merx

Latin

Alternative forms

Etymology

    From Proto-Italic *merks (compare Faliscan 𐌌𐌄𐌓𐌂𐌖𐌉 (mercui, dative), Oscan 𐌌𐌄𐌓𐌉𐌊𐌖𐌉 (merikui, dat.sg.), names of deities), of uncertain etymology. De Vaan relates this word to Mercurius, deriving them both from a root referring to various aspects of economics, which he presumes to have an Etruscan origin.[1]

    However, in the 2020s, Nikolaev and Matasović independently proposed Indo-European etymologies for merx. Both derivations assume that the simple -c- in the oblique cases was analogically levelled based on the nominative singular, as all velars merged to *-k- when immediately preceding the nominative singular *-s in Italic.

    • Nikolaev reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *merkʷ-, relating merx to Ancient Greek μάρπτω (márptō, “to take hold”) and Tocharian A märk- (“to take away”).[2]
    • Matasović instead derives this word from a root *merǵ- (“to divide”), whence also margō (“border”), Proto-Celtic *mrogis, Proto-Germanic *markō, and Persian مرز (marz),[3] the verbal sense of which survives in Hittite 𒈥𒀝𒍣 (mar-ak-zi /⁠marktsi⁠/, “to cut up, separate, divide, distribute”).[4] The connection to Hittite was in fact already suggested by Puhvel (2004).[5] This root *merǵ- may itself be an extension of *mer- (“to divide, apportion, allot”), for which see Latin mereō. Compare typologically Mongolian зах (zax, “border, boundary, edge; market, bazaar”).

    Pronunciation

    Noun

    merx f (genitive mercis); third declension

    1. merchandise, commodity
    2. goods, wares

    Declension

    Third-declension noun (i-stem).

    singular plural
    nominative merx mercēs
    genitive mercis mercium
    dative mercī mercibus
    accusative mercem mercēs
    mercīs
    ablative merce mercibus
    vocative merx mercēs

    Derived terms

    Descendants

    • Italian: merce
    • Portuguese: merce
    • Sicilian: merci
    • ⇒ Catalan: esmerçar
    • → Basque: merke

    References

    1. ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “merx, -cis”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 376
    2. ^ Nikolaev, Alexander (2021), “Etyma Graeca II”, in Indo-European Linguistics and Classical Philology, number 25, Institute for Linguistic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 953–976
    3. ^ Matasović, Ranko (30 June 2022), “Four Latin Etymologies: volgus, laedo, paedor, merx”, in Latina et Graeca‎[1], volume 2, number 41, →ISSN, retrieved 18 September 2022, pages 7–16
    4. ^ Kloekhorst, Alwin (2008), “mārk-i / mark-”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 5), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 558–559
    5. ^ Puhvel, Jaan (2004), Hittite Etymological Dictionary (Trends in linguistics. Documentation; 22), volume 6, Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter, page 74

    Further reading

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