View source for Supine

{{short description|Form of verbal noun used in some languages}}
{{Other uses}}
{{refimprove|date=April 2021}}
{{Wiktionary|supine}}

In [[grammar]], a '''supine''' is a form of [[verbal noun]] used in some languages. The term is most often used for [[Latin]], where it is one of the four [[principal parts]] of a [[verb]]. The word refers to a position of lying on one's back (as opposed to '[[prone]]', lying face downward), but there exists no widely accepted [[etymology]] that explains why or how the term came to be used to also describe this [[Grammatical conjugation|form of a verb]].

==Latin==
{{see also|Latin conjugation#Supine|Latin syntax#The supine}}

There are two supines, I (first) and II (second). They are originally the [[Accusative case|accusative]]<ref name=FortSup>Fortson, §5.59.</ref> and [[Dative case|dative]] or [[Ablative case|ablative]] forms of a [[verbal noun]] in the [[Latin declension#Fourth declension|fourth declension]], respectively. 

===First supine===
The first supine ends in ''-um''{{efn|From the accusative form of the verbal noun -u<ref name=FortSup/>}}. It has two uses.  

The first use is with verbs of motion. In many cases, it indicates purpose:

* 'Mater pompam me ''spectatum'' duxit'  is 'Mother took me ''to watch'' the procession'.
* 'Legati ad Caesarem ''gratulatum'' convenerunt' is 'The ambassadors came to Caesar ''to congratulate'' him'. 

The translation of this first usage of the first supine is similar to, if not identical to, the Latin [[Final clause|clause of purpose]]. 

A second usage is in combination with the [[Future tense|future]] [[Passive voice|passive]] [[infinitive]]. In this second usage it indicates fate; for example "''occisum iri''"{{efn|''occīd-'' + ''-tum'' gives ''occīsum''}} means 'to be going to be killed'. It mostly appears in indirect statements:

* ' ''Occisum iri'' a Milone video' is 'I foresee that he is ''going to be killed'' by Milo'.

===Second supine===
The second supine, which comes with adjectives, is rarely used; only a few verbs have been seen to commonly adopt the form. It is derived from the [[Dative case|dative of purpose]], which expresses the purpose of a thing or action, or the [[Ablative (Latin)|ablative of respect]], which can translate as "with regard/respect to" and is used to indicate to what extent or in what way the main clause is true. It is the same as the first supine but replacing final ''-um'' by ''-ū'', with a lengthened ''u''. ''Mirabile dictū'', for example, translates as "amazing to say", where ''dictū'' is the supine form. The sense is generally passive, even if usually not explicitly marked as such in idiomatic English translation; for example, ''difficile creditū'', "hard to believe", is more literally "hard to be believed", or "hardly believable".

==Sanskrit==
{{See also|Vedic Sanskrit grammar#Accusative infinitive|Sanskrit verbs#Infinitive}}

Sanskrit has a formation, from the accusative form of an old verbal noun, ''-tu''.<ref name=FortSup/> The ending ''-tum'', much like in Latin,<ref>Burrow, §7.17.</ref> is added to the root.<ref>Whitney, §968</ref> 

* √dā ⇒ dā́·tum − (to give)
* √bhū- ⇒ bháv·i·tum − (to be)
* √kṛ- ⇒ kár·tum − (to do)
* √gam- ⇒ gán·tum − (to go)

==Germanic languages==
In [[English grammar]], the term "supine" is sometimes used to refer to the [[to-infinitive|''to''-infinitive]]. The ''to''-infinitive is seen in sentences like "'''To err''' is human; '''to forgive''' divine."

In [[Swedish grammar#Supine form|Swedish grammar]], the supine is used with an [[auxiliary verb]] to produce some compound verb forms that closely resemble [[perfect (grammar)|perfect]] forms.
Inspired by the tradition in Swedish grammar, some linguists identify a similar form in the [[Danish (language)|Danish language]].<ref>{{Cite Q | Q61715426 | page = 205 }}</ref>

In [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]] grammar, ''sagnbót'' (usually translated as "supine") is a verbal form identical to the neuter participle, used to form certain verb tenses.

==Finnic languages==
In [[Estonian language|Estonian]], the supine is called "ma-tegevusnimi" (lit. "ma-infinitive") because all the words in supine have "ma" in the end (as in "tegema", "jooksma", "kõndima"), and they act similarly to the Latin example. The supine is also the common [[dictionary form]] for verbs. The [[Finnish grammar # Verb forms|Finnish]] equivalent of the Estonian supine in "-ma" is called "kolmannen infinitiivin illatiivi" (lit. "the illative of the third infinitive"), which is "-maan" or "-mään" according to vowel harmony (as in "tekemään", "juoksemaan", "kävelemään"), these, too, act similarly to the Latin as they are complements of verbs of motion.

==Romance languages==
In [[Romanian language|Romanian]], the supine generally corresponds to an English construction like ''for'' [gerund]: "Această carte este '''de citit'''" means "This book is '''for reading'''". Additionally, the supine in Romanian can be used to express English constructions such as “I have things '''to''' '''do''',” which would be translated as “Am lucruri '''de''' '''făcut'''.”

==Slavic languages==
The [[Slovene language|Slovene]] and the [[Lower Sorbian language|Lower Sorbian]] supine is used after verbs of movement; ''see'' [[Slovenian verbs#Supine and Infinitive (Namenilnik in nedoločnik)|Slovenian verbs]]. The supine was used in [[Proto-Slavic language|Proto-Slavic]] but it was replaced in most [[Slavic languages]] by the [[infinitive]] in later periods.
[[Old Czech]] use supine until the 14 century.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rejzek|first1=Jiří|title=Zrození češtiny|date=2021 |publisher=NLN|location=Prague|page=137}}</ref>

==Baltic languages==
In some dialects of [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]], the supine is used with verbs of motion to indicate purpose: ''Moterys eina miestan duonos '''pirktų''''', which means "The women are going to the town to buy some bread". The standard language uses the infinitive, '''pirkti''', instead of the supine. In Old Lithuanian, the supine was a much more widespread form than in Modern Lithuanian.

==See also==
*[[Gerund]]
*[[Non-finite verb]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|20em}}

==Bibliography==
* ''Sanskrit Grammar'' - William Dwight Whitney - {{ISBN|978-81-208-0621-4}}
* ''Indo-European Language and Culture'' - Fortson IV, Benjamin W - 2nd Ed - Wiley-Blackwell (2010) - {{ISBN|978-1-4051-8896-8}}
* ''The Sanskrit Language'' - Burrow, T - {{ISBN|81-208-1767-2}}

{{lexical categories|state=collapsed}}
[[Category:Grammar]]
[[Category:Verbs]]