7

Il passato remoto di conoscere, nella primera persona singolare, è conobbi. Da dove viene etimologicamente questa -bb- (che si usa anche nella terza persona singolare e plurale, conobbe, conobbero)?

In quali verbi si trova? Apparentemente non solo in quelli che finiscono in -escere, perchè avere tiene come passato remoto ebbi (ebbe, ebbero).

Chiarimento: In Latino, il perfetto ha -v-, ad esempio, cognōvī. Ma questo si estendeva a tutte le persone e a tutti(?) i verbi. Se la -bb- del passato remoto discende dalla -v- del tempo perfetto Latino, perchè la sua distribuzione è così ristretta, a solo poche persone e verbi?

4
  • 1
    It is from Latin: from cognovi to conobbi; from habui to ebbi. Is that what you meant? Can you clarify your question?
    – user193
    Jan 17, 2014 at 5:20
  • 1
    actually "avere", since it comes from habeo, -es, habui made the opposite path: from b to v in the present
    – mau
    Jan 17, 2014 at 9:28
  • 2
    Actually it is common for all romance languages to transliterate between b and v. In Spanish for example the distinction between the two letters has almost disappeared in the last 2 or 3 generations.
    – Bruno9779
    Jan 17, 2014 at 12:49
  • 2
    @mau: There's no mystery about the v reflex of Latin b in the case of avere < habere. This is a case of intervocalic spirantization (which has become wholly automatic in Spanish, as Bruno notes immediately above). Avere preserves b whenever it is geminate: compare present tense 1pl abbiamo with 2pl avete. My question is about the -bb- reflex of perfective -v-: which verbs it is confined to and why. Jan 17, 2014 at 14:41

1 Answer 1

4

I guess ebbi, ebbe, ebbero, whose -bb- comes directly from the b of Latin hab- root (like abbiamo, abbia etc.), have influenced the conjugation of conoscere, crescere and derived verbs (riconoscere, rincrescere and few others).

Notice that there was a competition between crebbi and crescetti. The latter sounds really awkward although more regular; in the look for an alternative to the ugly crescetti, a solution emerged that was borrowing -bb- from the past of avere while staying close to the Latin crēvī. (Also crescei was among the competitors but it could not prevail.)

Just a hypothesis but it sounds like a reasonable explanation for the unusual "inverse" evolution from v to b and the gemination of b.

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.