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“Here, however, we are brought face to face with the much debated problem of whether the gerundive or the gerund was the older formation. An argument frequently offered in favor of the former theory is the fact that only the gerundive is attested in the Italic dialects, an argument to which we should not attach undue weight, in view of the comparative scantiness of the dialect remains. Either formation could develop from the other through ambiguous constructions of the type of non est bibendum hoc vinum. If such a sentence was originally analogous to non est bibendum hanc aquam but is reinterpreted as a construction of concord, the final stage is non est bibenda haec aqua or non sunt bibenda haec vina. If on the other hand we begin with non est bibenda haec aqua, and its analogue non est bibendum hoc vinum is reinterpreted so that hoc vinum is taken as an accusative object, the final stage will be non est bibendum hanc aquam.”
James W. Poultney, “The Phonology of -nd- and the Latin Gerundive”, in Italic and Romance: Linguistic studies in honor of Ernst Pulgram, edited by Herbert J. Izzo. Current Issues in Linguistic Theory n° 18. John Benjamins B. V., 1980.
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