From olderhec, fromProto-Italic*hoke, from*ho (fromProto-Indo-European*gʰo(“indeed”,emphatic clitic)) +*ke (from*ḱe(“here”,deictic particle)). Reconstructed forms witho are made likely by the Old Latin formhoi(“this”).
The feminine and neuter inflected forms were created in analogy toquī, quae, quod. In the Italic languages only Faliscan has a clear cognate inflected pronoun:hac(acc./abl. sg. f.). A petrified form may be present in the Umbrian word for "the same":eru-hu(abl. sg. m.),era-hunt ~ era-font(abl. sg. f.)[1][2]
No oneof these will force you to die, but all will teach you how to die; no oneof these will wear out your years, but each will add his own years to yours; nothingfrom these conversations will bring you peril, the friendship of none will endanger your life, the courting of none will tax your purse.
Nom. fem. pl. is sometimes "haec", particularly before vowels and h, especially by Plautus and Terence. We refer to "Latijnse Spraakkunst, Janssens, Van de Vorst & Geerebaert, par. 78". We also refer to "Latijnsch Woordenboek, Van Wageningen & Muller (see: hic, haec, hoc)". A third reference is "Gildersleeve's Latin Grammar (see: Demonstrative Pronouns)".
This demonstrative adjective/pronoun is used to refer to a person or thing, or persons or things, near the speaker. It contrasts withille(“that”), which refers to people or things far from the speaker and the listener, andiste(“this/that”), which refers to people or things near the listener.
As Latin had no person pronouns specifically meaning "he", "she" or "it", any ofille,iste,hic or (most frequently)is could assume that function.
In Vulgar Latin, phonetic changes tended to eliminate both the initialh and finalc, leaving nothing but a bare vowel. Consequently, this demonstrative gradually disappeared and was replaced withiste, which originally meant "that (near you)". (This left only a two-term system of demonstratives in comparison with Latin's three-term system, but the gap was filled in some areas by pressingipse into service as a middle demonstrative. Spanish, for example, haseste(“this”) < Latiniste,ese(“that (near you)”) < Latinipse, andaquel(“that (far from you and me)”) < Latineccumille.) This process was gradual, and the neuter formhoc survived the longest (it still survives, for example, inCatalanho). Other forms sometimes survived in compound expressions, e.g.Portugueseagora(“now”) < Latinhāchōrā.
† Turned conjunction with original meaning somewhat dissimilated ° Rare ‡ Only used as a conjunction, not as an interrogative. * Old Latin; ridiculed by most grammarians in later stages.
† Turned conjunction with original meaning somewhat dissimilated ° Rare ‡ Only used as a conjunction, not as an interrogative. * Old Latin; ridiculed by most grammarians in later stages.
