Lesson_019_Attic_Greek_Grammar Flashcards
In Attic Greek, Second aorist (also known as asigmatic or strong aorists) lack the distinctive σα of first aorists.
Attic Greek Grammar Rule #200
In Attic Greek, In the second aorist the accent invariable falls on the ultima of the active infinitive (-εῖν), on the ultima of the second-person singular middle imperative (-οῦ), and on the penult of the middle infinitive (-έσθαι). All other second-aorist forms have recessive accent. Three verbs, εἶπον, εὗρον, and ἔλαβον, irregularly accent the ultima in the second-person singular aorist active imperative (εἰπέ, εὑρέ, λαβέ). Their other aorist imperative forms, however, have normal recessive accent.
Attic Greek Grammar Rule #201
In Attic Greek, Second aorists, with their augment, thematic vowel (ε/o), and secondary endings, look much like imperfects. What marks them as aorists is their stem, which is built on the root or basic stem of the verb. It is often the case that one or more letters have been added to the root to construct the present stem. If so, you can recover the root simply by removing those additional letters from the present stem; e.g., βαλλ- = βαλ- + λ; εὑρισκ- = εὑρ- + ισκ.
Attic Greek Grammar Rule #202
In Attic Greek, Second aorists like ἔλιπον (from λείπω), ἔφυγον (from φεύγω) and ἔσχον (from ἔχω—originally σέχω) give the impression of having lost the epsilon still visible in their present stem. The real reason for this “loss” is a phenomenon called vowel gradation. Just as a strong verb in English may have different vowel in each of its principal parts (e.g., sing, sang, sung), so a Greek verb may have a variable vowel that appears either as an epsilon (ε-grade), as an omicron (ο-grade), or—in its most reduced state—not at all (zero-grade). The ε-grade is characteristic of the present stem; the zero-grade is characteristic of the root and of the second aorist stem. From this you can infer that whenever a verb’s present stem has an epsilon, the second aorist stem of that verb will probably not have one.
Attic Greek Grammar Rule #203
In Attic Greek, The second aorists of φέρω and λέγω are odd. ἤνεγκον is based on ἐνκ-, a zero-grade stem (ε-grade = ἐνεκ-); the ἐν was doubled to give ἐνενκ-, and ν before κ turned into γ, producing ἐνεγκ-. εἶπον goes back to a root that began with a digamma: ϝεπ-. The first two letters were doubled (ϝεϝεπ-) to make the aorist stem. When ϝ ceased to be pronounced and fell out of use, the two epsilons contracted into the diphthong ει. Augmenting this ει does not change it to ῃ.
Attic Greek Grammar Rule #204
In Attic Greek, A reflexive pronoun is one that “reflects” or directs attention back to the subject of the sentence, but is not the subject itself. It occurs only in the genitive, dative, and accusative cases.
Attic Greek Grammar Rule #205
In Attic Greek, for reflexive pronouns, Each form combines a personal pronoun or ἑ- with the intensive adjective αὐτός (in the proper case, number, gender). Αὐτός is physically attached to the pronoun or ἑ- in all forms except the first- and second-person plural. In the first and second persons, no neuter endings are needed since the subject to which the pronoun refers must be someone either speaking (“I,” “we”) or spoken to (“you”), who would naturally refer to him- or herself as masculine or feminine. In the second- and third-person singular, contracted forms (printed in brackets) are common. Watch out for look-alikes such as αὐτήν (“her,” personal pronoun referring to someone other than the subject) and α῾υτήν (“herself,” reflexive).
Attic Greek Grammar Rule #206
In Attic Greek, Reflexive pronouns can function in whatever ways personal pronouns can, i.e., as direct objects, indirect objects, object of prepositions—with the exception that a reflexive pronoun is never the subject of a sentence. In the third person the difference in meaning between personal and reflexive pronouns is great: e.g., αὐτοὺς τιμῶσι means “they honor them [i.e., people other than themselves],” while ἑαυτοὺς τιμῶσι means “they honor themselves.” In the first and second persons, however, the personal pronouns can be used just as if they were reflexives; e.g., ἐμὲ τιμῶ (“I honor me”) means essentially the same thing as ἐμαυτὴν τιμῶ (“I honor myself{“). Face with a choice between ἐμέ and ἐμαυτὴν, an author might select ἐμαυτήν because it, unlike ἐμέ, reveals the gender of the subject.
Attic Greek Grammar Rule #207
In Attic Greek, It is important to keep in mind the difference between reflexive pronouns and intensive adjectives. In the sentence “I myself honor myself,” the first myself is an intensive adjective (expressed in Greek by αὐτός or αὐτή) modifying the subject; the second is a reflexive pronoun serving as the sentence’s direct object.
Attic Greek Grammar Rule #208
In Attic Greek, Reflexive pronouns and personal pronouns can be used in the same ways that demonstratives can be used in the genitive case to show possession, i.e., to identify the person(s) to whom something belongs. In this construction a reflexive pronoun, like a demonstrative, will always have attributive position, while a personal pronoun, even if it is in first or second person and has reflexive sense, will always have predicate position.
Attic Greek Grammar Rule #209
In Attic Greek, Examples of Genitive of possession for reflexive pronouns: Reflexive Pronoun (first person): τὸ ἑμαυτοῦ ὄνομα λέγω. “I speak my own name.” Literal Version: “I speak the of myself name.”, Reflexive pronoun (third person) τὸ ἑαυτοῦ ὄνομα λέγει. “He speaks his own name.” Literal version: “He speaks the of himself name.”
Attic Greek Grammar Rule #210
In Classical Greek, Examples of Genitive of possession for personal pronouns: Personal Pronoun (used reflexively): τὸ ὄνομά μου λέγω “I speak my own name.” Literal version: “I speak the name of me.”, Personal Pronoun (not reflexive): τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ λέγει. “He speaks his [not his own] name.”
Attic Greek Grammar Rule #211
