17.11.25: Level 3; indefinites [2] formation; markers

Indefinites are used:

[i] as pronouns to refer people or things without saying exactly who or what they are, for example somebody, anything: “Somebody told me that”;“Do you have anything to say?”

[ii] as adjectives e.g. “Some man told me this”; “There has to be some reason for that”

[iii] as adverbs indicating, for example, indefinite time or place e.g. “Come and see me sometime, wherever I am”

We will first focus on [i] and [ii] because those indefinite forms decline, and there can be some slight differences in formation, whereas indefinite adverbs, like any other adverbs, are single indeclinable words.

The indefinite pronouns and adjectives are formed with either one prefix: ali-

Or with several suffixes:  -piam, -dam, -quam, -cumque, -que, -vīs, -libet

Each of these will be discussed separately but (1) the prefix and suffixes themselves are indeclinable and (2) they are all formed by combinations with the same group of words, namely:

quis (quī), quae, quod (quid): who, which, what

When these words stand alone, they can variously act as:

[1] interrogative pronouns e.g. Quis vocat? │ Who is calling?

[2] interrogative adjectives e.g. Quī homō vocat │ Which man is calling?

[3] relative pronouns e.g. Puer quī in hortō sedet cantat │ The boy who is sitting in the garden is singing.

[4] Images #1 and #2: You will mainly come across indefinites in the singular and we can compile a table that shows the forms to which the ali- prefix and the different suffixes are attached without pondering exactly what those forms are. The forms in brackets never stand alone, but are used in combinations with ali- and / or the suffixes

Below are examples; don’t focus on the prefix and the suffixes yet, but simply note how they are all being formed from the same set of words:

ali¦quis; ali¦qua; ali¦quid

quae¦piam

quemquam; quicquam

quendam

quīcumque; cuiuscumque

cuivīs

quodque

quōlibet

[5] Image #3: Some indefinites have plural forms although some are very rare, but, for reference, here are the plurals of the words from which the indefinites are formed. Again, the forms in brackets only occur in combinations.

quīdam; quaedam; quōrundam; quōrumcumque; quibusque

This is a feature of Latin where you need to tread carefully in order not to be distracted. A grammar book or other reference will list tables for the sake of completeness i.e. the form of a word exists but, sometimes, that word is only attested once in the literature or is simply theoretical i.e. logic would dictate that a form exists even if there is no original evidence to show it. Therefore, don’t become embroiled in detail.

It isn’t a question of ‘learning’ all of these indefinites as if they were separate declensions, but rather focussing on the indeclinable prefix and suffixes which are attached to them. And we begin that in the next post.