Latin verb paradigms

A verb paradigm is a set of verbs that are selected according to features such as the number, speech role and gender of event participants.

Number

Hic Caesarem videt. (He's seeing Caesar.)

HÄ« Caesarem vident. (They're seeing Caesar.)

Speech role

Ego Caesarem videō. (I'm seeing Caesar.)

Tū Caesarem vidēs. (You're seeing Caesar.)

Hic Caesarem videt. (He's seeing Caesar.)

Gender

Hic ā Caesare vīsus est. (He was seen by Caesar.)

Haec ā Caesare vīsa est. (She was seen by Caesar.)

Hoc ā Caesare vīsum est. (This was seen by Caesar.)

Paradigm names

For each verb entry in a dictionary, there are multiple such agreement paradigms as shown in the table below. The names of the paradigms are taken from Langenscheidt Dictionary, completed and adapted.

Completions and adaptions: The paradigms "imperative indirect active", "imperative indirect passive", "supine genitive", "supine dative" are not present in this dictionary because they are rare in the Classical Period, however they are accounted for in Grammar books and articles. The paradigms for "supine accusative" and "supine ablative" are called "Supine I" and "Supine II" in the Langenscheidt dictionary, but often called "supine accusative" and "supine ablative" in academic articles when compared with the other two.

Types of agreement paradigm

Latin has two major types of agreement paradigms with two or more verbs as shown in the tables below:

Rare supines

Some supines are rare, but they do occur althroughout the Classical Period. Following the grammatical pattern whereby supines combine with verbs of motion, we see two semantic patterns: events taking place either where the motion starts or where it ends. We also see supines as the event performed by speech acts.

Events at origin

The ablative supine represents a state change at the origin of motion.

• PrÄ«mus cubitÅ« surgat, postrēmus cubitum eat.<br>He should be the first to rise from sleep and the last to go to lie down.

Events at destination

The accusative supine represents a state change at the destination of motion.

• PrÄ«mus cubitÅ« surgat, postrēmus cubitum eat.<br>He should be the first to rise from sleep and the last to go to lie down.

Events commanded by speech acts

The dative supine represents an event commanded by a speech act.

• Quid enim revocante et receptuÄ« canente senātÅ« properet dÄ«micāre?<br>Why else would he hasten to fight the senate which was recalling and calling retreat?

• Mēdiā nocte receptuÄ« signum dedit.<br>At midnight, he gave a sign to retreat.

Events in periphrases

The genitive supine may occur in periphrasis for an immediate future in the present.

• Quid ferat ignorās, et nunc tibÄ« summa pavōris nuntÄ«us armōrum tristis rumorque sinister. VictÅ«s adest conjÅ«nx. Quid perdis tempora luctÅ«s?<br>You don't how [your partner] is doing and now you hold the utmost fear of sad war news and a few sinister rumours. Your partner is about to win. Why do you waste time mourning?

And the ablative supine may occur in periphrasis for possible undesirable future in the present.

• Grāvidae quÄ«dem fēminae, quibus tum adest partÅ«s, abortÅ« periclitantur.<br>Indeed, pregnant women, who are about to give birth, risk aborting.

• SÄ« mÅ«lier contrā patrōnum suum ingrāta facta, sciēns sē ingrātam, cum dē suō statÅ« periclitābātur, aliquid patrōnō dederit, vel prōmÄ«serit, nē in servitÅ«tem redigātur.<br>If a [freed] woman commits an ingratitude against her patron, knowing that she is being ungreatful, when she risks being by herself, she must give or promise to give something to her patron to avoid being put back to slavery.

References