fircus

Sabine

Etymology

Ultimately unknown; from the same source as Latin hircus. The paradigm displays h/f variation, common in Italic languages (compare Faliscan hebris for Latin febris, Sabine fasēna for Latin harēna). It is likely that the formation is not of Sabellic origin, as it bears a Latino-Faliscan labiovelar reflex. However, it is possible that the geographic proximity between the Sabines and the Faliscans allowed the Sabines to borrow features from the Faliscan language. It may also be possible that this same geographic closeness led Varro to erroneously record the term, possibly due to his sources mistaking a Faliscan form for a Sabine one.

Noun

fircus

  1. a he-goat, male goat, buck

References

  • Varro, De Lingua Latina 97:
    hircus, quod Sabini fircus
    "hircus" [Latin for he-goat], which the Sabines call "fircus"
  • Annie Cecilia Burman (24 March 2018) De Lingua Sabina: A Reappraisal of the Sabine Glosses‎[1], →DOI, pages 40-45
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