Lesson 10 Ω-Verbs Imperfect Active Indicative Correlatives

Question 0

Imperfect tense of the indicative mood

Answer 0

• shows an action that was occurring at some time in the past.
• has imperfective aspect; i.e., the action is perceived as a process that continued or was repeated over time.
• always has imperfective aspect.

In English this idea is most clearly expressed by was/were and -ing (e.g., “we were studying for years”), but it may also be represented by English’s simple past tense (“we studied for years”).

Sometimes the context shows that the verb would be better translated as, e.g., “We were trying to study,” “We were starting to study,” or “We used to study.”

Question 1

ὅ τι καλὸν φίλον ἁεί

Answer 1

“A thing of beauty is a joy forever” —sung by the chorus in Euripides’ Bacchae 881

Question 2

Building verbs in the imperfect tense…

L10

Answer 2

• Stem: built on the present stem. The first principal part supplies the stem for both the present tense and the imperfect tense.
• Augment: (either syllabic or temporal)
• Ending: Secondary

Question 3

Augment

Answer 3

An augment is a prefix that increases (“augments”) the length of the word; it signals that the verb is in a secondary tense.

Question 4

How to augment the imperfect tense

Answer 4

If the present stem begins with…

• a consonant: an epsilon with smooth breathing (ἐ-) is prefixed to it (e.g., παιδευ- becomes ἐπαιδευ-). This is called a syllabic augment because it adds another syllable to the word.
• ῥ: a second rho is always inserted after the syllabic augment (e.g., ῥῑπτ- becomes ἐρρῑπτ-).
• a vowel or diphthong: the vowel or diphthong at the start of the stem is lengthened. This is called a temporal augment because it increases the time (tempus = Latin word for “time”) it takes to pronounce the first syllable.

L10

Question 5

Types of augment

Answer 5

• syllabic
• ρ syllabic
• temporal

Question 6

Lengthenings for Temporal Augment

Answer 6

An α-sound changes to η:
α -> η
ᾳ -> ῃ
αυ becomes ηυ (sometimes stays αυ)

An ε-sound changes to η:
ε -> η
ει -> ῃ
ευ becomes ηυ (sometimes stays ευ)

An ι or υ becomes long:
ι becomes long-ι
υ becomes long-υ

An ο becomes ω:
ο becomes ω
οι becomes ῳ

Question 7

How to apply temporal augment in imperfect active indicative

Answer 7

• Initial vowels or diphthongs are lengthened according to the Table of Lengthenings for Temporal Augment.
• No augment is needed if the present stem already begins with one of the long vowels or diphthongs on the Table.
• An initial ᾱ is usually changed to η, and ᾱͅ becomes ῃ.
• Initial ου is left unchanged.
• No Greek verb begins with the diphthong υι.

Question 8

Paradigm for Imperfect Active Indicative (with secondary endings)

L10

Answer 8

*Singular*  
	1st    -ον  
	2nd    -ες  
	3rd    -ε(ν)    		  
	*Plural*  
	1st    -ομεν     	
	2nd    -ετε  
	3rd    -ον

Question 9

The two major uses of movable ν

Answer 9

Besides being added to -σι words, it is added to the third-person singular (secondary) verb-ending -ε, but only when the word comes at the end of a sentence or when the following word begins with a vowel.

Question 10

Compound verbs and the augment

Answer 10

In compound verbs the augment usually comes between the prefix and the stem.

The last letter of the prefix, if it is a vowel, generally drops out; e.g:

• the imperfect of ἀπολείπω is ἀπέλειπον.

Question 11

Correlatives

Answer 11

The ancient Greeks were very conscious of parallelism in their sentences.

Words that “correlate” parallel words or clauses by drawing a connection between them are called correlatives.

For example, the correlative conjunctions καὶ…καί (“both…and”)

Among the most popular correlatives in Greek are μὲν…δέ.

Question 12

μέν and δέ used as correlatives…

Answer 12

… point out the parallelism of two ideas: “on the one hand…on the other hand.”

