domum as adverb

[pmda]

In LLPSI XX Orberg has 'O miseros nautas, qui numquam domum revertentur'

He explains 'domum' as = 'ad domum'.

I've just noticed in the Vocabulary..that he describes Domum as an adverb??! with referene to this line in this chapter...Can anyone explain? I just assumed it was short for 'ad domum'....

[calvinist]

The accusative case alone can signify motion toward, as this is one of the "basic" meanings of the case: to limit the action of the verb as to it's "end" or "direction". This is why the accusative marks the direct object of the verb. They are similar notions. Domus is a word that usually does not use the "repetition" of the preposition ad. Compare English: "I went home" but "I went to the store". I think explaining it as an adverb is more confusing, although technically correct as well.

[jaihare]

In LLPSI XX Orberg has 'O miseros nautas, qui numquam domum revertentur'

He explains 'domum' as = 'ad domum'.

I've just noticed in the Vocabulary..that he describes Domum as an adverb??! with referene to this line in this chapter...Can anyone explain? I just assumed it was short for 'ad domum'....

In German, it would be translated as "heim" rather than "Haus," and in Hebrew as הביתה (habayta) rather than הבית habayit ("the house"). In Greek it would be οἴκαδε rather than οἶκος. It's definitely an adverb.

[pmda]

Thanks guys...I suppose in that case the verb it's qualifying is the verb to go...'went'..

[thesaurus]

Note that there are only a few nouns that can be used in the plain accusative to indicate direction towards. Domus is probably the most common.

See also:
"rus, ruris, n." as in "rus revertitur, "she returns to the country[side]."
"humus, humi m." as in "humum cadit," "he fell to the ground."

The only other instances I know of are cities, towns, and small islands. E.g., Romam eo = I go to Rome.

If you wanted an English adverb for domum, you could say "homewards."

[thesaurus]

Another thought: it seems that these odd nouns with accusatives of "place to which" also stand out for their locative cases. It might help to remember these adverbial uses together.

Domi = "at home"
Ruri = "in the country"
Humi = "on the ground"

Why is this? Are these just old, core words that have maintained aspects of the older language?

Edit: I thought of another one, but I'm not sure it follows the same accusative/locative structure. Foras/foris "Outdoors"

[calvinist]

You said it Thesaurus, it's because they are such basic "core" words. Such words are the most resistant to linguistic change. Note that the irregular verbs in English are the most common everyday verbs: go, swim, run, sit, stand, be. The verb "to be" is the most irregular in most languages, since it resists the simplification and regularizing forces of linguistic change. Note also that the only place where the case system has hung on by a thread in English is the very common "core" pronouns. The accusative of the first person pronoun, which is one of the most basic words, has gone almost completely unchanged since PIE: me