"ejus" versus "eius"

Question

Is there a difference between "ejus" and "eius?"

The context is two vulgate editions of Genesis 3:15 of the Bible.

The Clementine Vulgate has:

Inimicitias ponam inter te et mulierem, et semen tuum et semen illius : ipsa conteret caput tuum, et tu insidiaberis calcaneo ejus.

The Stuttart edition of the vulgate has:

inimicitias ponam inter te et mulierem et semen tuum et semen illius ipsa conteret caput tuum et tu insidiaberis calcaneo eius

Is this a typo? Does it affect the meaning of the text?

My intention is not to provide an answer per se, but rather this interesting source on the letter "j" and its relation to "i" in the Latin language thoughout the centuries. — Bernardo Benini Fantin, Aug 08 '23 at 20:52

score 12 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 29 '23 at 02:45

In antiquity, there was no letter J in Latin alphabet. Letter I was used for both vowel /i/ and consonant /i̯/ (alternative notation: /j/).

Letter J was invented in late Middle Ages.

Classical spelling of this pronoun is ⟨eius⟩.

Pronunciation in Classical Latin: /ˈei̯.i̯us/, [ˈɛi̯ːʊs̠]

Pronunciation in Ecclesiastical Latin: /ˈe.jus/, [ˈɛːjus]

score 10 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 29 '23 at 04:34

To add a bit more context:

The Latin alphabet is pretty well-suited for Latin, all things considered. It was adapted in antiquity to fit the phonology of the language, with new letters like G and Y invented or borrowed to better represent the sounds of Latin.

But, it's not quite perfect. There are a few contrasts in Latin that the Classical alphabet just didn't have a way to represent (at least not consistently). For example, the same letters were used for long vowels and short vowels: ALIVM with a short A means "another", but ALIVM with a long A means "garlic". Similarly, the same letters were used for vowels and semivowels: VOLVIT means "she wanted" if the second V is a vowel (approximately "woh-loo-it"), and "it rotates" if it's a semivowel (approximately "wohl-wit").

As a result, we tend to modify the alphabet in modern usage (and not just by introducing lowercase letters). For example, we can write alium versus ālium, and voluit versus volvit, and the ambiguity disappears. The Classical alphabet didn't have any distinction between I and J, or U and V, but nowadays it's common to use I and U for the vowels and J and V for the semivowels.

This is why I prefer the spelling ejus. The J represents a semivowel in this word, not a vowel. But, the spelling eius is closer to what the ancient Romans would have used, and some editors prefer it for that reason. Either way, it's representing the same Latin word, meaning "his/her/its". It doesn't change the meaning any more than switching from all-capitals to lowercase.

However, even when writers generally use U and V, they would apparently spell /su̯/ with SU, not SV. So there is still no consistency. Example: suāvis. Or do you actually spell it as svavis / svāvis? — Arfrever, Jul 29 '23 at 06:42
@Arfrever It varies a lot by publisher; I used to even use qv and ngv for labiovelars in my notes but nobody else does that so I ended up dropping it. — Draconis, Jul 29 '23 at 15:31
@Arfrever: Note that su-, qu- and -gu- never ended up developing into clusters ending with [v] in Romance languages, and thus aren't pronounced with [v] in the Italian (or "Ecclesiastical") pronunciation of Latin. The pattern to the usual use of -V- and -U- is consistent; it just isn't as simple as "U is always syllabic, V is always non-syllabic." (Other systems have been used in the past.) — Asteroides, Jul 29 '23 at 19:00

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 07 '23 at 01:20

The inclusion of the J for consonantal “i” is helpful when scanning poetry but there is no change in pronunciation from eius and ejus. It is not a typo. Just two different ways to spell the same word. I prefer eius because the ancient Romans didn’t have the letter J.

"ejus" versus "eius"

3 Answers3