Re: OT : Latin phrase.

Ph. D. wrote:

> Harald Stoiber wrote:
> >
> > Andreas Johansson wrote:
> >
> > >Liberate tu-temet ex inferis
> >
> > I found "tutemet" to be an emphasized version of "te".
> > "inferis" is the plural locative/ablative/dative form
> > of "inferus" which means "that which is below, underneath,
> > lower". It can also mean "the dead ones" - probably
> > because they were supposed to populate "that which is
> > below", namely the underworld of ancient mythology.
> > Based on this, I would say the sentence means:
> > "Liberate yourself from the dead!" - with "yourself"
> > emphasized.
>
> I'm not a Latin expert, but I'm confused. Isn't "liberate"
> plural? and "tu-temet" (= "te") singular?  I would expect
> "Libera tu-temet ex inferis" or "Liberate vos (vosmet?)
> ex inferis."
>
The plural form of "liberate" flummoxed me too. (Unless the writer is
applying Spanish rules to Latin....); also I didn't know about tutemet, and
didn't know, but was intrigued to learn, that there was an adj. "inferus".

The relationship between the prepositions and the comparative/superlative
adj. forms is clear in--

inter, intra:  -- interior --- intimus
super, supra -- superior -- supre:mus
extra --- exterior -- extre:mus
infra --- inferior --- infimus
ultra -- ulterior -- ultimus

even though the irreg. (?) superlative forms have undergone some semantic
changes.  Aside from "inferus", are adjectival forms attested for the other
base forms??

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