Questions tagged [verbs]
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165
questions
9
votes
3answers
863 views
Dropping “to be” and other verbs in Latin?
Some languages, like Indonesian, can drop the verb to be when the meaning is obvious.
They are zero-copula languages.
I heard that some Latin authors wrote some sentences with this feature.
Do you ...
4
votes
0answers
52 views
Why does “urgueo” exist as a variant of “urgeo”?
The rule I learned for the pronunciation of the digram "gu" before a vowel in Latin was /gw/ after "n", vs. g + vocalic u anywhere else. But I just discovered the exception urgueo /urgweoː/. This is a ...
2
votes
1answer
89 views
Gerundial arguments selected by verbs taking Genitive: e.g., “Memento moriendi”? “Me paenitet vivendi”?
As a follow-up of two previous questions on Latin grammar, I was wondering if examples like Memento moriendi (cf. Memento mori) and Me paenitet vivendi (cf. Me paenitet vivere) are also attested.
...
3
votes
0answers
61 views
Non-deponent intransitive verbs in Ablative Absolute constructions and other dominant participle constructions?
As is well-known, intransitive deponent verbs can enter into Ablative Absolute constructions (e.g., Cicerone mortuo, Cicerone nato, etc.) and in (other) dominant participle constructions (e.g., ante ...
7
votes
2answers
147 views
How can I find a verb root in ancient greek?
If I have a verb in ancient greek, how can I find its root?
For instance, if I have
λείπω
νέω
ἔμαθον
μανθάνω
how can I do to know that, respectively, these verbs have
λιπ-/λειπ-/λοιπ-
νευ- (<*...
5
votes
2answers
122 views
What is the correct etymology of ignōscō “pardon”?
The verb ignōscō, with the meaning "pardon, forgive", is explained in some sources as coming from the negative prefix in- and (g)nōscō. For example, Lewis and Short says "lit., not to wish to know, ...
4
votes
2answers
819 views
Was there ever a difference between 'volo' and 'volo'?
The words "I want" and "I fly" are both volō.
Was there ever any difference in pronunciation in the classical era or later?
I expect such differences to be more likely in vulgar Latin.
The rest ...
2
votes
1answer
74 views
Did Latin lack a denominal verb directly from 'patria'?
According to Etymonline and OED (below), Latin had repatriare, but English 'patriate' wasn't allegedly coined by Lester B. Pearson until 1966.
This tardive coining suggests a lack of a denominal ...
4
votes
1answer
123 views
What is the grammatical “logic” of ablative case in «Tuā et meā māximē interest tē ualēre» (Cic. Fam. 16.4)?
Assuming that ablative case is always a semantic case (see the typical lists of its associated meanings in Latin grammars), I was wondering if Latin speakers could still assign a synchronic more or ...
3
votes
1answer
210 views
Are there linguistic arguments for the claim that “Odi et amo” in Catullus (LXXXV) cannot be translated as 'I hate and I love'?
On the basis of literary arguments, Arkins (2011) THE MEANING OF ‘ODI ET AMO’ IN CATULLUS 85 came to the interesting conclusion that Odi et amo in the following famous poem by Catullus (LXXXV) cannot ...
2
votes
1answer
81 views
What is the grammatical “logic” of impersonal constructions like “Me non solum piget stultitiae meae sed etiam pudet” (Cic. De Dom. 29)?
What is the grammatical "logic" of the impersonal construction with psychological verbs like pudet, piget, paenitet, taedet, miseret? (here is a short descriptive characterization of so-called “psych ...
8
votes
2answers
715 views
Did the Vulgar Latin verb “toccare” exist?
According to the Royal Spanish Academy dictionary, the word tocar 'touch' has its origin in the toc toc onomatopoeia. Something similar is registered in Etymonline for the English verb touch:
from ...
7
votes
1answer
142 views
Are Latin verbs of motion satellite-framed or verb-framed?
Are Latin verbs of motion satellite-framed, verb-framed, both, or neither?
Native English verbs of motion are said to be satellite-framed: the verb usually indicates the manner of motion and a "...
1
vote
2answers
62 views
“ferro se petentem”
Valete,
I have this sentence (written by Ulpianus in Digest 9.2.5) :
Sed et si quemcumque alium ferro se petentem quis occiderit
But if someone (quis) killed anyone else (quemcumque alium) when ...
3
votes
1answer
42 views
Are there Latin verbs with Greek cognates in all four conjugations?
Off the top of my head, I can think of a few Latin verbs with obvious Greek cognates: pherō~ferō "to bear", pheugō~fugiō "to flee".
But all the words I can think of are in the third conjugation. Are ...
4
votes
3answers
100 views
Why there are several words for swimming?
