How to parse "Dis Manibus" syntactically?

Question

Almost everyone who has ever seen a Roman grave inscription has seen the phrase Dis Manibus or its abbreviation DM. It starts almost every Roman tombstone I have seen. I know it means "to/for the Manes", but I am not sure how to parse it syntactically as a part of the inscription.

Should I parse D[is] M[anibus] as a separate idiom that is not syntactically tied to the rest of the text? What exactly is given or dedicated to the Manes? Is it the tomb, the deceased, or something else? Is the text perhaps addressed to the Manes?

I would be grateful if someone could show an example or two and explain how the phrase Dis Manibus works as a part of the whole text in an epitaph.

Here are some example inscriptions from this CIL page ("Section: Sepulchrales"):

15128
DIS MANIBVS
TI CLAVDIO ISSO
FIL DVLCISSIMO
VIX ANN XII D XXXV
IVLIA SEVERA
MATER FECIT

15130
DIS MANIBVS
TI CLAVDIVS
IVCVNDVS AVG
L FEC FAVSTO
ALVMNO SVO

15134
D M
BENE MERENTI FILIO
CLAVDIO LICINIO
QVI VIXIT ANNO
VNO MESIBUS VIIII
FECIT PATER LICINIVS
EVTHYCIVS

I can understand these inscriptions otherwise, but I don't see the exact role played by the first lines. This may or may not be a representative sample. I lack the expertise to judge that, but the ubiquity of the phrase is evident from what I have seen.

Answer 1

In each example you give, there is the word fecit or its abbreviation fec. I believe this goes along with Dis Manibus to mean "made to the Manes". In this way, it resembles the style of Roman letters, in which the recipient is placed up top in the dative case, and "salutem" or "S.D." often follows. Since epitaphs are short, it makes sense to place fecit near the end, using SOV order.

To demonstrate this theory, let's try translating each one. I wasn't able to translate each one fully, but I think I got the gist. The translations serve to illustrate how fecit goes hand in hand with DM.

Also, please feel free to improve my translations in the comments.

15128 DIS MANIBVS
TI CLAVDIO ISSO
FIL DVLCISSIMO
VIX ANN XII D XXXV
IVLIA SEVERA
MATER FECIT

To the spirits of the dead,
For Tiberius Claudius (of Issus? Issus?),
most sweet son,
lived ——
Iulia Severa,
his mother, made.

15130 DIS MANIBVS
TI CLAVDIVS
IVCVNDVS AVG
L FEC FAVSTO
ALVMNO SVO

To the ghost-gods,
Tiberius Claudius, agreeable,
made for his favorable foster son,
Lucius Augustus.

N.B. I am really unsure of this translation.

15134 D M
BENE MERENTI FILIO
CLAVDIO LICINIO
QVI VIXIT ANNO
VNO MESIBUS VIIII
FECIT PATER LICINIVS
EVTHYCIVS

To the Manes,
For the well-deserving son
Claudius Licinius
who lived for one year nine months,
his father Licinius Euthycius made.

Answer 2

The phrase is often DIS MANIBUS SACRUM. I.e. "Sacred/Dedicated to the spirits of the departed". So the "sacrum" is understood.

Treat it as a separate sentence, indicating what the nature of the inscription is. Abbreviated D.M. or D.M.S. There are 19,000 plus examples in Clauss-Slaby.

E.g. CIL 7298.

D(is) M(anibus) s(acrum) / Vera Tumiano fratri / bene merenti fecit / vixit annis XXXV / mens(ibus) VIII die(bu)s XV

Answer 3

Originally it was syntactically tied to FECIT as a normal dative expressing the recipient/beneficiary, parallel to the name of the deceased - monuments were originally erected and dedicated to honour the supernatural, and in a way this commemorated the fact that the deceased had joined the ranks of the Ancestral Spirits.

In the course of time it became idiomatic as the default opener, abbreviated as D·M. This, coupled with the fact that usually there's another dative (the name of the deceased) already attached to the same FECIT, might have lead to its eventual reinterpretation as a syntactically independent formula. As a result it became possible and extremely common to use it in inscriptions that contain no verb like FECIT/POSVIT at all. That said, one always can (and probably should) understand such a verb as being implied.

Some examples of the usage without a verb are found in this PDF; another would be this burial urn.

DIS·MANIBVS·SACRVM should be understood in the same way, with the verb FECIT implied, where SACRVM·FECIT is a more solemn, religious, periphrastic way to say cōnsecrāvit "made holy as an honour/offering, dedicated", but unlike the latter additionally meaning "made a sacred ritual". It's not like a warning-sign saying "don't touch - sacred!", as far as I can judge.