What question did this study set out to answer?

To examine the transformation of final -āi in the dative singular of ā-stems to -ae and its implications for Latin case-forms.

April 24, 2026

V. Final AE in Latin Case-Forms

Key Points

To examine the transformation of final -āi in the dative singular of ā-stems to -ae and its implications for Latin case-forms.
Analysis of F. Sommer's revisions in Latin morphological studies.
Comparative linguistics examining diphthong developments across Latin and related languages.
Literary evidence from Greek and Sanskrit case forms.
Identified a consistent pattern of diphthong reduction in dative-ablative plural forms.
Demonstrated linguistic parallels between Latin and Sanskrit, reinforcing the analysis.
Evidence from Greek forms supports conclusions about the Latin dative singular.

Abstract

F. Sommer, in the revised edition of his Handbuch der lateinischen Laut- und Formenlehre, offers no explanation of the development of final -āi in the dative singular of ā -stems (= first declension) to -ae rather than to ī ; see pp. 146, 327–28. Yet the development of the long diphthong āi to ī in non-initial (= unaccented) syllables is certain in the dative-ablative plural of ā -stems, and an identical development of the long ōi is seen in the same forms of the o -stems, where length is assured by the Sanskrit form: inst. pl. devāis = Latin dīvīs. The long diphthong in the dative singular of ā -stems is proved by the Greek ending in ‘terrae,’ ‘deae.'

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