The words nō, natō, adnō are all verbs which means to swim. They have their own conjugation respectively.
Maybe there are not only three, but I'm not sure.
I wonder why there are several words in ...
3
votes
1answer
108 views
Did the Romans create any irregular verbs?
Most newly-formed Latin verbs were put into the nice, regular first conjugation: both deriving from existing words (dīcō, -ere > dīctō, -āre) and with borrowings (Graecissō, -āre).
English is mostly ...
3
votes
1answer
87 views
On the interpretation of “ipse” in anticausative constructions
After having answered a question on "ipse" from a very different perspective (a philosophical one: [Does 'ipse' truly mean change? ), I return to linguistics: now I was wondering if ipse must ...
3
votes
0answers
147 views
How things change in Latin
After having provided an answer to Draconis’ question ( Did Latin have any ergative verbs? ), I was wondering about the (very subtle?) meaning differences involved in triads like {aperit/se aperit/...
6
votes
2answers
581 views
Prodigo = pro + ago?
According to Wiktionary, prodigo is a verb which etymology comes from "pro + ago". The same is suggested by L&S. However, I cannot see how ago fits here. The conjugation of this verb seems at odds ...
3
votes
2answers
83 views
Difference between “immergo” and “summergo”
In Spanish we have the verb sumergir, coming from Latin:
sum-mergo (subm-), si, sum, 3, v. a.,
I. to dip or plunge under, to sink, overwhelm, submerge, submerse.
Nonetheless, some related ...
1
vote
2answers
78 views
Do contracted perfects have long or short vowels?
Many verbs have a suffix -v- in the perfect tense, which tends to disappear (or "contract" or "syncopate") before the ending: amā- > amāvisti > amāsti "you loved", audī- > audīvisti > audīsti "you ...
4
votes
1answer
150 views
Understanding “audieritis” in Psalm 94
Consider the following excerpt from Psalm 94 in the Vulgate.
Hódie, si vocem eius audiéritis, nolíte obduráre corda vestra, sicut in exacerbatióne secúndum diem tentatiónis in desérto: ubi ...
1
vote
2answers
69 views
Understanding entries in Latin dictionary [duplicate]
I started learning Latin yesterday by myself using the Wheelock's Latin textbook
My question was why are there 4 variations given of a word but only one translated meaning? What do these words mean?
3
votes
2answers
47 views
How to do indefinite person with verbs
In English you can conjugate like so:
I eat
You eat
He/she/it eats
We eat
You all eat
They eat
But you can also conjugate with a variety of “indefinite” pronouns:
One eats
Everyone ...
3
votes
0answers
48 views
Verbal Adjective of Necessity vs. Possibility
Greek distinguishes between verbal adjectives ending in -τέος and verbal adjectives ending in -τός. The latter (according to Smyth) express either possibility or the perfect passive participle (e.g. '...
5
votes
3answers
288 views
How accurate is the typical definition of a deponent verb?
Deponent verbs are often (always?) defined as verbs that have passive forms but active meanings. But how accurate is this typical definition/generalization? It seems clear that this definition applies ...
3
votes
1answer
73 views
Which Latin verb was closer to the current meaning of English “solve”?
Nowadays the English verb solve means:
Find an answer to, explanation for, or means of effectively dealing with (a problem or mystery).
The etymology of the word indicates that it comes:
from ...
4
votes
3answers
144 views
Choosing a “wait” - exspecto, opperior or maneo
I hope that my question won't seem too flippant or strange... I'm not any sort of Latin scholar or student, but I am trying to coin a term based on Latin. I've been trying through several routes to ...
4
votes
2answers
253 views
'plecto, plectere, plexi', -tor/-sor form (agent noun)
How would one add the agent noun suffix (normally -tor) to the verb 'plecto' (I weave/twist)? It's been a few years — about 10 — but if I recall correctly, verbs whose stem ends in 't' ...
5
votes
4answers
245 views
Could “essentia” be understood in Latin as “the act of being”?
Almost every verb has a noun that implies "the act and effect of" whatever the verb is. So, an existence is the act of existing. Nonetheless, the most simple verb, to be seems to lack such a noun, at ...
8
votes
1answer
254 views
aret = aridus est?
Is there any semantic or aspectual difference between aret and aridus est (cf. rubet/ruber est; calet/calidus est, candet/candidus est, i.a.)?
Ager aret. (Col. 2.8.5)
Ager aridus erat. (...
4
votes
2answers
106 views
How is the subject of the verb identified in this verse of the Vulgata?
In 2 Kings 4:4 we read:
Erat autem Jonathae filio Saul filius debilis pedibus : quinquennis enim fuit, quando venit nuntius de Saul et Jonatha ex Jezrahel. Tollens itaque eum nutrix sua, fugit : ...
