C.W. Shelmerdine
Introduction to Greek
2nd edition
(Newburyport, MA: Focus, 2008)
Chapter 7
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
1st and 2nd declension adjectives
Attributive adjectives
Predicate adjectives and nouns
Enclitics
The present indicative and infinitive of
εἰμί, ‘be’
6. Dative of possession
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
1st and 2nd declension adjectives
Attributive adjectives
Predicate adjectives and nouns
Enclitics
The present indicative and infinitive of
εἰμί, ‘be’
6. Dative of possession
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
1. 1st and 2nd declension adjectives
•
•
This chapter introduces adjectives.
Like the definite article, adjectives always agree
with nouns in gender, number, and case.
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
1. 1st and 2nd declension adjectives
Adjectives use the same endings as nouns of the 1st
and 2nd declension, differentiated by gender:
–
–
–
When modifying a masculine noun, the adjective uses
2nd declension masculine endings (like λόγος)
When modifying a feminine noun, the adjective uses
1st declension endings (like τιμή)
When modifying a neuter noun, the adjective uses 2nd
declension neuter endings (like δῶρον)
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
1. 1st and 2nd declension adjectives
When modifying a masculine noun, the adjective
uses 2nd declension masculine endings (like
λόγος). Hence σοφός -ή -όν “wise”
singular
σοφός
σοφοῦ
σοφῷ
σοφόν
σοφέ
plural
σοφοί
σοφῶν
σοφοῖς
σοφούς
Voc. = nom.
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
1. 1st and 2nd declension adjectives
When modifying a feminine noun, the adjective uses
1st declension endings (like τιμή). Hence
σοφός -ή -όν “wise”
singular
Nom. σοφή
Gen. σοφῆς
Dat. σοφῇ
Acc. σοφήν
Voc. = Nom.
plural
Nom. σοφαί
Gen. σοφῶν
Dat. σοφαῖς
Acc. σοφάς
Voc. = Nom.
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
1. 1st and 2nd declension adjectives
But, as with first declension nouns, if the stem of the
adjective ends in ε, ι, or ρ, then a long α replaces the η in
the singular (like χώρα). Hence φίλιος -α -ον
“friendly,” when it modifies a feminine singular noun:
singular
Nom. φιλία
Gen. φιλίας
Dat. φιλίᾳ
Acc. φιλίαν
Voc. = Nom.
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
1. 1st and 2nd declension adjectives
When modifying a neuter noun, the adjective uses
2nd declension neuter endings (like δῶρον).
Hence σοφός -ή -όν “wise”
singular
σοφόν
σοφοῦ
σοφῷ
σοφόν
Voc. = nom.
plural
σοφά
σοφῶν
σοφοῖς
σοφά
Voc. = nom.
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
1. 1st and 2nd declension adjectives
•
•
•
Adjectives follow the same rules for accents as nouns.
Accents are persistent and may begin on the antepenult,
penult or ultima.
As with nouns, the nominative plural endings –αι and –οι
are considered short for purposes of accent, even though
they are diphthongs.
Note that, while in the 1st declension the genitive plural
ending had a fixed circumflex accent (-ῶν), for adjectives,
even when using 1st declension endings to modify
feminine nouns, the accent remains persistent.
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
Looking up a Greek adjective
•
In a vocabulary, glossary, lexicon, or dictionary,
a Greek adjective is listed by its (1) masculine
nominative singular, (2) feminine nominative
singular ending, and (3) neuter nominative
singular ending.
–
–
σοφός -ή -όν “wise”
φίλιος -α -ον “friendly”
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
1st and 2nd declension adjectives
Attributive adjectives
Predicate adjectives and nouns
Enclitics
The present indicative and infinitive of
εἰμί, ‘be’
6. Dative of possession
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
2. Attributive adjectives
•
•
The position of a Greek adjective is significant.
