Expertlatin
Why are they called supine? The name supine (from Latin supinus) means lying on the back. It is called supine because the supine does not change its form according to the person performing the action, it is, in that sense, inactive, lying down on the ground (Kuhner–Stegmann, 655).
What does supine mean in linguistics?
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 form of a verb.
What is the root of supine?
Word History: English picked up supine via French from Latin supinus "turned or bent backwards; indolent, lazy". This word apparently came from the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) root of super "over, up" and sub "under, below" + -inus, a noun and adjective suffix.
What is the suffix of supine?
The supine is a verbal noun. In ordinary verbs it is formed by adding -tum to the present stem, with the modification of e to i in the second conjugation (mone- > moni-) When a supine is translated to English, the suffix -tum turns into -tion.
