Lesson 05. First Declension Feminine Nouns, Part 2 Flashcards
α/ᾱς & α/ης Subcategories - SINGULAR endings
SINGULAR (“fate”) (“sea”) ENDINGS
Nominative μοῖρα θάλαττα -α -α
Genitive μοίρᾱς θαλάττης -ᾱς -ης
Dative μοίρᾱͅ θαλάττῃ -ᾱͅ -ῃ
Accusative μοῖραν θάλατταν -αν -αν
Vocative μοῖρα θάλαττα -α -α
First-Declension Feminine Nouns, α/ᾱς & α/ης Subcategories
In the Attic dialect a short alpha was allowed to creep into the nominative, accusative, and vocative singular endings of some ᾱ-stem and some η-stem nouns, thus creating two relatively small (but still important) subcategories of first-declension feminine nouns.
α/ᾱς & α/ης Subcategories - PLURAL endings
PLUR (“fate”) (“sea”) ENDINGS
Nom μοῖραι θάλατται -αι -αι
Gen μοίρων θαλάττων -ων -ων
Dat μοίραις θαλάτταις -αις -αις
Acc μοῖρᾱς θάλαττᾱς -ᾱς -ᾱς
Voc μοῖραι θάλατται -αι -αι
Three tips for recognising the short α subtypes of first declension feminine nouns
- The plurals of these nouns are no different from the plurals of other first declension feminine nouns.
- A short alpha in the nominative dictates that the accusative and vocative singular will also have a short alpha.
- If the genitive singular ending has an eta, but its nominative singular ending has an alpha (e.g., θάλαττα, -ης), you can be sure that the α in the nominative singular ending is short.
Reflexive Use of the Definite Article
The definite article is often used in a reflexive sense to indicate someone or something that belongs to the subject, has some relation to it, or is a physical part of it.
Thus, when the Greek literally says, “Teachers earn the salaries,” “Do you love the father?”, “We are washing the hands,” it may actually mean, “Teachers earn their salaries,” “Do you love your father?”, “We are washing our hands.” The context will make this clear.
ἀκούω
(+ genitive or accusative) hear, listen, listen to [cf. acoustics]
- The genitive case (sound of) is used if it is a person who is being heard
- The accusative case used if it is an actual sound that is being heard.
This makes sense since a person could be the source of a sound, but never the sound itself.
βλάπτω
harm, hurt
κελεύω
(with accusative or dative + infinitive) order (to), command (to), urge (to)
The person who receives the order to do something may appear in either:
- the accusative - the speaker regards the person as the subject of the infinitive (i.e., as the doer of the commanded action)
- the dative - the speaker thinks of the person as the recipient of the order (designating an indirect object)
You have the option to use whichever of the two cases you wish; your choice will not affect the basic meaning of the sentence.
δέσποινα, -ης, ἡ
mistress (of the household), lady, Lady (title for a goddess)
θάλαττα, -ης, ἡ
sea [cf. thalassocracy]
θεράπαινα, -ης, ἡ
servant (female), maid
κλίνη, -ης, ἡ
couch, bed [cf. clinic]
µοῖρα, -ᾱς, ἡ
destiny, fate; Μοῖρα = Destiny or Fate (personified as a goddess)
ὥρᾱ, -ᾱς, ἡ
season, hour; (with accusative or dative + infinitive) it is time (to) [cf. horoscope, hour]
When combined with an infinitive, very often the sentence appears to have no main verb. The verb “is” should be understood: to translate the idiom into English begin with “it is” (“it is the hour to…” or, more simply, “it is time to…”).
The person who is expected to do the action is put into the accusative or the dative case, depending on the speaker’s point of view.
Example: ὥρᾱ τὴν θεράπαιναν [or τῇ θεραπαίνῃ] θύειν (“it is time for the maid to offer sacrifice”).
ἐπεί or ἐπειδή
(conjunction) when, after, since, because
ἐπεί and ἐπειδή are virtually synonymous: each introduces a subordinate adverbial clause that tells when or why the main action of the sentence occurs.
The context will show whether the clause is temporal (indicating the time at which something happens) or causal (indicating the reason for its happening).
