whose flock is this?  Is it Meliboeus'?").  "Pecus" is a
neuter noun, and "quoium" (an archaic spelling of "cuium") agrees with it,
even though one would normally expect "cuius," the genitive of "quis."
Presumably this use of the adjectival "cuius" is meant to mark the speech of
the pastoral character as rustic.

I believe that the adjectival "cuius" can be found in earlier authors,
perhaps in Plautus.

A. G. Kozák
Department of Classics
University of California at Berkeley

----Original Message-----
>From:     	Steve Gustafson [SMTP:stevegus at aye.net]
>To:         	Indo-European at xkl.com
>Subj:     	Re: Etruscans (was: minimal pairs)
>Sent:    	Wednesday, February 14, 2001 8:20 PM

	.	.	.	.

>FWIW, the declined -cuius- may have survived in Romance, assuming it is the
>original of Spanish cuyo/cuya, again meaning "whose."  AFAIK, in strictly
>Classical Latin it appears only as an indeclinable genitive.  It is hard to
>say whether the Spanish is a survival or a newly minted re-analysis.