[1] Images #1 and
#2: I got as far as negative polarity counterpart and downward entailment,
two terms used in linguistics. Hats off to whoever researched that tsunami of
information which is from Wiktionary because it is most likely accurate and
will be of use to whoever wants to explore every word of a language in minutiae
of detail. However, it well illustrates the point I made in the first post on
this topic: it creates the impression that the little word quisquam is
of monumental importance, that everything written there needs to be known, and
(falsely) that even a single word is an uphill struggle. This aspect of the way
in which Latin can be presented was also discussed here:
https://adckl.blogspot.com/2024/06/020724-level-2-is-ea-id-1-introduction.html
It’s an issue that
can be particularly acute if, as I was, you are studying by yourself, because
there is nobody to say to you “This part doesn’t matter, but this part does”.
As a general rule, if you see pages and pages of information, ignore them (I
did) and search for sources that present the key ideas.
[2] As with all
the other indefinites, focus on its basic meaning:
-quam: any-
quisquam: anyone;
quidquam (quicquam): anything
[i] It functions
as a pronoun and is most often found in negative sentences.
numquam edepol quisquam illam habēbit
(Plautus) │ By Heavens, never will anybody
have her
… nec
posthāc quisquam damnābitur (Cicero) │… nor
in the future will anybody be condemned
… neque
tamen scit quisquam (Cicero) │ … nor does anybody know it,
however
… neque mē tibi neque
quemquam antepōnō (Cicero) │ … and I put neither myself nor anybody (else)
above you
Nam neque
edēs quicquam neque bibēs apud mē hīs decem diēbus! (Plautus) │
for you’ll neither eat nor drink anything in my house for
the next ten days!
Here’s another welcoming
comment from Plautus:
exspectātum eum
salūtat magis haud quicquam quam canem │
She welcomes him about as warmly as she would a dog [ = not any
more than …] (P.S. The image is of Agrippina; Plautus wasn’t talking about
her, but I can imagine she’s the sort of person he has in mind!)
[ii] Keep in mind
the concept of (not) … anybody although the Latin can often be
reworked into English nobody:
… neque quisquam est vulnerātus (Nepos) │
… and nobody [ = and not anybody] was hurt
Domum suam istum nōn
ferē quisquam vocābat (Cicero) │ Literally: almost not anybody
invited him to his house > hardly anyone / almost nobody
invited him to his house
Eam intrāre haud
ferē quisquam praeter ducem ipsum audēbat (Livy) │
[literally: almost not anybody …] hardly anybody / almost
nobody except the general himself dared to go into it
[iii] A number of
examples from Plautus show the neuter of the pronoun being used with the adjective
in the genitive case:
Dī mē perdant, sī
ego tuī quicquam abstulī │ May I be damned, if I carried off anything
of yours
Neque dīvīnī
neque mī hūmānī posthāc quicquam accrēduas │
From now on don’t believe anything either divine or human
from me
[iv] Note again in
this example the genitive of the adjective:
ut nōn faciās
nōbīs quicquam ¦ malī (Vulgate) │ that you
will not do anything bad to us
Examples (all from
the Vulgate):
nōn quia Patrem vīdit quisquam │
not that anybody has seen the Father
nōn poterat facere quicquam │
he could not do anything
Et nōn
potuit respondēre eī quidquam, quia metuēbat illum │
And he could not say anything to him in reply, because he feared
him.
et nōn
admīsit quemquam sequī sē │
and he did not allow anyone to follow him
nōn enim subtrahet persōnam cuiusquam
Dominus … │ For the Lord will not show partiality to
any man [ = literally: for the Lord will not take away the status of any
(man / one)] …
… nec reverēbitur magnitūdinem cuiusquam
│ …nor
will he revere any man's / one’s greatness
et surrēxī nocte
ego et virī paucī mēcum et nōn indicāvī cuiquam quid Deus
dedisset in corde meō │ and I got up at night, I and a few men
with me, and I did not tell anybody what God had put in my heart
quōquam (adverb): (to) anywhere
Et dīxit Eliseus:
Unde venīs, Giezī? Quī respondit: Nōn īvit servus tuus quōquam. │
And Eliseus said: Where are you coming from, Giezi? And he replied: “Your
servant did not go anywhere.”
[3] I have given
the table for the singular forms of quisquam, but were there plural
forms? Again, information in note form from Wiktionary illustrates my point:
“Only attested in
postclassical Latin. In Classical Latin, forms of ūllus were used
instead. Only attested as a feminine form in the preclassical Latin of authors
like Plautus. Attested only once in Classical Latin. Usually ūllam was
used instead. Attested, but rare in Classical Latin. Usually ūllō was
used instead.”
Whoever wrote this
is covering every base, but, in the end, what it is saying is that plural forms
of quisquam are so rare as to be neglible and it is certainly not worth
poring over a grammatical table that lists them.
Exercise: complete
the Latin quotations with the appropriate form of quisquam; apart from
[iv], they are all from Plautus. The answers are at the end of the post.
[i] Hang it all, I
haven’t taken nor touched anything │ nōn hercle equidem __________ sūmpsī
nec tetigī
[ii] … nor did any
one of us notice │ neque nostrum __________ sēnsimus
[iii] …and I can’t
find anybody at his house or in the city who has seen him │
neque domī neque in urbe inveniō __________ quī illum vīderit
[iv] … nor would
they comply with anybody’s order │ neque __________ imperiō obtemperātūrōs
(Caesar)
[v] She is not to
pass the dice to any man apart from you │ tālōs nē __________
hominī admoveat nisi tibi
[vi] Please keep
an eye on that one inside there, my lads, and don't let him set a foot out here
anywhere without a guard │ servāte istum sultis* intus, servī, nē __________
pedem ecferat sine cūstōdēlā
*contraction of sī
+ vultis: if you want
cuiquam;
cuiusquam; quemquam; quicquam; quisquam; quōquam
[i] nōn
hercle equidem quicquam sūmpsī nec tetigī
[ii]
neque nostrum quisquam sēnsimus
[iii]
neque domī neque in urbe inveniō quemquam quī illum vīderit
[iv]
neque cuiusquam imperiō obtemperātūrōs
[v] tālōs
nē cuiquam hominī admoveat nisi tibi
[vi]
nē quōquam pedem ecferat sine cūstōdēlā
