Latin mecum, tecum, etc.

[Steve Gustafson]

Lionel Bonnetier wrote:

>> It isn't necessarily the only instance; 'propter,' 'contra,' and
>> 'versus' are often put after the noun they govern, and forms such as
>> 'quapropter' became lexicalised.

> Thanks. And I forgot "quiscumque" and the like,
> where -cum and -que take quite different roles...

I was reminded, when I replied to this, that (being a lawyer in my day job)
I've occasionally wondered about the antiquity, or lack of same, of
formations like "whereof," "whereas" and "therefore."

I'm not that well read in Old English, but I don't recall that they are
common there, if they exist at all.  There are not many of these
constructions in Old Norse, and those are mostly late.  But a few similar
constructions arose in modern Swedish, like -varigenom- and -varfo"r-.  The
use of "where" and "there" when "what" or "that" would seem to be expected
is also somewhat peculiar, and shared between English and Swedish.

Are these imitations or calques on Latin forms?

--
If heaven be our country, what can earth be but a place of exile?  Let us
long for death and constantly meditate upon it.
  --- John Calvin, "Meditating on the Future Life"