Lesson 11. Ω-Verbs Middle/Passive Voice, Prepositions Flashcards
Verb tense and mood in relation to voice….
… does not change.
τὸν καλὸν ἀγῶνα ἠγώνισμαι
τὸν καλὸν ἀγῶνα ἠγώνισμαι (I have fought the good fight) —2 Timothy 4:7
Personal endings, tense and voice
The voice and tense of verbs is shown by different sets of personal endings.
- Voice is shown by active or middle/passive endings.
- Tense is shown by primary or secondary endings.
Every particular use of a verb will involve a choice from each of these alternatives.
- So there are sets of endings for primary active and secondary active.
- And there are sets of endings for primary middle/passive and secondary middle/passive.
Primary and secondary endings in the indicative.
Just as there are two sets of active endings (primary and secondary) in the indicative mood, so there are two sets of middle/passive endings (primary and secondary) in the indicative mood.
Primary Active Endings ω-conjugation
*Singular* 1st -ω 2nd -εις 3rd -ει *Plural* 1st -ομεν 2nd -ετε 3rd -ουσι(ν)
= present tense for -ω conjugation
-σ- + these endings = future tense of all verbs
Secondary Active Endings ω-conjugation
*Singular* 1st -ον 2nd -ες (σο)?? 3rd -ε *Plural* 1st -ομεν 2nd -ετε 3rd -ον
= imperfect tense for -ω conjugation
= strong (2 ) aorist tense for -ω conjugation
Primary Middle/Passive Endings ω-conjugation
*Singular* 1st -ομαι 2nd -ῃ/ει (σαι)?? 3rd -εται *Plural* 1st -ομεθα 2nd -εσθε 3rd -ονται
= middle primary tense endings of all verbs
- The future tense adds -σ- before these endings.
- The perfect middle never uses the -(κ)α- marker.
Paradigm for Present Middle/Passive Indicative
*Singular* Example 1st -ομαι παιδεύομαι 2nd -ῃ/ει παιδεύῃ/ει 3rd -εται παιδεύεται *Plural* 1st -ομεθα παιδευόμεθα 2nd -εσθε παιδεύεσθε 3rd -ονται παιδεύονται
Secondary Middle/Passive Endings ω-conjugation
*Singular* 1st -ομην 2nd -ου (σο)?? 3rd -ετο *Plural* 1st -ομεθα 2nd -εσθε 3rd -οντο
= middle secondary tense endings of all verbs
The pluperfect middle never uses the -(κ)α- marker.
Paradigm for Future Middle Indicative
*Singular* Example 1st -σομαι παιδεύσομαι 2nd -σῃ/σει παιδεύσῃ/σει 3rd -σεται παιδεύσεται *Plural* 1st -σομεθα παιδευσόμεθα 2nd -σεσθε παιδεύσεσθε 3rd -σονται παιδεύσονται
Paradigm for Imperfect Middle/Passive Indicative
*Singular* Example 1st -ομην ἐπαιδευόμην 2nd -ου ἐπαιδεύου 3rd -ετο ἐπαιδεύετο *Plural* 1st -ομεθα ἐπαιδευόμεθα 2nd -εσθε ἐπαιδεύεσθε 3rd -οντο ἐπαιδεύοντο
Present, future and imperfect indicative: endings and stems
The present and future indicative use primary endings attached to the present and future stems, while the imperfect indicative uses secondary endings attached to the augmented present stem.
Present and imperfect tenses and the middle/passive endings
In the present and imperfect tenses the middle/passive endings can denote either middle voice (when the subject not only acts but also has a special interest in the action) or passive voice (when the subject is acted upon by someone or something else); thus we speak of “present middle/passive” and “imperfect middle/passive.”
But it is incorrect to speak of “future middle/ passive” since in Greek the future middle and the future passive are two distinct forms. While the future middle is based on the second principal part, the future passive is based on the sixth principal part.
Be careful not to translate the future middle as a future passive by mistake.
Present Middle/Passive Infinitive - ending and use
Ending: -εσθαι. Eg. παιδεύεσθαι (“to teach for oneself”/“to be taught”) [cf. active -ειν]
The present middle/passive infinitive attaches the thematic vowel ε and the middle/passive personal ending -σθαι to the present stem.
Its accent is always on the antepenult.
Depending on the context, the infinitive may have either middle voice or passive voice.
Like the present active infinitive, it denotes only imperfective aspect, not present time. You may prefer a translation that emphasizes the on-going nature of the action: e.g., “to continue teaching for oneself” or “to keep being taught.”
Future Middle Infinitive - ending and use
Ending: - εσθαι. Eg. παιδεύσεσθαι (“to be going to teach for oneself”) [cf. active -σειν]
The future middle infinitive attaches the thematic vowel ε and the middle personal ending -σθαι to the future stem.
Its accent is always on the antepenult.
Depending on the context, the future middle infinitive may have either imperfective aspect (e.g., “to be going to be teaching for oneself for a while”) or aoristic aspect (“to be going to teach for oneself on one occasion”).
Ending and stem for present and future indicative and imperfect indicative
As you might expect, the present and future indicative use primary endings attached to the present and future stems, while the imperfect indicative uses secondary endings attached to the augmented present stem.
