Re: [tied] The Middle Voice.

It is worth observing that Latin is sometimes described as showing a form of
the middle.

It is surprisingly common for the past particple (which for most verbs is
passive in meaning) to take an illogical accusative object. Traditionally
this is described either as:
(a) "accusative of respect" a term made up for this construction.
(b) imitation of the Greek middle voice.

The idea that it is imitation of the Greek does not explain its restriction
to the past participle, nor its regular ocurrence through the literature -
at least in poetry and prose writers such as Tacitus.

There are a few cases with finite verbs which are passives of reflexive
meaning, for example ferrum cingitur = he girds on a sword.

An alternative explanation is that Latin has here retained something from
the PIE situation, where the -tos verbal adjectives were not clearly marked
as passive, and were flexible in use. So the construction may not be Greek
or middle!

peter