C.W. Shelmerdine
Introduction to Greek
2nd edition
(Newburyport, MA: Focus, 2008)
Chapter 5
Shelmerdine Chapter 5
1. Masculine and feminine nouns of the
2nd declension
2. The aorist active indicative of thematic
verbs (3rd principal part)
3. Aspect in the indicative
4. Word order
5. The possessive genitive
Shelmerdine Chapter 5
1. Masculine and feminine nouns of the 2nd
declension
•
This chapter introduces nouns of the 2nd declension.
These nouns use endings similar to that of the masculine
definite article. Hence λόγος “word”
singular
ὁ λόγος
τοῦ λόγου
τῷ λόγῳ
τὸν λόγον
λόγε
plural
οἱ λόγοι
τῶν λόγων
τοῖς λόγοις
τοὺς λόγους
Voc. = nom.
Shelmerdine Chapter 5
1. Masculine and feminine nouns of the 2nd
declension
•
Feminine nouns of the 2nd declension use exactly the
same endings as masculine nouns. Hence νῆσος
“island”
singular
ἡ νῆσος
τῆς νήσου
τῇ νήσῳ
τὴν νῆσον
νῆσε
plural
αἱ νῆσοι
τῶν νήσων
ταῖς νήσοις
τὰς νήσους
Voc. = nom.
Shelmerdine Chapter 5
1. Masculine and feminine nouns of the 2nd
declension
•
•
Nouns of the 2nd declension follow the same rules for
accent as nouns of the 1st declension. Accents are
persistent and may begin on the antepenult, penult or
ultima.
Like the nominative plural ending –αι in the 1st
declension, the nominative plural ending –οι in the 2nd
declension is considered short for purposes of accent,
even though it is a diphthong.
Shelmerdine Chapter 5
Looking up a Greek noun
•
Recall that in a vocabulary, glossary, lexicon, or
dictionary, a Greek noun is listed by its (1)
nominative singular, (2) genitive singular
ending, and (3) the nominative singular
article.
–
–
–
–
–
τιμή, -ῆς, ἡ “honor”
χώρα, -ας, ἡ “country”
κριτής, -οῦ, ὁ “judge”
λόγος, -ου, ὁ “word”
νῆσος, -ου, ἡ “island”
Shelmerdine Chapter 5
Looking up a Greek noun
• Learn and observe both case forms
closely, to determine the declension and
pattern of endings:
–
–
–
–
–
τιμή, -ῆς, ἡ “honor” 1st declension
χώρα, -ας, ἡ “country” 1st declension
κριτής, -οῦ, ὁ “judge” 1st declension
λόγος, -ου, ὁ “word” 2nd declension
νῆσος, -ου, ἡ “island” 2nd declension
Shelmerdine Chapter 5
1. Masculine and feminine nouns of the 2nd
declension
2. The aorist active indicative of thematic
verbs (3rd principal part)
3. Aspect in the indicative
4. Word order
5. The possessive genitive
Shelmerdine Chapter 5
parse/parsing
• 1st, 2nd or 3RD PERSON
• SINGULAR or PLURAL
• PRESENT, IMPERFECT, AORIST, or
FUTURE
• INDICATIVE
• ACTIVE
Shelmerdine Chapter 5
2. The aorist active indicative of thematic
verbs (3rd principal part)
•
•
The aorist tense refers to a single past action.
Think of it as action in the past that you see as a
snapshot in your head.
Recall that the imperfect tense refers to ongoing
or repeated past action. Think of it as action in
the past that you see as a moving video in your
head.
Shelmerdine Chapter 5
Imperfect
Aorist
• I was going
• It was happening
• They were running
• I went
• It happened
• They ran
Shelmerdine Chapter 5
2. The aorist active indicative of thematic
verbs (3rd principal part)
•
The present, imperfect, and aorist tenses
together make up about 90% of the verb forms
in most ancient Greek texts.
Shelmerdine Chapter 5
2. The aorist active indicative of thematic
verbs (3rd principal part)
•
Greek has two types of aorist
–
–
•
•
(1) “weak” (also called “1st”)
(2) “strong” (also called “2nd”)
Normally a verb has only one type and there is
no difference between the two types.
In this chapter, we learn only the weak (1st)
aorist.
Shelmerdine Chapter 5
2. The aorist active indicative of thematic
verbs (3rd principal part)
•
Like the imperfect (and like any secondary tense
in the indicative mood) the aorist adds an
augment to the beginning of the stem.
–
•
•
This augment appears as an ἐ- attached to the
beginning of the stem
Like the future, the weak (1st) aorist adds a σ to
the end of the stem.
aorist stem: ἐλυσ–
present: λυ-, future: λυσ-, imperfect: ἐλυ-
Shelmerdine Chapter 5
singular
• -α (I)
• -ας (you)
• -ε (s/he, it)
plural
• -αμεν (we)
• -ατε (you, y’all)
• -αν (they)
the endings for the weak (1st) aorist
(variation of secondary endings)
Shelmerdine Chapter 5
singular
• λύω
• λύεις
• λύει
plural
• λύομεν
• λύετε
• λύουσι
present tense
present stem = λυ
Shelmerdine Chapter 5
singular
• λύσω
• λύσεις
• λύσει
plural
• λύσομεν
• λύσετε
• λύσουσι
future stem = λυσ
Note the addition of the σ to the stem.
Shelmerdine Chapter 5
singular
• ἔλυον
• ἔλυες
• ἔλυε
plural
• ἐλύομεν
• ἐλύετε
• ἔλυον
imperfect tense
stem = λυ
Note the addition of the augment.
