19.09.25: Level 3; the supine [1]

From the previous post [the story of Atys (2)]

Itaque veniam tibi dō vēnātum exeundī. │ Therefore, I give you permission to go out hunting [ = to hunt].’

The supine was first discussed here:

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2025/06/050625-follow-up-on-previous-post-rocco_4.html

https://www.facebook.com/groups/latinforstarters/posts/704667188811219/

[i] Image: Most Latin verbs have four principal parts which are listed in dictionaries; it is from these four principal parts that all other forms of the verb are created:

[1] First principal part: rogō [ask]; the first person singular present tense

[2] Second principal part: rogāre; the present active infinitive

[3] Third principal part: rogāvī; the first person singular perfect tense

[4] It is the fourth part where some confusion might occur since, depending on which dictionary you use, it can be listed in two different ways as either [i] rogātus, or [ii] rogātum

[i] rogātus, -a, -um is the perfect passive participle = having been asked

[ii] rogātum is the supine; the entry in Wiktionary gives it the name ‘supine’, but most dictionaries / vocabulary lists don’t i.e. there is the assumption that you know the difference between [i] and [ii] without it being explicitly stated. The supine is a 4^th declension noun which expresses a verbal idea. It only has two forms, and we’ll look at both.

[2] The supine has more than one use:

[i] The supine is used with verbs of motion to express purpose; grammatically, it is in the accusative case, but does not agree with any word in gender, number or case

Vīsne īre dēambulātum? │ Do you want to go for a walk? [Literally: to go to walk]

Spectātum veniunt (Ovid) │ They come to watch.

Haeduī lēgātōs […] mittunt rogātum auxilium (Caesar) │ The Haedui send deputies to ask for aid.

Abiī dormītum │ I went away to sleep.

Vēnērunt questum iniūriās. (Livy) │ They came to complain of wrongs.

Vēnērunt pacem petitum. │ They came to ask for peace.

Two useful examples of this are:

Cubitum eō │ I go ¦ to sleep [literally: to lie down to sleep]

From Plautus:

Voluī Chalīnum … mittere tēcum obsōnātum │ I wanted to send Chalinus with you to buy provisions [i.e. to shop]

Obsōnātum eō │ I go ¦ shopping [ = to shop]

[ii] The supine + īrī

At this stage, the second use will be referred to, but discussed in more detail in later posts since it is connected with the far wider topic of indirect statement.

The supine + īrī creates a future passive infinitive i.e. referring to something that is “going to be done”.

verberātum īrī │ to be going / to be about to be beaten

mūtātum īrī │ to be going / to be about to be changed

This construction is rare in CL literature, and, with the distinctive īrī, is easily recognisable. Like [i] above, it does not agree with the subject i.e. you will only see this form, and is used in indirect statements:

Caesar dīcit librōs missum īrī. │ Caesar says that the books are going to / about to / will be sent.

Dīxit urbem captum īrī. │ He said that the city was going to / about to / would be captured.

[iii] The third use has an ending in -ū: there can be some uncertainty as to how the case of that ending is interpreted; for the sake of argument, I’ll stick to it being ablative. It conveys the idea of “with regard to” or “with respect to” and is used with adjectives.

Compare English: It is [i] difficult [ii] to say.

dīcō, dīcere, dīxī, (supine) dictum > [i] Difficile ¦ [ii] dictū est.

Hoc [i] facile est [ii] intellēctū. │ This is [i] easy [ii] to understand.

Ō rem nōn modo vīsū foedam sed etiam audītū! (Cicero) │ a thing not only shocking to see, but even to hear of

Sī hoc fās est dictū (Cicero) │ If this is lawful to say