Lesson_018_Attic_Greek_Grammar

Question 1

In Attic Greek, the stem supplied by the third principal part of Greek verbs is used to form the aorist tense in the active and middle voices. A different stem (supplied by the sixth principal part) is used to form the aorist passive. (compare the similar situation with the second principal part, which supplies the stem for future active and middle, but not for future passive.)

Answer 1

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #190

Question 2

In Attic Greek, An aoristic action is one that the speaker perceives not as an activity continuing over time, but as a mere occurrence or event. It may happen in the present, past, or future. Since the aoristic aspect does not specify whether the action is/was/will be prolonged, repeated, or finished, the name ἀόριστος, “undefined” (ἀ-privative + ὁρίξω mark a bound” or “define”), is appropriate.

Answer 2

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #191

Question 3

In Attic Greek, Like the imperfect tense, the aorist tense shows an action that occurred in the past, but the aspect of that action is aoristic, not imperfective. Thus more precise names for the imperfect tense and the aorist tense would be past imperfective and past aoristic. Like the imperfect, the aorist is a secondary tense; it therefore has secondary endings and an augment.

Answer 3

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #192

Question 4

In Attic Greek, The majority of Greek verbs have what is called a first aorist (otherwise known as a sigmatic aorist or a weak aorist); some Greek verbs have what is called a second aorist (otherwise known as an asigmatic aorist or a strong aorist). A few Greek verbs have both a first aorist and a second aorist.

Answer 4

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #193

Question 5

In Attic Greek, Most of the first-aorist endings are combinations of the letters σα and the secondary personal endings; there is no intervening thematic vowel (ο/ε). A predictable contraction occurs in the second-person singular middle indicative (-σα[σ]ο → -σω). In the first-person singular active indicative, σα used to be σμ (sigma by itself was the original sign of the aorist tense), but the μ changed to α, producing the σα that then insinuated itself into almost all the other aorist forms. It did not insinuate itself into the third-person singular active, where the final ε is an ending borrowed from the perfect tense.

Answer 5

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #194

Question 6

In Attic Greek, To signify past tense, augments are added to all aorist indicative forms, but no to aorist infinitives or imperatives. This is logical since infinitives and imperatives show only aspect (in this case aoristic), not time. Augmenting is done exactly as in the imperfect tense: a temporal augment is used if the word begins with a vowel; otherwise a syllabic augment (ἐ-) is used.

Answer 6

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #195

Question 7

In Attic Greek, The -αι of the first-aorist active infinitve is an old dative ending (infinitives originated as nouns in the dative case). Scholars are unsure how the endings of the second-person imperatives of 1st-aorist came to be -ον and -αι. Notice that the only difference in form between the active infinitive (παιδεῦσαι) and the second-person singular middle imperative (παίδευσαι) is accent: the aorist active infinitve is always accented on the penult, while the middle imperative has recessive accent (as do all the other finite forms of the aorist). The aorist middle infinitive has persistent accent on the antepenult.

Answer 7

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #196

Question 8

In Attic Greek, if the present stem ends in a consonant, adding σα to it, for first-aorist, produces euphonic changes that should be familiar to you from the future tense: labial (-π, –β, -φ) or -πτ + σα = ψα, dental (-τ, -δ, -θ) or -ζ + σα = σα, palatal (-κ, -γ, -χ) or -ττ + σα = ξa

Answer 8

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #197

Question 9

In Attic Greek, Contract verbs, as you would expect, lengthen their final vowel (α → η or, after ε, ι, or ρ, ᾱ; ε → η; ο → ω) before adding σα. Liquid and nasal verbs either add η (α lengthened ε) + σα to their present stem or add σα, drop σ, and lengthen their stem-vowel (α → η or, after ι or ρ, ᾱ; ε → ει.) Examples: φιλέω → ἐφίλησα, μέλλω [basic stem = μελλ-] → ἐμέλλησα, ἀγγέλλω [basic stem = ἀγγελ-] → ἠγγειλ[σ]α → ἤγγειλα, If, as in ἀγγέλλω, the present stem is an expansion of an even simpler stem, use that simpler, basic stem to construct the aorist.

Answer 9

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #198

Question 10

In Attic Greek, the genitive of value (in a context of buying or selling, it is also called genitive of price) is a common construction in Greek; e.g., whenever you combine a genitive with ἄξιος, -ᾱ, –ον, you are using the genitive of value to indicate what someone or something is worth. The words δραχμή (“drachma”) and ὀβολός (“obol”) occur often in the genitive to indicate the price of an object: e.g., τὴν ἀσπίδα πωλῶ δραχμῆς (“I am selling the shield for a drachma”).

Answer 10

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #199