-met

Forms

-met (enclitic particle)^[2]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[3][2][4] De Vaan tentatively sets up Proto-Italic *-meti, from Proto-Indo-European *-me-ti (“with”): *me (“with”) with an added *-ti as in aut.^[3] Alternatively he thinks of *sme, seen in Sanskrit स्म (sma), स्मा (smā, “just, really”), स्मत् (smát, “together”), Avestan mat̃ (“with”) and Ancient Greek μήν (mḗn) (Doric and Aeolic μάν (mán)), μέν (mén, “certainly, true”).^[3] Dunkel instead takes egomet to go back to *eǵh₂óm and *éti, after which ⟨-met⟩ was reanalysed as a suffix.^[1] The TLL rejects the analysis of ⟨egomet⟩ as ⟨egom⟩ + et “I too”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus on, attached to pronouns such as egomet “I myself”, sēmet “themselves” and ipsemet “he himself”.^[3][2] The Amphitruo has “egomet memet” in a line about beating oneself.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It was added for emphasis to personal and reflexive pronouns, to possessive adjectives (Plautus' “meamet culpa”, “by my own fault”) and to ipse.^[2][5] Poets sometimes added it for the metre, with little emphasis.^[2] The grammarians discussed its prosody;^[4] Servius notes that ⟨tutemet⟩ makes a dactyl.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it with personal pronouns, possessives and ipse.^[2][3][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero writes ipsimet “we ourselves”.^[2][6]
• 59 BC–AD 17 – Livy writes suamet ipsae fraude “by their own deceit”.^[2][6]

Meanings

Particle

1. An enclitic that adds emphasis to personal and reflexive pronouns: egomet “I myself”.^[2][1][5]
2. Added to possessive adjectives: meamet culpa “by my own fault” (Plautus).^[2]
3. Added to ipse: ipsemet “he himself”.^[2]

Word family

• egomet
• nōsmet
• vōsmet
• sēmet
• ipsemet

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de