Quererere (a tongue-twister when one is conjugating the verb), alternative form of querereris (imperfect subjunctive of queror). I was trying to understand the morphology.
Quer-e-re-re
Quer-: root
-e-: is this a theme vowel of the 3rd conjugation? just an epenthetic vowel (but then, why ‘e’ and not ‘i’?)?
-re-: suffix expressing mood (subjunctive) and tense (imperfect)
-re-: suffix expressing voice (passive) and person and number (2nd singular)
Is this right? Especially, what about the -e-?
When it comes to subjunctive imperfect/pluperfect, I tend to consider they roughly use the active infinitive, to which the person-specific verb ending is added.
So, the verb querī in subjunctive imperfect becomes querere + -ris (or -re).
As for the vowel, my feel is that it’s an epenthetic vowel, as you state. There is an alternance e/i because of context, I’d say. It should be checked in serious books, but I think the original vowel was just some schwa in proto-italic.
This is 3rd conjugation, so the vowels are going to be really dull and as unnoticeable as possible. Saying -ir- brings out the “i” sound, while if you say -er- it just sounds like you’re pronouncing the “r” and the “e” vowel sound is largely “hidden”. That’s my take on why “e” is before the “-ris/-re” ending.