Talk:sucula

The pronunciation currently given shows a long vowel (sūcula) for the diminutive of sūs, and a short vowel for the "windlass" word. But both of our source dictionaries (L&S and Gaffiot) show a short vowel for both senses (sŭcŭla). It seems to be unsettled whether these are originally the same word, but even if they were distinct, apparently they were similar enough for a play on words (not a definitive piece of evidence). De Vaan, who thinks both words are etymologically the same, shows sūcula with a long vowel for the windlass sense also. De Vaan also indicates that in general, derivatives of sus can have short or long u: "According to Schrijver, the alternation between nom.acc. sū-s, -m and oblique case forms sŭ- led to the introduction of su- in compounds such as su-bulcus (formed after bubulcus) and su-cerda." This suggests to me that there would be no definite argument on etymological grounds for the length of the vowel. Are there any concrete pieces of evidence for the vowel length? If not, seems like it might be better to mark it uncertain given the conflicting sources summarized above. , what was the basis for your vowel length edits on this page?--Urszag (talk) 04:55, 5 January 2022 (UTC)