Vergere and uertere in the sense of ‘to pour’

Abstract

The paper analyses the uses of (in)uergere and (in)uertere in reference to pouring liquids. It argues, contra Gaertner 2007, that the verbs are not analogous: while uertere is normally used of vessels and means ‘to empty (by turning upsidedown)’, uergere is primarily applied to liquids and means ‘to pour down’. Two Ovidian contexts (Met. 4.506 and Pont. 1.9.52), in which uertit is used of liquids, thus appear anomalous; arguably uersit should be restored in both contexts, even though the perfect of uergere is only attested by late-antique grammarians but not in literary texts.