Supine
A supine is a form in which a verb may appear in some languages. Supines are used as verbal nouns. A Latin supine ends in -um (former supine) or in -u (latter supine). In Latin, it is used much in the same way that English infinitives are used. The sentence "I call forth the Gladiators to fight" in Latin becomes " Gladiatores voco pugnatum" (the use of the infinitve in a construction like "Gladiatores voco pugnare" is reserved for poetry). Certain idiomatic expressions also include the supine, such as mirabile dictu "wonderful to relate". In Slovene, a supine is used after verbs of movement, and is identical to the infinitive except in that it does not include the last letter (-i). See Slovene grammar. In Sanskrit the supine or verbal noun of every verb (often misnamed "infinitive", though it is not such) is formed by adding -tum to the verb stem, such as kartum "doing" from the verb karomi. It is cognate with the Latin supine. The "supine position" in sleep is when the body is laying face up; more generally, "supine" refers to any upward-facing position, such as referring to a hand position as being supinated (palm upwards). (The opposite, palm downwards, would be pronated.) See also: gerund
|
