Some remarks on the prehistory of omnis and other Latin pronouns and adjectives meaning ‘all’ or ‘whole’

Abstract

The Latin quantifier omnis has received and continues to receive numerous linguistic treatments, both from a synchronic and a diachronic perspective. The present contribution will neither give a new etymology for omnis nor summarize comprehensively the substantial body of scholarship pertaining to this quantifier, but is primarily concerned with the specific semantic questions arising from the etymological connection of omnis with Lat. ops , which can be considered as the present communis opinio . Does the prehistory of omnis illustrate a semantic change '(in) abundance' > 'whole' > 'all'? This paper also gives an overview of the Sabellic comparanda of omnis (Oscan úmbn[ , Paelignian omnitu ). The historical sources of other Latin quantifying pronouns and adjectives, especially tōtus and * sollos (cf. sollemnis ), are briefly discussed.