[1211.] The dative of the personal pronoun is often used with expressions of emotion, interest, surprise, or derision: as,
quid mihi Celsus agit? H. E. 1, 3, 15, how fares me Celsus? Tongilium mihī̆ ēdūxit, C. 2, 4, he took out Tongilius, bless my soul. at tibī̆ repente, cum minimē exspectārem, vēnit ad mē Canīnius māne, Fam. 9, 2, 1, but bless you, sir, when I least dreamt of it, who should drop in on me all at once but Caninius, bright and early.
[The Dative of the Possessor.]
[1212.] The dative is used with forms of sum to denote the possessor: as,
est hominī cum deō similitūdō, Leg. 1, 25, man has a resemblance to god. an nescīs longās rēgibus esse manūs? O. E. 16, 166, dost possibly not know kings have long arms? suos quoique mōs, T. Ph. 454, to every man his own pet way. So also with the compounds absum, dēsum, supersum: as, hoc ūnum Caesarī dēfuit, 4, 26, 5, this was all Caesar lacked.
[1213.] (1.) With mihī̆ est nōmen, the name is put either in the dative or in the nominative: as,
mihī̆ nomen est Iūliō, or mihī̆ nōmen est Iūlius, Gell. 15, 29, 1, my name is Julius. In old Latin and in Sallust, the dative: as, nōmen Mercuriōst mihī, Pl. Am. prol. 19, my name is Mercury; later the nominative: as, canibus pigrīs nōmen erit Pardus, Tigris, Leo, J. 8, 34, the craven cur shall sport the name of ‘Lion, Tiger, Pard.’ Cicero uses the nominative or rarely the dative, Livy oftener the dative than the nominative. Tacitus puts adjectives in the dative, substantives in the nominative, rarely in the genitive. Caesar does not use the construction.
[1214.] (2.) With the actives nōmen dō, indō, pōnō, tribuō, &c., the name may be in the dative or in the accusative; with the passive of these expressions, the name may be in the dative or in the nominative: as,
quī tibi nōmen īnsānō posuēre, H. S. 2, 3, 47, who’ve put on thee the nickname Crank. quī fīliīs Philippum atque Alexandrum nōmina inposuerat, L. 35, 47, 5, who had given his sons the names Philip and Alexander. A genitive dependent on nōmen is used once by Tacitus and in very late Latin.
[1215.] With a gerundive, the dative of the possessor denotes the person who has the action to do: see [2243]. For the ablative with ab, or for habeō, see [2243], [2245].