There are two basic positions:
–
–
Attributive
Predicate
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
2. Attributive adjectives
•
There are two basic positions:
–
Attributive
• immediately following the definite article
– ὁ
•
immediately preceding the noun
λόγος
• or both
– ὁ
λόγος
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
2. Attributive adjectives
•
In the attributive position, translate an adjective
as an attribute:
• ὁ σοφὸς λόγος
– “the wise word”
• ὁ λόγος ὁ σοφός
– “the wise word”
• σοφὸς λόγος
– “a wise word”
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
1st and 2nd declension adjectives
Attributive adjectives
Predicate adjectives and nouns
Enclitics
The present indicative and infinitive of
εἰμί, ‘be’
6. Dative of possession
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
3. Predicate adjectives and nouns
•
There are two basic positions:
– Predicate
•
anywhere else
– ὁ λόγος
anywhere else
in the sentence
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
3. Predicate adjectives and nouns
•
In the predicate position, translate an adjective
as a predicate (usually supplying the verb “is”):
• σοφὸς ὁ λόγος
• ὁ λόγος σοφός
– “the word is wise”
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
3. Predicate adjectives and nouns
•
When two nouns are in the same case, translate
the noun in the predicate position as a predicate
(usually supplying the verb “is”):
• ὁ στρατιώτης ποιητής
• ποιητής ὁ στρατιώτης
– “the soldier is a poet”
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
2. Attributive and predicate position
•
Thus when two nouns appear in the same case,
the one with the definite article is the subject and
the other the predicate, regardless of the order of
the nouns:
• ὁ στρατιώτης ποιητής
• ποιητὴς ὁ στρατιώτης
– “the soldier is a poet”
• στρατιώτης ὁ ποιητής
• ὁ ποιητὴς στρατιώτης
– “the poet is a soldier”
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
1st and 2nd declension adjectives
Attributive adjectives
Predicate adjectives and nouns
Enclitics
The present indicative and infinitive of
εἰμί, ‘be’
6. Dative of possession
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
4. Enclitics
•
•
A word is enclitic if it “leans on” (ἐνκλίνω) the
preceding word for its accent, rather than
bearing its own accent.
Only a handful of Greek words are enclitic.
–
•
In Moodle is a pdf listing all the enclitics in Greek.
All enclitics have either just one or two
syllables.
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
4. Enclitics
•
How an enclitic “leans on” the preceding word
for its accent depends on (1) the accent on the
preceding word and (2) whether the enclitic has
one or two syllables.
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
4. Enclitics
•
A word with an acute on the antepenult or
circumflex on the penult adds an extra acute on
its ultima:
–
–
πόλεμός ἐστι
δῶρόν ἐστι
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
4. Enclitics
•
A word with an acute on the penult forces a twosyllable enclitic to bear an accent on its ultima:
–
λόγος ἐστί
•
–
λόγος τινῶν
•
–
two-syllable enclitic with acute accent
two-syllable enclitic with circumflex accent
λόγος τις
•
one-syllable enclitic still has no accent
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
4. Enclitics
•
If the preceding word has an accent on the
ultima, the enclitic simply bears no accent:
–
σοφόν ἐστι
•
–
Notice the acute accent (/) does not become a grave (\) when
followed by an enclitic!
σοφῶν ἐστι
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
4. Enclitics
•
If several enclitics appear in a row, all but the
last bear an accent:
–
ποταμός τίς ἐστί σοι.
enclitics
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
4. Enclitics
•
If several enclitics appear in a row, all but the
last bear an accent:
–
ποταμός τίς ἐστί σοι.
τις leans on ποταμός for its accent
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
3. Enclitics
•
If several enclitics appear in a row, all but the
last bear an accent:
–
ποταμός τίς ἐστί σοι.
ἐστι throws its accent on τις
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
3. Enclitics
•
If several enclitics appear in a row, all but the
last bear an accent:
–
ποταμός τίς ἐστί σοι.
σοι throws its accent on ἐστι
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
Looking up an enclitic
•
In a vocabulary, glossary, lexicon, or dictionary,
an enclitic will appear with the accent it uses,
but most of the time, the word will not use this
accent:
–
–
εἰμί “I am” (in vocabulary)
φίλιός εἰμι. “I am friendly.” (in a sentence)
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
Proclitics
•
Ten words in Greek are proclitics. These words
do not bear any accent of their own, using
instead the word following them for their accent.
