A common idiom with the verb conferō is its use with a reflexive pronoun; reflexive pronouns are so-called because they indicate that the subject and object of the action are the same e.g. English: I wash myself. The literal meaning of mē confero is ‘I betake myself’ but it is often translated as ‘I go’ with the sense of getting yourself somewhere:
mē
cōnferō: I go
tē
cōnfers: you [sg] go
sē
cōnfert: (s)he goes
nōs cōnferimus: we go
vōs cōnfertis: you
[pl] go
sē cōnferunt: they go
sī spem vīderō,
aut ibīdem opperiar aut mē ad tē cōnferam (Cicero) │ if I see a
ray of hope, I shall either wait here or pay you a visit
[literally: I shall betake myself to you]
Profugiunt statim
ex urbe tribūnī plēbis sēsēque ad Caesarem cōnferunt (Caesar) │
the tribunes of the people immediately make (made) their escape from the city,
and withdraw (withdrew) to Caesar; i.e. the idea of them all going and
gathering themselves together at Caesar’s location is conveyed by the verb
In
gradually acquiring the translations of the compounds of ferō, pause for
thought to consider the underlying meaning of the prefix and why it is
used in the non-literal sense.
[1] dis-: apart; the prefix does not function as a separate preposition and frequently changes its final consonant when compounded with verbs:
dīmittō,
-ere [3]: dismiss
diffīdō, -ere
[3/dep]: distrust
discēdō,
-ere [3]: depart
discutiō,
-ere [3-iō] disperse; (Mediaeval) discuss
Image #1 shows that, when used in a compound with ferō, there is again both a clear physical action and one that is figurative:
differō: [i] scatter different ways; spread; disperse;
[ii] be different; vary
[i] Ventus nūbila differt.
│ The wind scatters the clouds.
[ii] Hī omnēs
linguā, īnstitūtīs, ... inter sē differunt. (Caesar) │ All these differ
from each other in language, customs ....
[2] Image #2:
Similarly, consider the underlying meaning of the prefix re-
(back; backwards; again)
referō: [1] carry back; [2] make
known; report i.e. bring information back to somebody
[i] Referte ānulum
ad mē. │ Bring the ring back to me [= return]
[ii]
Nūntium bonum dē victōriā nostrā referō. │ I report [ = bring back] good news about our victory.
Iam pedem referēbant
Rōmānī. │ The Romans were now retreating. [literally: carrying back the
foot]
Like
cōnferō, referō can also be used with a reflexive pronoun to mean
‘return’:
mē referō: I go back
tē
refers: you [sg] go back
sē
refert: (s)he goes back
nōs referimus: we go back
vōs refertis: you [pl] go back
sē referunt: they go back
Pompēius in
castra sē refert. │ Pompey returns [= brings himself
back] to the camp.
[3] dē-: down / away (from)
dēferō: [i] bring / carry something away (down) from a place [ii] deliver / bear news; give an account of
[i] sed ex iīs onerāriae duae eōsdem portūs quōs reliquae capere nōn potuērunt et paulō īnfrā dēlātae sunt (Caesar) │ excpt two of the ships of burden which could not make the same port which the other ships did, and were carried (away) a little lower down.
[ii] celerīs dēfer mea dicta per aurās (Virgil) │ deliver my orders through the swift winds
