Lesson_008_Attic_Greek_Grammar Flashcards
In Attic Greek, Like second-declension masculines, second-declension neuters are o-stem nouns.
Attic Greek Grammar Rule #119
In Attic Greek, Just as in ο-stem masculines, the accent of ο-stem neuters is persistent, the genitive and dative (both singular and plural) have a circumflex if accented on the ultima, and the ultima of the genitive plural does not invariably receive an accent.
Attic Greek Grammar Rule #120
In Attic Greek, When a neuter noun (of any declension, not just second) is used in the plural as the subject of a sentence, Greek does something that seems illogical: it puts the main verb of the sentence into the singular. Thus the Greek version of the sentence “The children have horses” (τὰ τέκνα ἒχει ἵππους) literally means “The children has horses.” Once in a while, to stress that the subject consists of more than one individual, a plural verb may be used, but most of the time a neuter plural subject is regarded as a single collective unit, requiring a singular verb. When translating sentences into Greek, you should assume that a neuter plural subject and its verb do not agree in number.
Attic Greek Grammar Rule #121
In Attic Greek, Adjectives are words that modify (i.e., describe) nouns. Unlike nouns, they are not “born” with a particular gender; each is merely a genderless stem waiting for an ending that will give it gender as well as number and case.
Attic Greek Grammar Rule #122
In Attic Greek, there are two types of adjectives, those with the same endings as first- and second-declension nouns and those with the same endings as third-declension nouns.
Attic Greek Grammar Rule #123
In Attic Greek, A noun and its adjective must agree with each other. (Noun-Adjective Agreement) This does not mean that the two words must have the same ending. It means only that the adjective’s ending must indicate the gender, number, and case of the noun. Notice that an adjective’s ending is a clue to the gender of the noun that it modifies.
Attic Greek Grammar Rule #124
In both English and Attic Greek, an adjective is classified as attributive if it identifies an attribute, or trait, that a noun already possesses (e.g., “the good child is sleeping”; here “good” is an attribute of the child, and the position of the adjective between the definite article and the noun helps make that clear). An attributive adjective and its noun together form a noun phrase, which can function as the subject or the object of the sentence or in any other way in which the noun by itself can.
Attic Greek Grammar Rule #125
In both English and Attic Greek, A predicate adjective differs from an attributive adjective in being part of the verbal idea (i.e., what is being predicated) in the sentence. The predicate adjective works with a linking verb to describe the subject (e.g., “the child is good”; here the linking verb “is” equates the subject with the predicate adjective.
Attic Greek Grammar Rule #126
In English, if the person or thing in the speaker’s mind is definite or known, the proper place to put an attributive adjective is between the definite article and its noun (e.g., “the good child”). In Attic Greek this is just one of three possible positions for the attributive adjective: (τὸ ἀγαθὸν τέκνον “the good child”, τὸ τέκνον τὸ ἀγαθόν “the good child” (literally, “the child—the good one”), τέκνον τὸ αγαθόν “the good child” (literally, “a child—the one that’s good”)) {The first arrangement of words shown above, with the adjective before the noun, is the most common and puts emphasis on the adjective. It is not unusual, however, to find an attributive adjective placed after the noun that it modifies; in such circumstances a second definite article—identical to the one in front of the noun—must be added in front of the adjective. With this word order the speaker can give greater emphasis to the noun. Occasionally, as in the third, example, the speaker will begin with an indefinite noun (i.e., one not modified by a definite article) but then use the definite article and attributive adjective to clarify the thought.
Attic Greek Grammar Rule #127
In Attic Greek, If an adjective modifies a definite noun (i.e., a noun modified by one or more definite articles) and does not come immediately after any of the definite articles that agree with that noun, the adjective has predicate position. Here are two examples: (τὸ τέκνον ἀγαθόν “the child [is] good.”, ἀγαθὸν τὸ τέκνον. “The child [is] good.” {Although the predicate adjective most often follows the noun that it modifies, it may be placed before it for emphasis. Greek frequently omits the linking verb when it is a form of “be,” so, as you can see from the examples, a complete sentence may consist of just an article, a noun, and a predicate adjective. In contrast, the result of combining a definite noun with an attributive adjective is always a mere phrase, never a complete sentence. If both the noun and the adjective are indefinite, i.e., neither is modified by a definite article, then you must rely on the context to show whether the speaker intends the words as a noun phrase (with an attributive adjective) or as a complete sentence (with a predicate adjective). Changing the word order (adjective-noun, noun-adjective) will affect the emphasis but not the basic meaning. In English the word a or an has to be added before a singular noun to make it indefinite; in Attic Greek this is unnecessary: to make any noun indefinite, you simply omit the definite article.
Attic Greek Grammar Rule #128
In Attic Greek, A linking verb may equate the subject with a predicate noun rather than with a predicate adjective. A predicate noun always has the same case (nominative) as the subject since the two nouns are parallel to each other, but it retains its own gender and number. In Attic Greek it is customary not to use a definite article with a predicate noun (e.g., οἱ ἵπποι δῶρον, “the horses are a/the gift”). The absence of the article helps to distinguish the predicate noun from the subject, but it also leaves ambiguous whether a definite or indefinite person or thing is meant.
Attic Greek Grammar Rule #129