6
votes
1answer
162 views
Is there a Latin 'studiare'?
The Latin verb for studying is studere, but a number of descendants look as if they came from studiare.
These include the Italian 'studiare', French 'étudier', and the Spanish 'estudiar'.
Was there ...
10
votes
1answer
570 views
Why “dilatasti” instead of “dilatavisti” in Psalm 4:2?
(Psalm 4:2) cum invocarem exaudivit me Deus iustitiae meae in tribulatione dilatasti mihi miserere mei et exaudi orationem meam
When I called upon him, the God of my justice heard me: when I was ...
6
votes
2answers
225 views
The use of participle in “Ceres a generendo”
I'm trying to read this sentence, where Cicero finds Roman Gods in relevance to the Latin verbs:
Saturnus quia se saturat annis, Mavors quia magna vertit, Minerva quia minuit aut quia minatur, ...
5
votes
1answer
177 views
Where did the Latin language get its infinitive verb endings from?
Some time ago, a user in the Spanish language site asked if the Spanish verb endings -ar, -er and -ir had a special meaning. I then answered that the endings do not have any meaning by themselves, at ...
6
votes
1answer
36 views
Translating “order of protection and conservation”
An author friend recently asked me for help with a Latin name: in his book, a group calls itself the "order of protection and conservation", but in Latin to be pretentious (altum videtur…).
My ...
8
votes
2answers
131 views
What does the verb “luere” mean in the Angilberti carmina?
Angilbert is asking what the women (the sisters and daughters of Charles the Great) might think of the return of their nephew/brother Pepin from Italy in the poem AD PIPPINUM ITALIAE REGEM by ...
4
votes
1answer
57 views
Why is dignetur used as if it were in the active voice?
For 2 Thessalonians 1:11, the Vulgata has the following:
In quo etiam oramus semper pro vobis: ut dignetur vos vocatione sua
Deus nosteret impleat omnem voluntatem bonitatis, et opus fidei in
...
5
votes
1answer
68 views
What sort of Greek words are regularly distinguished only by tone?
In the postscript to this answer, Varro comments:
…the L&S entry for ἰχθυβολος shows two possible accents, a paroxytone ἰχθυβόλος for an active meaning, and a proparoxytone ἰχθύβολος for a ...
2
votes
1answer
64 views
future passive imperative of a verb + fuit (perfect active indicative of 'sum') =?
Just to give you some language background from my side, I have not learned the Latin language at all, and my mother tongue is neither English nor any other Indo-European language. I am reading ancient ...
10
votes
2answers
226 views
What is the difference between “novi” and “scio”?
Latin has at least two words that straightforwardly translate to English "know":
novi (perf. of nosco)
scio
Plautus combines the two pleonastically:
nec vos qui homines sitis novi nec scio
Here'...
13
votes
2answers
1k views
Do plural names referring to a singular thing require a plural verb?
Another question related to my geography of the Roman Empire which I am writing has arisen: during the time of Trajan, 117 AD, there were several provinces which had names in the plural, especially ...
4
votes
2answers
306 views
Did Latin have any ergative verbs?
An "ergative verb" is a verb that can either take two nouns (a subject and an object) or only one (a subject), where the object of the two-noun form corresponds to the subject of the one-noun form.
...
6
votes
1answer
330 views
What forms are the verbs in “Omnibus rebus paratis, Caesar milites naves conscendere jussit”?
In "Omnibus rebus paratis, Caesar milites naves conscendere jussit", what forms are the verbs "paratis" and "jussit", and why?
This sentence was taken from Gramática latina de Napoleão Mendes, from ...
6
votes
1answer
101 views
Ubī ūtar verbō “queō” prō “possum”?
The word queō ("I am able") is back-formed from nequeō ("I am not able") and, to the best of my knowledge, is equivalent in meaning to possum.
When would one use queō over possum, or vice versa?
5
votes
1answer
768 views
What’s the difference between meminisse and memini?
I’d love to get a tattoo saying ‘remember’ in Latin, but would rather not use memento. Would it be possible to either use meminisse or memini? I’d like remember to be like a reminder for myself to ...
4
votes
1answer
89 views
Is there something like an “anti-deponent” verb in Latin?
Deponent verbs are those who are written (normally) in passive form but are active in meaning. loquor, loquī, locūtus sum is a common example in Latin. I wonder if the opposite exists, i.e. a verb ...
5
votes
1answer
83 views
Where does quire come from?
Where does the verb quire come from?
L&S is unsure of the etymology but compares it to a Sanskrit word.
Do we know more about the etymology of the verb?
Is composed of ire ("to go") and another (...
