Title

Ecce in Archaic Latin: interjection or demonstrative?

Authors

Orqueda, Verónica; Rivera Castro, Renata; Toro Varela, Francisca

Abstract

Longstanding debate persists regarding the classification of Latin ecce as word class. While some scholars regard it as a particle or demonstrative, others characterize it as an interjection. This study examines the implications of these approaches and analyzes the behavior of ecce in Archaic Latin according to different grammatical and semantic criteria. The analysis confirms that ecce functions primarily as a predicative demonstrative. Furthermore, it contends that ecce can be specifically categorized as a presentative predicative demonstrative. These results suggest that the interjectional use of this demonstrative must have arisen only secondarily.

Subjects

SCHOLARS; CLASSIFICATION; VOCABULARY

Publication

Journal of Latin Linguistics, 2024, Vol 23, Issue 1/2, p145

ISSN

2194-8739

Publication type

Academic Journal

DOI

10.1515/joll-2024-2007