fulgur

See also: Fulgur

Latin

Alternative forms

fulgus

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *folgos, from the same root as fulgeō (“flash, lighten”). The expected declension according to regular sound changes would be *fulgus, fulgeris. The nominative fulgus is in fact given by Festus as an alternative form. The oblique stem fulger- is attested in Lucretius ("quasi protelo stimulatur fulgere fulgur"), and also in inscriptions in the spelling of derived words such as fulgerātor. Some Romance descendants also derive from a stem fulger-^[1] (although they could alternatively descend from fulgere, the infinitive of the verb fulgō).

The usual nominative/accusative/vocative singular form, fulgur, shows replacement of -s with -r, presumably by analogy to the oblique stem.^[2] This analogical change is not usual in neuter third-declension nouns, but rōbur n (“oak”),^[3] iubar n (“splendor; brightness”) and sulphur n (“brimstone; lightning”) are other possible examples. The usual oblique stem fulgur- shows replacement of expected -er- or -or- with -ur-. Kent 1932 and Parker 1986 suggest that -o- was raised to -u- by assimilation to the vowel in the first syllable in this word, and also in sulphur^[2]^[4] (though ulcus shows regular ulcer-). Compare also the non-neuter augur.

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈfʊɫ.ɡʊr]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈful.ɡur]

Noun

fulgur n (genitive fulguris); third declension

lightning, a flash of lightning
Synonym: fulgor
thunderbolt
Synonym: fulmen
brightness, splendor
Synonym: fulgor

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

	singular	plural
nominative	fulgur	fulgura
genitive	fulguris	fulgurum
dative	fulgurī	fulguribus
accusative	fulgur	fulgura
ablative	fulgure	fulguribus
vocative	fulgur	fulgura

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

Aromanian: sfulgu n
Friulian: folc m
Italian: folgore f
→ Sicilian: fùrguri
From fulger-:
- Aromanian: sfuldzir n
- Catalan: foldre (ant.)
- Franco-Provençal: fudra
- French: foudre f or m
- Occitan: fólzer
- Romanian: fulger n

References

^ Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “fulgur”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volume 3: D–F, pages 841–842
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Kent, Roland G. (1932) “The Sounds of Latin. A Descriptive and Historical Phonology”, in Language, volume 8, number 3, →JSTOR, page 101
^ Sihler, Andrew L. (1995) New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 306
^ Parker, Holt Neumon (1986) The relative chronology of some major Latin sound changes, page 265