Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “ave”, inCorpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela:Instituto da Lingua Galega
Borrowed with an unspelled /h/ fromPunic[script needed](ḥawe,“live!”,2sg. imp.), cognate toHebrewחוה(“Chava, the biblical Eve”), and asavō fromPunic[script needed](ḥawū,2pl. imp.), from Semitic root ḥ-w-y (live). The form might have been contaminated byEtymology 2, especially as the latter one's long vowel also ended up short viaiambic shortening; this would explain the reluctance to spell the aspirate, as well as its interpretation as a verb form. Attested since Plautus.
Note: around the 1st c. a.D., the current pronunciation remained the etymologicalIPA(key): /ha.vĕ/, with the long-vowel unaspirated form possible as a literary affectation, or as a poetic license.[1]
Outside of grammarians, the plural(h)avēte is attested only once in Apuleius, who is known for affecting archaisms. This suggests that this greeting didn't usually inflect for number, reflecting its originally being an interjection and not a verbal form; nevertheless, it was eventually widely interpreted as the latter.
The other verbal forms cited by grammarians are the future imperativeavētōtū,ille(“greetings to you, him”) etc., and the infinitive in the circumlocutionavēretēvolō (after the same use withvalēre and the very raresalvēre).
"ave", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’sGlossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
Feminine nouns beginning with stressed/ˈa/ likeave take the singular definite articleel (otherwise reserved for masculine nouns) instead of the usualla:el ave. This includes the contracted formsal anddel (instead ofa la andde la, respectively):al ave,del ave. This is to avoid doubling of the /a/ sound.
These nouns also usually take the indefinite articleun that is otherwise used with masculine nouns (although the standard feminine formuna is also permitted):un ave oruna ave. The same is true with determinersalgún/alguna andningún/ninguna, as well as for numerals ending with 1 (e.g.,veintiún/veintiuna).
However, if another word intervenes between the article and the noun, the usual feminine singular articles and determiners (la,una etc.) must be used:la mejor ave,una buena ave.
If an adjective follows the noun, it must agree with the noun's gender regardless of the article used:el ave única,un(a) ave buena.
In the plural, the usual feminine singular articles and determiners (las,unas etc.) are always used.
Ave is also the scientific term, while pájaro is used more in common speech for the smaller birds.
