AGE Unit 3 - Introduction to the Greek Noun Flashcards
Noun genders
Masculine, Feminine, Neuter
Information communicated by a Greek noun
•A Greek noun normally communicates THREE pieces of information:
–Gender
–Number
–Case
Noun number
Singular, dual, plural
Case of a noun
Greek puts every noun into a particular case to indicate its role in an action or place in an idea.
Greek uses four cases: •Nominative •Genitive •Dative •Accusative
Nominative case
Nominative: The nominative case indicates that a noun is the subject of a verb.
It is also used for the complement after a linking verb.
Accusative case
–Accusative: The accusative case indicates that a noun is the first (primary, direct) object of a verb.
It is also used for the complement after a linking verb.
Dative case
Dative: The dative case indicates that a noun is the second (indirect) object of a verb.
The dative case also indicates the means, tool or instrument used to accomplish an action. English most often uses “with” to indicate this use. As often, where English uses a separate word, Greek uses a suffix.
Genitive case
Genitive: The genitive case plays roughly the same role as the preposition “of” in English. As often, where English uses a separate word, Greek uses a suffix.
Mary gives the rulers the child of Joseph.
Greek can indicate possession only with the Genitive case. All the highlighted words would be in the Genitive case in Greek, with no distinction among them.
Mary gives the rulers the child of Joseph.
Mary gives the rulers Joseph’s child.
Joseph’s cup is empty of water.
Parsing a noun
Means to identify the following three pieces of information:
–Gender
–Number
–Case
Once you know these three items and the noun’s meaning, you have identified the noun completely and understand what it means.
Suffixes for masculine nouns
Case Singular Plural
Nominative –ς -ες
Genitive –ος -ων
Dative –ι -σι
Accusative –α -ας
Sigma and dentals
When a sigma follows a dental (τ, δ, θ, σ, ν), the dental disappears and the sigma remains: δ + σ = σ.
Paradigm for the noun παιδ
Singular Plural
- Nom. (παιδς ->) παῖς παῖδες
- Gen. παιδός παίδων
- Dat. παιδί (παιδσι ->) παισί
- Acc. παῖδα παῖδας
Declining a noun
The process of writing or saying all the forms of a noun is called “declining” them (ancient scholars metaphorically described noun forms as “declining” down from their nominative singular form).
When a sigma follows a dental …
The dental disappears and the sigma remains: ν + σ = σ.
Remember the dentals are (-τ/-δ/-θ/-ν)
Compensatory lengthening
Due to the unpopularity of sigma, the process where a Greek word drops a sigma and lengthens a vowel to make up for the loss.
Usually:
- short α –> long α
- short ε –> ει
- short ι –> long ι
- short υ –> long υ
Paradigm for ἀρχοντ (ruler)
Singular Plural
Nom. (ἀρχοντς ->) ἄρχων ἄρχοντες
Gen. ἄρχοντος ἀρχόντων
Dat. ἄρχοντι (ἀρχοντσι ->) ἄρχουσι
Acc. ἄρχοντα ἄρχοντας
How nouns are listed in a greek lexicon
Since the nominative singular displays variations in response to the sigma, nouns are listed in three parts:
The nominative singular: so you always see exactly how this form appears.
The genitive singular: so you can see the stem (everything before the ending -ος)
The gender: the word ὁ indicates that these nouns are masculine.
• ἄρχων, ἄρχοντος ὁ ruler
• δαίμων, δαίμονος ὁ divinity
• παῖς, παιδός ὁ child
Specify the correct cases: 1 gives 2 of 4 to 3
A noun in the nominative case functions where 1 is.
A noun in the genitive case functions where 4 is.
A noun in the dative case functions where 3 is.
A noun in the accusative case functions where 2 is.
Paridigm for the male definite article
Singular Plural • Nom. ὁ οἱ • Gen. τοῦ τῶν • Dat. τῷ τοῖς • Acc. Τόν τούς
ἀγών -ῶνος ὁ
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