The presence of μέν in a sentence should alert the reader to the possibility that the speaker may already have in mind a balance or a contrast between this first thought and a second one, which will have δέ with it.

You may decide to leave μέν untranslated and to translate δέ simply as “and” or “but” since an English sentence with “on the one hand…on the other hand” lacks the elegance of a Greek sentence with μὲν…δέ.

Question 13

Postpositive

Answer 13

A word that prefers not to be the first word in its clause. Instead it likes to come right after the first word.

Question 14

μὲν…δέ used together as corellatives

Answer 14

• Among the most popular correlatives in Greek.
• Point out the parallelism of two ideas: “on the one hand…on the other hand.”
• Disregard μέν or δέ when determining whether a word is in attributive position.
• Both are postpositives
• The words that are parallel tend to be put first e.g., θύω μὲν τοῖς θεοῖς, φεύγω δὲ τοὺς κινδύνους (“I sacrifice [on the one hand] to the gods, and I escape [on the other hand] the dangers”).
• If the second clause begins with οὐ or μή, make δέ the third word in that clause; e.g., write οὐ φεύγω δέ, not οὐ δὲ φεύγω.

Question 15

Use of definite articles with μέν and δέ

Answer 15

Definite articles may be combined with μέν and δέ to mean “this one (he, she, it)…that one (he, she, it),” “the one…the other,” or “some…others.”

No noun or adjective is needed: the form of the article suffices to show the gender, number, and case, while the correlatives convey the idea of balance or contrast.

Examples:

• ὁ μὲν παιδεύει, ἡ δὲ γράφει. “He is teaching; she is writing.”
• ἡ μὲν ἐπαίδευεν, ἡ δ’ ἔγραφεν. “One woman taught; the other wrote.”
• οἱ μὲν παιδεύσουσιν, οἱ δ’ οὔ. “Some will teach; others will not [teach].”

The definite article was originally a demonstrative pronoun meaning “this one” or “that one.” When combined with μέν and δέ, it regains its old significance.

Question 16

λέγω

Answer 16

λέγω, ἐρῶ/λέξω say, speak, tell [cf. dialect, dyslexia, prolegomenon]

In the Attic dialect ἐρῶ (the contracted future tense of εἴρω, another verb meaning “say”) is much preferred to λέξω, but until you have been intro-duced to contracted futures (Lesson 15), you should use λέξω.

Question 17

πράττω

Answer 17

πράττω, πράξω do, act [cf. practice, praxis] (long-α)

Question 18

φεύγω

Answer 18

φεύγω, φεύξοµαι flee, avoid, escape, be in exile

The future φεύξομαι has middle endings even when it is active in meaning. You will not be asked to form the future of φεύγω until you have learned the middle endings (Lesson 11).

Question 19

ἀλήθεια

Answer 19

ἀλήθεια, -ᾱς, ἡ truth; τῇ ἀληθείᾱͅ = in truth, truly, really

Question 20

θάνατος

Answer 20

θάνατος, -ου, ὁ death; Θάνατος = Death (personified as a god) [cf. euthanasia, thanatopsis]

Question 21

κίνδῡνος

Answer 21

κίνδῡνος, -ου, ὁ danger, risk

Question 22

φίλος

Answer 22

φίλος, -η, -ον (+ dative) dear (to);

φίλος, -ου, ὁ = friend (male);
φίλη, -ης, ἡ = friend (female)
[cf. bibliophile, hemophiliac, philatelist]

Question 23

δέ (δ’)

Answer 23

δέ (δ’) (postpositive conjunction) and, but (δ’ before a vowel

Question 24

µέν

Answer 24

µέν (postpositive particle) indeed

Question 25

µὲν…δέ

Answer 25

µὲν…δέ (correlatives) on the one hand…on the other hand

Question 26

ὁ µὲν…ὁ δέ

Answer 26

ὁ µὲν…ὁ δέ (correlatives) this one…that one; the one…the other; (pl.) some…others

Question 27

οὖν

Answer 27

οὖν (postpositive particle) therefore, then