Lat. amosio: A previously unnoticed -osio genitive in Latin

Abstract

The goal of this work is to present a new interpretation of the problematic gloss amosio: annuo (Fest., p. 26). Firstly, a critical analysis of the emendations proposed by previous scholars is offered in order to demonstrate their inconsistency both from a philological and linguistic perspective. Secondly, it is shown that the only philologically plausible emendation is correcting amosio to annosio. Subsequently, this form annosio is analyzed as an old -osio genitive of the word for ‘year’, Lat. annus, crystallized as an adverb. It is argued that the newly acquired form annosio supports the idea that Very Old Latin inherited a genitive singular o-stem ending -osio from Proto-Italic (and PNIE), and that Latin inherited in its earliest phases a genitive of time construction as well, exactly as Oscan and other Indo-European languages.

Keywords

• Philological emendation
• Adverb
• Genitive of time
• Comparative approach