# quid sonet haec vox?



## half monty

Wiktionary says that "quid sonet haec vox?" means "Quel est le sens de ce mot?" ("What does this word mean?")
Can someone explain why "sonet" is in the subjunctive? Shouldn't it have been "sonat"? I think it's from the infinitive "sonare", meaning "to sound". By the way, I don't see how this verb can mean "to mean", but that's a separate issue.


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## Xavier61

half monty said:


> Wiktionary says that "quid sonet haec vox?" means "Quel est le sens de ce mot?" ("What does this word mean?")
> Can someone explain why "sonet" is in the subjunctive? Shouldn't it have been "sonat"? I think it's from the infinitive "sonare", meaning "to sound". By the way, I don't see how this verb can mean "to mean", but that's a separate issue.


I'd say it is in subjunctive because it is an indirect interrogative sentence.


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## half monty

But then what about "Ut vales?" (How are you?) and "Ubi es?" (Where are you?) and "Quid agis?" (How are you?)? Why don't they have the subjunctive too?


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## Xavier61

half monty said:


> But then what about "Ut vales?" (How are you?) and "Ubi es?" (Where are you?) and "Quid agis?" (How are you?)? Why don't they have the subjunctive too?


Indirect interrogative means that there is no question mark. As Cicero said:
 "Nunc autem dico ipsum Epicurum nescire et ... non intellegere interdum, quid sonet haec vox voluptatis, id est quae res huic voci subiciatur." Here we have two of those indirect interrogative sentences: "quid son*e*t haec vox voluptatis," and "quae res huic voci subici*a*tur". The second explains the first: "id est ..."
A&G probably has a chapter on indirect interrogative sentences.


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## Xavier61

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## Scholiast

salvete amici!



Xavier61 said:


> I'd say it is in subjunctive because it is an indirect interrogative sentence.



With all respect, Xavier61, this is not (as it stands) an indirect question. That would be something of the form:
_*scire volo* quid sonet haec vox_, or _*me rogavit* quid sonet haec vox_, where the question is grammatically dependent on a main (usually indicative) verb or verb-cluster, as in the example cited from Cicero, where it depends on _non intellegere_.

It may of course be that half monty has not reproduced the entire context. But as things are, it would mean something like "What is this word to mean?", or "What should this word mean?".

Σ

Edit: yes, A&G §330.


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## half monty

Thank you. However, I must point out that it should have been "volo scire quid sonet haec vox", not "scire volo quid sonet haec vox". By the way, can anybody explain how "sonare", which means "to sound", came to mean "to mean"?

By the way, what does "A&G" refer to?


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## Scholiast

Greetings half monty:



half monty said:


> By the way, what does "A&G" refer to?



Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar for Schools and Colleges. J. B. Greenough, G. L. Kittredge, A. A. Howard, Benj. L. D'Ooge. (English) [AG] search this work

This is online via the splendid Tufts Univ. Perseus Project—the handiest online Latin grammar manual there is to my knowledge.

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