Paradigm for Present Middle/Passive Imperative
*Singular* Example 1st - 2nd -ου παιδεύου 3rd -εσθω παιδεύεσθω *Plural* 1st - 2nd -εσθε παιδεύεσθε 3rd -εσθων παιδευέσθων
Interpretation of Present Middle/Passive Imperative
Like the present active imperative, the present middle/passive imperative shows only imperfective aspect, not present time. You may prefer a translation that emphasizes the on-going nature of the action: e.g., “continue teaching for yourself!” or “keep being taught!” for παιδεύου; “let them continue teaching for themselves!” or “let them keep being taught!” for παιδευέσθων.
Ending for the infinitive in the middle voice
All verbs in all tenses use -σθαι to designate the infinitive in the middle voice. (The Master List)
Genitive of personal agent - definition
In a passive sentence the agent may or may not be identified; e.g., “I am taught by my brother” or simply “I am taught.”
To identify the agent, Greek often uses the preposition ὑπό (“by”) and a noun in the genitive case; e.g., παιδεύομαι ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ. This construction is the genitive of personal agent.
Clues to help determine the voice of a verb with middle/passive ending
(1) The presence of a genitive of agent is a sign that the verb’s voice must be passive, not middle (since, in a sentence with middle voice, the subject itself—and not a noun in the genitive—is the agent).
(2) The presence of a direct object is a sign that the verb’s voice must be middle, not passive (since, in a passive sentence, the subject—and not a direct object—receives the action).
In a sentence with middle voice, the subject….
…the subject is the agent.
Special Senses of the Middle Voice
In some verbs the middle voice shows a reflexive relationship: the action is done directly to the subject, not for it. τρέπω (“I turn”), for example, is reflexive in the middle voice (τρέπομαι = “I betake myself” or “I move”).
In other verbs the middle voice may have a special meaning in addition to the one you would expect it to have.
In a sentence with passive voice, the subject…
…receives the action.
ἀλλάττοµαι
Usual sense: “I change for myself”
Special sense: “I take [something] in exchange for [something]”. The special sense may be combined with an accusative direct object.
γράφοµαι
Usual sense: “I write for myself”
Special sense: “I indict [someone]”. The special sense may be combined with an accusative direct object.
παιδεύοµαι
Usual sense: “I teach for myself”
Special sense: “I have [someone] taught”. The special sense may be combined with an accusative direct object.
φυλάττοµαι
Usual sense: “I guard for myself”
Special sense: “I am on guard against [something/someone]”. The special sense may be combined with an accusative direct object.
Example prepositions whose object is always in the genitive, dative or accusative case
Genitive case - ἀπό, ἐκ
Dative case - ἐν
Accusative case - εἰς
ὑπό
The preposition ὑπό often means “by,” but its basic meaning is “under.”
When used with the genitive, ὑπό implies motion out of or away from a source or origin (point A in the diagram below).
When used with the accusative, it implies motion toward a goal or destination (point C).
When used with the dative, it implies that someone or something is at a particular location (point B) and is neither leaving it nor approaching it.
A –> B –> C
The genitive of personal agent with ὑπό identifies the human source from which the action springs; e.g., φυλάττομαι ὑπὸ τῶν θεῶν = “I am guarded by [under the agency of] the gods.”
πείθω
πείθω, πείσω (with acc. + infin.) persuade (to); (mid. + dat.) obey
πείθω, like the comparable verb κελεύω (Lesson 5), often governs an infinitive; the person persuaded is put into the accusative case.
πείθομαι (middle voice) has the special sense of “I obey” (from the notion of persuading oneself); the person or thing obeyed is put into the dative case.
τρέπω
τρέπω, τρέψω turn; (mid.) betake oneself, move [cf. protreptic]
τρέπω does not mean “I turn” in the sense of “I turn myself around” or “I become”; rather, it means “I make something or someone turn” (cf. ἀλλάττω in Lesson 6).
Thus in the active voice the verb always has a direct object with it; i.e., it is always transitive. In the middle voice the verb is reflexive (the subject puts itself into motion); therefore no direct object is needed with τρέπομαι.
ἅµαξα
ἅµαξα, -ης, ἡ cart, wagon
λίµνη
λίµνη, -ης, ἡ marsh, lake, pond [cf. limnology]
τόπος
τόπος, -ου, ὁ place, passage (in a book) [cf. topic, topography, utopia]
τρόπος
τρόπος, -ου, ὁ turn, way, manner, habit; (pl.) character [cf. trope, entropy, heliotropic, trophy]
µακρός
µακρός, -ά (long), -όν long, long-lasting [cf. macrocosm, macron]
µῑκρός
µῑκρός, -ά (long), -όν small, little [cf. microphone, microscope]
πόρρω
πόρρω (adv.) far, far off; (prep. + gen.) far away from
ὑπό (definition)
ὑπό (ὑπ’, ὑφ’)
- (prep. + gen.) from under, by (under the agency of );
- (prep. + dat.) under;
- (prep. + acc.) under, to a place under [cf. hypocrisy, hypodermic, hypotenuse, hypothesis]
The omicron of ὑπό is elided before a word beginning with a vowel, and the elision is usually marked with an apostrophe (ὑπ’). If the following word has rough breathing, the pi before the apostrophe is “roughened” into phi (ὑφ’).
Loss of intervocalic sigma and influence on endings
Sigma between vowels (intervocalic sigma) was lost in the devel-opment of many Greek forms, and in Attic this loss usually resulted in the contraction of the vowels. This has happened in -εσαι becoming -ῃ and (in the second person singular imperative) -εσο becoming – ου.
Mastronarde
βάτραχος
βάτραχος, -ου, ὁ: frog
