helvus

Latin

FWOTD – 1 September 2013

Etymology

Disputed. De Vaan posits a derivation from Proto-Italic *heliwos, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃-i-wó-s, itself from the addition of *-wos to *ǵʰolh₃-i-s, which is attested in Sanskrit हरि (hari). Nussbaum argues that the term must come from a pre-form *helVwos and would have emerged via the syncopation of the segment *-lVw- (compare Latin solvō, from *seluō). Furthermore, Nussbaum specifies that the pre-form must have been *heliwos at the time /l/ was velarized throughout Latin, as an alternative form would have—according to Nussbaum—evolved into *heɫw- following velarization and then into *holw-, as /eɫ/ evolved into /oɫ/ in initial syllables (compare *welō > volō). Sihler proposes a pre-form *hellwos, from Proto-Indo-European *ghelswo-. Sihler compares the term to Lithuanian gel̃svas, although De Vaan considers the Proto-Indo-European form posited by Sihler to be uncertain, as the only cognate—the Lithuanian term—could have been formed by a productive suffix within Lithuanian. In both proposals, the term ultimately originates from the root *ǵʰelh₃-. It has also been suggested the term is a borrowing from the Sabellic languages.

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈhɛɫ.wʊs]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈɛl.vus]

Adjective

helvus (feminine helva, neuter helvum); first/second-declension adjective

(of cattle) dun, yellow dun
- 116 BCE – 27 BCE, Marcus Terentius Varro, Agricultural Topics 2.7:
  qui gregem armentorum emere vult, observare debet primum, ut sint eae pecudes aetate potius ad fructos ferendos integrae quam iam expartae; ut sint bene conpositae, [...] colore potissimum nigro, deinde robeo, tertio helvo, quarto albo: mollissimus enim hic, ut durissimus primus. de mediis duobus prior quam posterior in eo prior, utrique plures quam nigri et albi.
  (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- 4 CE – c. 70 CE, Columella, De Re Rustica 3.2:
  Sunt et Helvolae, quās nōn nūllī variās appellant, neque purpureae neque nigrae, ab helvō, nisi fallor, colōre vocitātae.
  There are also the Helvolae [grapes], which some call variae. They are neither purple nor black; the name, if I'm not wrong, is from the color "dun".

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
	singular			plural
nominative	helvus	helva	helvum	helvī	helvae	helva
genitive	helvī	helvae	helvī	helvōrum	helvārum	helvōrum
dative	helvō	helvae	helvō	helvīs
accusative	helvum	helvam	helvum	helvōs	helvās	helva
ablative	helvō	helvā	helvō	helvīs
vocative	helve	helva	helvum	helvī	helvae	helva

Derived terms

Descendants

→ Italian: elvo

References

“helvus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“helvus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
De Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 282
Sihler, Andrew L. (1995), New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 41
Alan J. Nussbaum (1 January 1999), *Jocidus: an account of the Latin adjectives in -idus‎^[1], page 386

albus, candidus, cānus, marmoreus (poetic), eburneus (poetic), niveus (poetic), argenteus (poetic), lacteus (poetic)	rāvus, pullus, mūrīnus (of livestock)	niger, āter, furvus, fuscus ("swarthy"), piceus (poetic)
ruber, russus, rūbidus (dark), flammeus (poetic); rutilus, pūniceus, spādīx (poetic), sanguineus (poetic)	rūfus, rutilus, rōbus (of oxen), croceus (poetic), aureus (poetic); fulvus (poetic), niger (of eyes), badius (of horses)	lūteus, flāvus ("blond"), lūridus, gilvus (of horses), helvus (of cattle); cēreus (poetic)
viridis, flāvus (poetic)	viridis, herbeus (of eyes), fulvus (poetic)	viridis, glaucus (poetic), caeruleus (poetic, only dark)
	glaucus (poetic), caeruleus, caesius (of eyes)	caeruleus, līvidus, ferrūgineus (poetic), glaucus (poetic)
violāceus	purpureus (underlying shade)	roseus