-undus
Latin
Etymology
Possibly from Proto-Italic *-ontnos, syncopated from *-ontinos, from Proto-Indo-European *-ont- (“participial suffix”) + *-i- (“suffix of action”) + *-nós (“adjective-forming suffix”), or from Proto-Indo-European *-ótr̥.The -undus suffix, first associated with intransitive deponent verbs as sequor (secundus), orior (oriundus), lābor (lābundus), and other relics, then transited from a derivative to an inflectional category, and the gerundive assumed its canonical shape and function.
The sense of necessity (“needing to be read,” etc.) was a pragmatic outgrowth of the more basic meaning: a book that is readable or “disposed” to be read is one that probably should be read. The replacement of -undus by -endus was a late development under the influence of the present participle; older Latin still has vertundus, legundus, etc.
The derivation from gerundive to the later gerund could then be as easy as an abstraction from “ad librum legendum” (“to read the book”) to “ad legendum” (“to read”).[1] Compare -bundus and -cundus.
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈun.dus/, [ˈʊn̪d̪ʊs̠]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈun.dus/, [ˈun̪d̪us]
Suffix
-undus (feminine -unda, neuter -undum); first/second-declension suffix
- Derives adjective nouns from verbs, similar to present participles, but without the present time restriction
- sequor (“follow”) → secundus (“following”)
- orior (“rise”) → oriundus (“rising, originating”)
- lābor (“glide, slide, fall”) → lābundus (“falling”)
- rotō (“turn around, roll”) → rotundus (“rolling”)
Declension
First/second-declension adjective.
| Number | Singular | Plural | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Case / Gender | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
| Nominative | -undus | -unda | -undum | -undī | -undae | -unda | |
| Genitive | -undī | -undae | -undī | -undōrum | -undārum | -undōrum | |
| Dative | -undō | -undō | -undīs | ||||
| Accusative | -undum | -undam | -undum | -undōs | -undās | -unda | |
| Ablative | -undō | -undā | -undō | -undīs | |||
| Vocative | -unde | -unda | -undum | -undī | -undae | -unda | |
Derived terms
References
- Jasanoff, Jay H. “The origin of the Latin gerund and gerundive: a new proposal.” Harvard Ukrainian Studies (2006): 195-208.