On 2008-01-22 16:26, alexandru_mg3 wrote:
> Trying to further clarify the obscure formation of prae-pu:tium
> I 'found' another word containing pu:tium => salaputium
I think <salapu:tium> should be left out of this discussion. Michael
Weiss (1996) derives it via Oscan from *sal-pu:tijom 'salt purification'
(and this in turn from the hypothetical occupational name of the
"artifex" type, *sal-pu:t-s 'purifier of salt'. Figuratively, 'salt
purification' = 'refinement of wit', contrasted, in this case, with a
rustic form or pronunciation of the word. Catullus's dialectal joke is
plausibly explained in detail in Weiss's article (_Classical Philology_
91/4), so here at least we have no "jumping prick" (or "mentula salax").
Piotr