Lesson 07. Second Declension Masculine Nouns Flashcards
How many different sets of endings do second-declension masculine nouns have?
One. All second-declension masculines have the same set of endings.
Extra rules for accenting second declension masculine nouns
The singular and plural endings of the genitive and dative, if accented, have a circumflex (just as in the first declension).
BUT - Unlike first-declension nouns second-declension nouns do not invariably put a circumflex above the genitive plural ending; instead the accent remains, if it can, in its preferred position.
Paradigm for the masculine article
SINGULAR Nom ὁ Gen τοῦ Dat τῷ Acc τόν Voc --- PLURAL Nom οἱ Gen τῷν Dat τοῖς Acc τούς Voc ---
Gender and second-declension nouns
Occasionally a noun will have ο-stem endings but be feminine instead of masculine.
Its unusual gender will be shown, not by the form of the word itself, but by the form of the words that modify it (e.g., a definite article or an adjective).
In ὁ λόγος and ἡ ὁδός, for example, the articles reveal that λόγος is masculine, while ὁδός is feminine.
Epicene words
Epicene words are said to have common gender. They may be either masculine or feminine (often with a major difference in meaning).
For example: ὁ ἄνθρωπος (“man”), ἡ ἄνθρωπος (“woman”); and
ὁ θεός (“god”), ἡ θεός (“goddess”—a synonym for θεά).
In a vocabulary list an epicene noun will always be accompanied by two definite articles (ὁ, ἡ).
Dative of means
A noun in the dative case may indicate the means or the instrument by which something is done. For example:
- σπεύδομεν τῇ ὁδῷ, “we are hastening by means of the road”;
- βλάπτεις τὸν ἵππον λίθοις, “you are hurting the horse with stones”.
The dative of means is usually translated with the preposition “with” or “by”.
No preposition is required for the dative of means.
Dative of manner
A noun in the dative case may indicate the manner or the way in which something is done. For example:
- παιδεύω χαρᾷ, “I teach with joy” or “I teach joyfully”).
The dative of manner is usually translated with the preposition “with” or with an adverb formed from the noun and ending in -ly.
No preposition is required for the dative of manner.
χαίρω, χαιρήσω
be happy; (+ dative) rejoice (in), take delight (in)
Like ἐθέλω and μέλλω, χαίρω forms its future by adding both η and σ to its present stem.
The imperatives χαῖρε and χαίρετε are frequently used as greetings (“be happy!”—i.e., “hello!”) or as parting words (“be happy!”— i.e., “farewell!”).
ἀδελφή, -ῆς, ἡ
sister
ἀδελφός, -οῦ, ὁ
brother (voc. sg. ἄδελφε has recessive accent; voc. pl. ἀδελφοί is regular) [cf. Philadelphia]
ἄνθρωπος, -ου, ὁ, ἡ
- (masc.) human being, person, man, mankind, humankind;
- (fem.) woman, womankind [cf. anthropology, philanthropic]
ὁ ἄνθρωπος in its generic sense (“mankind” or “humankind”) can, and usually does, include both men and women;
ἡ ἄνθρωπος in its generic sense (“womankind”) never includes men.
Likewise οἱ ἄνθρωποι means either “men” or “people,” whereas αἱ ἄνθρωποι means “women” ex-clusively.
In the vocative the word often has a harsh ring; e.g., ἀκούεις, ἄνθρωπε; (“are you listening, man?”).
θεός, -οῦ, ὁ, ἡ
(masc.) god; (fem.) goddess (voc. sg. θεός or θεέ) [cf. theology, atheist]
During the Classical age the gods were invoked using the vocative plural (θεοί); the vocative singular, either θεός or θεέ, does not begin to be used until the period of Koine Greek.
ἵππος, -ου, ὁ, ἡ
(masc.) horse; (fem.) mare [cf. hippodrome, Philip]
λίθος, -ου, ὁ
stone [cf. paleolithic, monolith]
λύπη, -ης, ἡ
pain, grief