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
Proclitics
•
1-4: The masculine and feminine nominative
forms of the definite article are proclitic:
–
•
ὁ, ἡ, οἱ, αἱ
5-7: Three prepositions are proclitic:
–
ἐν, ἐκ/ἐξ, εἰς
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
Proclitics
•
•
•
8: The conjunction εἰ “if” is proclitic.
9: The adverb οὐ/οὐκ/οὐχ “not” is proclitic.
10: The adverb and conjunction ὡς “as, so that”
is proclitic.
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
Proclitics
•
Proclitics bear an accent (acute) only when
followed by an enclitic:
–
οὔ τε
•
•
“and not” (τε is enclitic)
Often such combinations are written as one
word:
–
οὔτε
•
“and not”
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
Looking up a proclitic
•
In a vocabulary, glossary, lexicon, or dictionary,
a proclitic will appear with no accent.:
–
ὁ, ἡ, τό “the”
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
1st and 2nd declension adjectives
Attributive adjectives
Predicate adjectives and nouns
Enclitics
The present indicative and infinitive of
εἰμί, ‘be’
6. Dative of possession
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
singular
• εἰμί “I am”
• εἶ “you are”
• ἐστί(ν) “(s)he, it is”
plural
• ἐσμέν “we are”
• ἐστέ “you/y’all are”
• εἰσί(ν) “they are”
present tense indicative active
Except for the 2nd person singular,
all forms are enclitic.
present infinitive active
εἶναι
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
singular
• ἐσ-μι εἰμι “I am”
• ἐσ-ς  εἶ “you are”
• ἐσ-τι “(s)he, it is”
plural
• ἐσ-μεν “we are”
• ἐσ-τε “you/y’all are”
• ἐσ-σι  εἰσι “they are”
present tense indicative active
The verb has the stem ἐσ-.
The unusual forms mostly result from reducing the -σ- sound.
-μι and -σι are personal endings you will see again.
-τι is the original 3rd person singular ending
(contracted in virtually all other verbs).
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
ἐσ-ναι  εἰναι
present tense infinitive active
The verb has the stem ἐσ-.
-ναι is an infinitive ending you will see again.
The form results from reducing the -σ- sound.
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
5. The present indicative and infinitive of
εἰμί, ‘be’
•
The very common verb ἐστί is enclitic, thus
usually not bearing an accent, and very often is
even omitted from a sentence:
–
–
ἡ δικαιοσύνη χαλεπή ἐστιν.
ἡ δικαιοσύνη χαλεπή.
•
Justice is difficult.
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
5. The present indicative and infinitive of
εἰμί, ‘be’
•
When it means “there is,” however, it bears an
accent on its penult:
–
οὐκ ἔστι δικαιοσύνη.
•
There is no justice!
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
5. The present indicative and infinitive of
εἰμί, ‘be’
•
In its enclitic form, ἐστί cannot begin a
sentence:
–
ἡ δικαιοσύνη χαλεπή ἐστιν.
•
•
Justice is difficult.
In its emphatic form, it usually begins a
sentence:
–
ἔστι δικαιοσύνη.
•
–
There is justice!
οὐκ ἔστι δικαιοσύνη.
•
There is not justice!
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
1st and 2nd declension adjectives
Attributive adjectives
Predicate adjectives and nouns
Enclitics
The present indicative and infinitive of
εἰμί, ‘be’
6. Dative of possession
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Shelmerdine Chapter 7
6. Dative of possession
•
Nouns in the dative case with ἐστί or εἰσί can
indicate possession:
–
τῷ στρατιώτῃ ἡ νίκη ἐστίν.
•
•
–
Victory is for (belongs to) the soldier.
The soldier has the victory.
τῷ στρατιώτῃ ἵπποι εἰσίν.
•
•
Horses are for (belong to) the soldier.
The soldier has horses.