11.11.25: Level 3 (review); ipse, ipsa, ipsum

English uses ‘-self / -selves’ in two different ways:

[1] As discussed in the previous posts, it conveys the third person reflexive pronoun i.e. ‘himself, herself, itself, and themselves’

Sē ex nāvī prōiēcit (Caesar) │ He threw himself from the ship

Puella in flumine sē lavat │ The girl is washing herself in the river

Per sē labor perfecit │ He completed the task by his own effort (ie by means of himself)

Dūxit sēcum virginem. │ He took the young girl with him(self)

Cōpiam frūctuum sibi cōnficiunt atque in hiemem servant │ They collect a supply of fruit for themselves and keep it for the winter

Sēsē castrīs tenēbant (Caesar) │ They kept themselves in the camp

[2] It has an emphatic use conveying the same idea as English ‘myself’, ‘yourself’, ‘himself’ etc. in combination with a noun or personal pronoun e.g. I myself can do it, the lady said it herself.

To express this idea, Latin does not use the reflexive pronoun, but the emphatic pronoun: ipse, ipsa, ipsum:

Agricola ipse frūctum numquam adspiciet │ The farmer himself will never see the fruit

Ancilla ipsa amphoram portāvit. │ The maidservant herself carried the jar

Prīmum amīcum plūs quam mē ipsum dīligō (Gesta Rōmānōrum) │I love the first friend more than me myself

16.07.25: Level 3; review: ipse, ipsa, ipsum

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2025/04/160725-level-3-review-ipse-ipsa-ipsum.html

[i] The pronoun declines in the same way as the nine pronominal adjectives discussed here:

19.07.25: Level 3; pronominal adjectives; introduction; the naughty nine …

https://adckl.blogspot.com/2025/04/190725-level-3-pronominal-adjectives.html

i.e. it has the same changes as those adjectives in the genitive singular (-īus) and dative singular (-ī)

[ii] It can translate either as “-self / -selves” or as “the very …”

Cicerō mē ipsum laudāvit. │ Cicero praised me myself.

Fidēlissimī servī senem ad templum ipsum portāvērunt. │ The most faithful servants carried the old man to the temple itself /  the very temple.

[iii] in the 3^rd person it can stand alone:

ipse cum gaudiō uxōrem senis mīlitis occīsī in mātrimōnium dūxit (gesta Rōmānōrum) │ and with joy he himself married the wife of the old soldier who had been killed

idque reī pūblicae praeclārum, ipsīs glōriōsum │ and this was splendid for the state, glorious for themselves

Dī capitī ipsīus generīque reservent │ May the gods hold in reserve [such a fate] to fall on his own head [ = the head of himself] and his son-in-law's

Examples from earlier posts:

Et omnēs hominēs cupidī erant rēgem Britannōrum ipsum spectandī.  │ All the people were eager to look at the king of the Britons himself.

Ante oculōs prīncipis ipsīus collocātus "Rēx sum" inquit … │ Placed before the eyes of the Emperor himself he said “I am a king”

Tum prīnceps … veniam lībertātemque Caractacō ipsī … dedit. │ The Emperor then gave mercy and freedom to Caractacus himself.

Magna multitūdō captīvōrum Britannicōrum ūnā cum Caractacō ipsō et uxōre frātribusque eius in catēnīs aderant. │ A great number of British prisoners together with Caractacus himself and his wife and brothers were present in chains.

Vōs ipsī iūdicāte: decet mulierem nōn vēlātam ōrāre Deum? (Vulgate) │ You yourselves judge: is it proper for a woman without a veil to pray to God?

Lēgātōs cīvium Rōmānōrum ipsōrum servāvistis. │ You have saved the ambassadors of the Roman citizens themselves.