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passantīti
passati
3rd person plural present indicative + quotative particle iti
- passati (pr): sees
- passati (pr): understands; gets; lit. sees
- passati (pr): finds; encounters; meets with; lit. sees
- passati (pr): looks at; observes; examines; inspects; lit. sees
- passanta (prp): seeing
- passanta (prp): finding
- passanta (prp): understanding; (intellectually) getting; grasping
Built from
- pass — root · see, behold
Descended from Indo-European *spek-. The concrete sense 'to direct the eyes toward' underlies all meanings: seeing, understanding, and finding all involve directing attention.
- a — stem · thematic vowel
Thematic present stem marker, making passati a type of primary verb. Regularly appears before personal endings.
- ntī — ending · 3rd plural present participle
The suffix -nt- forms the present participle; -ī is the nominative plural feminine ending. Here it agrees with an implicit subject or functions as a gerund in the context of quoted or reported speech.
- iti — prefix · thus, quotation marker
An enclitic particle marking the end of direct speech or the boundary of a quoted clause; literally 'thus'. It has no morphological prefix sense but grammatically demarcates discourse boundaries.
Analysis. passantī (3rd person plural present participle, feminine agreement with an implicit subject or used as gerund) + iti (quotative particle 'thus, saying that'). The participle form marks ongoing action; iti marks the boundary of direct or indirect discourse.
Etymology. passati from √dṛś (see, look, behold), related to Sanskrit paśyati and Latin spectō (behold, watch). The root is Indo-European *spek- (look, observe); cognates include English spy, German spähen. The prefix is not present here; the verb itself is the ancient causative or iterative *-sk- formation from the root.