Many verbs apparently intransitive, expressing
feeling
, take an accusative, and may be used in the passive:—
-
meum
cāsum lūctumque
doluērunt
(Sest. 145)
,
they grieved at my calamity and sorrow.
-
sī
nōn
Acrisium
rīsissent Iuppiter et Venus
(Hor. Od. 3.16.5)
,
if Jupiter and Venus had not laughed at Acrisius.
-
rīdētur
ab omnī conventū
;
(
Hor. S. 1.7.22
),
he is laughed at by the whole assembly.
For the Cognate Accusative with
verbs of taste
,
smell
, and the like, see §
390
.
a.
Some verbs commonly intransitive may be used transitively (especially in poetry) from a similarity of meaning with other verbs that take the accusative:—
-
gemēns
īgnōminiam
(Georg. 3.226)
,
groaning at the disgrace.
[Cf.
doleō
.]
-
festīnāre
fugam
(Aen. 4.575)
,
to hasten their flight.
[Cf.
accelerō
.]
-
cōmptōs
ārsit
crīnīs
(Hor. Od. 4.9.13)
,
she burned with love for his well-combed locks.
[Cf.
adamō
.]
Verbs of motion, compounds of
circum
,
trāns
, and
praeter
, and a few others, frequently become transitive, and take the accusative (cf. §
370
.
b
):—
-
mortem
obīre
,
to die
(to meet death).
-
cōnsulātum
ineunt
(Liv. 2.28)
,
they enter upon the consulship.
-
nēminem
convēnī
;
(
Fam. 9.14
),
I met no one.
-
sī īnsulam
adīsset
(B. G. 4.20)
,
if he should go to the island.
-
trānsīre
flūmen
(
id
. 2.23),
to cross the river
(cf. §
395
).
-
cīvēs quī circumstant
senātum
(Cat. 1.21)
,
the citizens who stand about the senate.
Among such verbs are some compounds of
ad
,
in
,
per
, and
sub
.
The accusative is used after the impersonals
decet
,
dēdecet
,
dēlectat
,
iuvat
,
oportet
,
fallit
,
fugit
,
praeterit
:—
-
ita ut
vōs
decet
(Plaut. Most. 729),
so as befits you.
-
mē
pedibus dēlectat claudere verba
(Hor. S. 2.1.28)
,
my delight is
(it pleases me)
to arrange words in measure.
-
nisi mē
fallit
,
unless I am mistaken
(unless it deceives me).
-
iūvit
mē
tibi tuās litterās prōfuisse
(Fam. 5.21.3)
,
it pleased me that your literary studies had profited you.
-
tē
nōn praeterit
(Fam. 1.8.2)
,
it does not escape your notice.
So
after later
in poetry and post-classical prose: as,
latet plērōsque
(Plin. N. H. 2.82),
it is unknown to most persons.
These verbs are merely ordinary transitives with an idiomatic signification. Hence most of them are also used personally.
Decet
and
latet
sometimes take the dative:—
-
ita
nōbīs
decet
(Ter. Ad. 928)
,
thus it befits us.
-
hostī
que Rōma latet
(Sil. It. 12.614),
and Rome lies hidden from the foe.
A few verbs in isolated expressions take the accusative from a forcing of their meaning. Such expressions are:—
-
ferīre foedus
,
to strike a treaty
(i.e. to sanction by striking down a victim).
-
vincere
iūdicium
(
spōnsiōnem
,
rem
,
hōc
),
to prevail on a trial, etc.
[As if the case were a difficulty to overcome; cf.
vincere iter
,
Aen. 6.688
.]
-
aequor
nāvigāre
(Aen. 1.67)
,
to sail the sea.
[As if it were
trānsīre
, §
388
.
b.
]
-
maria
aspera iūrō
;
(
id
. 6.351),
I swear by the rough seas
(cf.
id
. 6.324). [The accusative with
verbs of swearing
is chiefly poetic.]
-
noctīs
dormīre
,
to sleep
[whole]
nights
(to spend in sleep).
These accusatives are of various kinds. The last example approaches the cognate construction (cf. the second example under §
390
).
In early and popular usage some nouns and adjectives derived from transitive verbs retain verbal force sufficient to govern the accusative:—
-
quid tibi
istanc
tāctiō est
(Plaut. Poen. 1308),
what business have you to touch her?
[Cf.
tangō
.]
-
mīrābundī
bēstiam
(Ap. Met. 4.16)
,
full of wonder at the creature.
[Cf.
mīror
.]
-
vītābundus
castra
(Liv. 25.13)
,
trying to avoid the camp.
[Cf.
vītō
.]
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