[Ads-l] bona fide (adj.), 1755

Fri Jun 30 17:54:02 UTC 2017

> On Jun 30, 2017, at 1:19 PM, Stanton McCandlish <smccandlish at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> Is there a good resource on the differing approaches to pronunciation of
> Latin?  I never took Latin formally, but have absorbed a lot of obscure
> vocabulary from studies of the Roman imperial era.  I've noticed people
> vary sharply between "keteris", "seteris" and "cheteris" for a word like
> *ceteris*, with "keteris" being how a Roman would have said it (at least in
> the early empire).  I'm guessing modern pronunciation as "seteris" is from
> Spanish and French influence, and "cheteris" from Church influence, but am
> uncertain about this (I'm not Catholic, either).

Well, for the same reason, but as you suggest below, it’s possible if I remember correctly that late or “Vulgar” Latin had already begun to spirantize [k] before front vowels to [s] in the western part of the Empire before the development of French and Spanish as such.  I would agree with your characterization of the three forms, with the added point that the affricate (“ceteris” as in “church”) becoming the Church Latin standard by virtue of being the Italian standard.  When in Rome…

Of course even Church and Classical Latin aficionados would be likely to opt for [s] in pronouncing “etc.” rather than “et chetera” or “et ketera” respectively.

>  I just remember a
> professor giving "FEE-nus AF-ruh-chay" for "*Finis Africae*" and wondering
> why.
> 
> I seem to also recall that Latin during its living language range had
> pronunciations shift, though I'm not sure which ones in what directions,
> and whether those shifts were consistent.  Curious when and where *c* started
> to turn sibilant before short vowels,

Before front vowels ([e] and [i]) rather than short vowels, actually; length wasn’t a factor but tongue position was (Wilson can correct me if I have any of this wrong).  

> *v* to our [v] sound instead of
> [u]/[w], *ae* away from a diphthong to [i] (English "ee"), etc.

And vocalic [i] as in Iulius Caesar to affricate [dZ].    I’m not sure about the timing of these shifts either, but I’m sure someone in the list is.

LH
================
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> 
> On Fri, Jun 30, 2017 at 9:37 AM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
> wrote:
> 
>> I was struck by Stephen Colbert’s pronunciation of “bona fide” not in the
>> standard style of non-lawyers, “bonified”—which has indeed spawned the
>> eggcornish orthographic reanalysis along these lines—or as the juridical
>> “bon-uh FIE-dee”, both of which Ben mentions, but with the pronunciation
>> that would have warmed the heart of my, and Colbert’s, Latin teachers,
>> /‘bon@ fide/.
>> 
>> He was raised Catholic and attended parochial school, which probably
>> explains it—we’d have to check to see if he uses /tS/ for <c> before front
>> vowels, as in “c(h)eteris paribus” or “ecc(h)e homo”, to know whether his
>> Latin is classical or church.
>> 
>> LH
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>> On Jun 30, 2017, at 12:25 PM, Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>>> 
>>> My latest WSJ column is on "bona fide," much in the news thanks to the
>>> SCOTUS ruling on the Trump administration's travel ban.
>>> 
>>> https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-bona-fide-became-a-key-
>> player-in-travel-ban-debate-1498835369
>>> 
>>> Twitter link to follow if paywalled:
>>> 
>>> https://twitter.com/bgzimmer/status/880815456113897472
>>> 
>>> The OED entry hasn't been updated since... 1887? Anyway, I didn't see
>>> anything earlier than the OED's 1542-3 cite for adverbial "bona fide" on
>>> EEBO, but the adjectival sense is easily antedated (OED has 1788).
>>> 
>>> Reports of Adjudged Cases in the Courts of Chancery, King's Bench, Common
>>> Pleas and Exchequer, Volume 2, 1755.
>>> 
>>> p. 1162: And the sessions having held, that his taking to this acre, and
>>> living on it eight years, did not gain a settlement under 9 Geo. I. c. 7.
>>> which requires a /bona fide/ payment of 30 l.
>>> https://books.google.com/books?id=ogJLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1162
>>> 
>>> p. 1207: [Y]et the bankrupt had in the mean time such a property in them,
>>> as enabled him to transact and sell to a /bona fide/ purchaser.
>>> https://books.google.com/books?id=ogJLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1207
>>> 
>>> --bgz
>>> 
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> 
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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