# Latin: Bos - imported word?



## Margrave

Hi! This entry says that bos (cow, cattle, bull) was imported from Osco-Umbrian bos - Wiktionary but does not mention any sources for this statement:

" Borrowed from Osco-Umbrian, most likely Sabellic (vs. expected Latin **ūs ~ **vōs), from Proto-Italic *gʷōs; ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws, which also gave Ancient Greek βοῦς (boûs), Sanskrit गो (go) (nominative singular gaús), and English cow."

Perhaps I am missing something, but if _bos_ is not originally a Latin word, what would be the original Old Latin word that was replaced by the Osco-Umbrian _bos (cow, cattle, bull)_?

any advice is welcome!


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## Scholiast

saluete amici!

Classical Latin was indeed subject to influences from other Italic or Italian tongues or dialects, including Etruscan, and we can point to numerous specific borrowings from Greek (including the letters X, Y and Z). But with a word such as _bos_, which must have been commonplace in the discourse of an agricultural society, it is hard to be confident that it is a _loanword_ rather than just a _cognate_. _OLD_ mentions the illustrative Umbrian, Greek and Sanskrit parallels, but stops short of claiming or implying that the word was in any significant sense 'borrowed' from any of them. I incline to put greater faith in this than in Wiktionary. In fact from the quotation which Margrave cites, it looks to me as if the author of the Wiktionary entry has more or less transcribed the _OLD_'s, and in the process made the methodological error that such similarities imply dependence of one on the other, rather than parallel development from a known or postulated common PIE ancestor.

There is another Latin word, namely _uitulus_ (for a steer) and (more rarely) _uitula_ ('heifer'). But this was not 'replaced' by _bos._

Σ


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## Margrave

Saluete!

Thank you for your reply and yes, the cognate proposition sounds much better than the import proposition. The word uitulus (steer) is still used in Portuguese: vitelo or vitela are calfs and their meat is much appreciated. While we are discussing about cattle, in classical Latin bos would mean cattle in general (cows and bulls)? Taurus is the male used for reproduction? What would be the etymology of vacca?

Is there any online or pdf version of the OLD for consultation?

Thank you!


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## Scholiast

saluete de nouo!

Generically, 'cattle' is _pecus_, _pecoris_, more commonly in the plural, _pecora_, for 'herd(s)' or 'flock(s)'; or _pecudes_, _pecudum_ (only found in the plural, I think). And we too have 'veal' as a culinary delicacy.

To the best of my knowledge, _OLD_ is not, or not yet, available online. But you can find its predecessor, Lewis and Short, at the Perseus website, listed under 'Collections'.

Σ


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## Scholiast

@Margrave

Apparently it is after all possible to consult the _OLD_ online here—I have my own hard copy, so I have never tried this. But as the work is still in copyright, unless you are a professional librarian you may have to pay a subscription.

As to your supplementary questions, I can only say that as I understand it, _taurus_ is just 'bull', irrespective of whether or not the beast is kept for reproduction. And regarding _uacca_ (one of the first words I remember learning in Latin, when I was about 9 years old!), I'm sorry I can shed no light on the etymology. _OLD_ cites a Sanskrit parallel, but I am no historical philologist—and to me it's a word which 'feels' quintessentially Latin.

Σ


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## bearded

Margrave, why didn't you write your thread in the Etymology forum?  Not all etymologists read the Latin forum.


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## Margrave

@Scholiast thank you very much for the information and the link to the OLD. 
@bearded thank you, well I thought that the Latin forum would be appropriated to discuss a Latin word, but yes, I agree that the Etymology forum will work too. Is there any way to transfer this thread to the Etymology forum?


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## bearded

You should contact a moderator through a private 'conversation' and ask him to do it.


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## ahvalj

The reason is quite simple: Latin has a number of words, whose phonetic shape is different from what would be expected had they followed the normal Latin evolution, but at the same time agreeing with that in Sabellic. In particular, the Proto-Indo-European _*gʷōu̯s_ should indeed have produced Old Latin _**uous_ which subsequently would have become _**ūs_ or _**vōs_ (compare Latin _*gʷ>v_ vs. Sabellic _*gʷ>b_ in the descendants of _*gʷīu̯os__, *gʷeru, __*gʷen-_): this _b-_ is attested in Umbrian, where it is the normal outcome, unlike in Latin.

Other examples of Sabellic loans are Oscan-originated _Pontius_ (vs. Latin _Quīntius_) or Romance _*siflare_ vs. Classical Latin _sībilāre_ or _rūfus_ vs. proper Latin _ruber_.


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## ahvalj

For the origin of Sabellic loans in Latin see The Rape of the Sabine Women and Sabines.


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## Margrave

@ahvalj, thank you, as always a post with substance. I will check the sources you mentioned.


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## ahvalj

Just for the perspective — a map showing the distribution of Latin and its sister language Faliscan in the middle 1st millennium BC:







So forget what you know about the future: at the beginning of the Roman history the importance of Latin and the direction of influences were very different.


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## Scholiast

Brilliant, ahvajl, as always. May we please know the source of this linguistic map? It is very instructive.

Σ


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## ahvalj

The good old Wikipedia: Legend of the Sabine women.


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## Margrave

@ahvalj thank you


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