Ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *wósr̥ "spring" (also reconstructed alternatively as *wésr̥ or *wḗsr̥), the root of Latin vēr "spring". The details of the derivation differ between sources. Vernus could be the reflex of a deadverbial adjective in -*no- built on a locative form of the *wósr̥/*wésr̥/*wḗsr̥ noun. Piotr Gąsiorowski (2012) presents the following derivation from the PIE locative stem *wesri where the final Latin form vernus results from haplology or syncope of *er: *wesri-no- > *wezr̥₂no- > *wererno- > vernus. In the case of a locative formation, vernus could instead come from a form vēri-no (with syncope of *i) (Alan Nussbaum, cited in de Vaan, 2008). As an alternative to the locative derivation, de Vaan suggests that the word could come from *wesinos (with rhotacism of *s and syncope of *i). By surface analysis, vēr + -nus.
There seems to be no definite evidence of the length of the vowel in the first syllable in Classical Latin. Some etymologies imply an originally short vowel; furthermore, it is hypothesized that at certain points in time, an originally long vowel in Latin was subject to shortening (called Osthoff's Law) before any consonant cluster starting with a resonant. On the other hand, some sources give the pronunciation of this word as vērnus because of the long vowel in the related noun vēr; it is plausible that analogical pressure from the noun could have resulted in the adjective having a long vowel in Classical Latin, even if a short vowel would be expected as the outcome of regular phonetic changes. (Compare the lack of Osthoff's Law–shortening in fūrtum (“theft”) from fūr (“thief”).)
vē̆rnus (feminine vē̆rna, neuter vē̆rnum); first/second-declension adjective
First/second-declension adjective.
Number | Singular | Plural | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Case / Gender | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
Nominative | vē̆rnus | vē̆rna | vē̆rnum | vē̆rnī | vē̆rnae | vē̆rna | |
Genitive | vē̆rnī | vē̆rnae | vē̆rnī | vē̆rnōrum | vē̆rnārum | vē̆rnōrum | |
Dative | vē̆rnō | vē̆rnō | vē̆rnīs | ||||
Accusative | vē̆rnum | vē̆rnam | vē̆rnum | vē̆rnōs | vē̆rnās | vē̆rna | |
Ablative | vē̆rnō | vē̆rnā | vē̆rnō | vē̆rnīs | |||
Vocative | vē̆rne | vē̆rna | vē̆rnum | vē̆rnī | vē̆rnae | vē̆rna |