Shelmerdine Chapter 5
singular
• ἔλυσα
• ἔλυσας
• ἔλυσε
plural
• ἐλύσαμεν
• ἐλύσατε
• ἔλυσαν
Weak (1st) aorist tense
stem = λυσ
Note the addition of both the augment
and the σ to the stem.
Shelmerdine Chapter 5
1. Masculine and feminine nouns of the 2nd
declension
2. The aorist active indicative of thematic
verbs (3rd principal part)
3. Aspect in the indicative
4. Word order
5. The possessive genitive
Shelmerdine Chapter 5
3. Aspect in the indicative
•
•
The aorist tense refers to a single past action.
Think of it as action in the past that you see as a
snapshot in your head.
Recall that the imperfect tense refers to ongoing
or repeated past action. Think of it as action in
the past that you see as a moving video in your
head.
Shelmerdine Chapter 5
Looking up a Greek verb
The 1st sg present indicative active is the first
principal part of a verb
–
–
–
–
–
–
ἄγω, ἄξω, ἤγαγον lead, bring
γράφω, γράψω, ἔγραψα write
διώκω, διώξω, ἐδίωξα pursue
λύω, λύσω, ἔλυσα loose, set free
πείθω, πείσω, ἔπεισα persuade
πέμπω, πέμψω, ἔπεμψα send
Shelmerdine Chapter 5
Looking up a Greek verb
The 1st sg future indicative active is the
second principal part of a verb
–
–
–
–
–
–
ἄγω, ἄξω, ἤγαγον lead, bring
γράφω, γράψω, ἔγραψα write
διώκω, διώξω, ἐδίωξα pursue
λύω, λύσω, ἔλυσα loose, set free
πείθω, πείσω, ἔπεισα persuade
πέμπω, πέμψω, ἔπεμψα send
Shelmerdine Chapter 5
Looking up a Greek verb
The 1st sg aorist indicative active is the third
principal part of a verb
–
–
–
–
–
–
ἄγω, ἄξω, ἤγαγον lead, bring
γράφω, γράψω, ἔγραψα write
διώκω, διώξω, ἐδίωξα pursue
λύω, λύσω, ἔλυσα loose, set free
πείθω, πείσω, ἔπεισα persuade
πέμπω, πέμψω, ἔπεμψα send
Shelmerdine Chapter 5
Looking up a Greek verb
A verb whose third principal part ends in -ον
has a strong (2nd) aorist (see Chap. 11)
–
–
–
–
–
–
ἄγω, ἄξω, ἤγαγον lead, bring
γράφω, γράψω, ἔγραψα write
διώκω, διώξω, ἐδίωξα pursue
λύω, λύσω, ἔλυσα loose, set free
πείθω, πείσω, ἔπεισα persuade
πέμπω, πέμψω, ἔπεμψα send
Shelmerdine Chapter 5
Looking up a Greek verb
Remember the rules for adding a σ (cf. chart on
Shelmerdine p.2):
–
–
–
–
–
γράφω (φ + σ = ψ) γράψω, ἔγραψα write
διώκω (κ + σ = ξ) διώξω, ἐδίωξα pursue
λύω, λύσω, ἔλυσα loose, set free
πείθω (θ + σ = σ) πείσω, ἔπεισα persuade
πέμπω (π + σ = ψ) πέμψω, ἔπεμψα send
Shelmerdine Chapter 5
1. Masculine and feminine nouns of the 2nd
declension
2. The aorist active indicative of thematic
verbs (3rd principal part)
3. Aspect in the indicative
4. Word order
5. The possessive genitive
Shelmerdine Chapter 5
4. Word order
•
While often Greek follows English word order
in putting the subject first, verb second, and
objects following, this is a tendency and not a
rule. Continuity and emphasis determine the
first and last words of a sentence most often.
Shelmerdine Chapter 5
4. Word order
•
•
The most important word usually comes first,
the second most important word last, and the
remaining items in between.
Importance often depends on what someone has
been talking about. Continuity is most
important.
Shelmerdine Chapter 5
4. Word order
•
Consider the sentence
–
οἱ ποιηταὶ παρέχουσι τὴν τιμήν.
•
•
(“Poets provide honor.”)
If you have been talking about what poets do,
you might keep “poets” first, to maintain
continuity about them: “It’s poets who provide
honor.”
Shelmerdine Chapter 5
4. Word order
•
Consider the sentence
–
τὴν τιμὴν οἱ ποιηταὶ παρέχουσιν.
•
•
(“Poets provide honor.”)
If you have been talking about what poets
provide, however, you might put “honor” first,
to highlight your new topic: “Honor is another
thing poets provide.”
Shelmerdine Chapter 5
4. Word order
•
Consider the sentence
–
παρέχουσιν οἱ ποιηταὶ τὴν τιμήν.
•
•
(“Poets provide honor.”)
If you have been talking about what poets do
with honor, however, you might put “provide”
first, to highlight the exact relationship and
action: “What poets do is provide honor.”
Shelmerdine Chapter 5
1. Masculine and feminine nouns of the 2nd
declension
2. The aorist active indicative of thematic
verbs (3rd principal part)
3. Aspect in the indicative
4. Word order
5. The possessive genitive
Shelmerdine Chapter 5
5. The possessive genitive
•
A possessive or dependent genitive must
immediately follow the article of the noun it
depends upon.
–
ἡ τοῦ κριτοῦ οἰκία
•
–
The house of the judge = the judge’s house
or ἡ οἰκία ἡ τοῦ κριτοῦ