Lesson_024_Attic_Greek_Grammar

Question 1

In Attic Greek, A participle is a verbal adjective, i.e., an adjective built on the stem of a verb. Like a verb, it has tense and voice, can take an object, and can be modified by adverbs and prepositional phrases, but by itself it cannot be the main verb in a sentence. Like an adjective, it modifies a noun or, when the noun is omitted, functions as a substantive.

Answer 1

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #250

Question 2

In Attic Greek, Both English and Greek use participles, but the system of participles is far more elaborate in Greek. Here, for example, are all of the participles that can possibly be made from the verb teach in English: teaching, being taught, having taught, having been taught, going to teach, going to be taught. As you can see, the ending -ing is characteristic of English participles. They change their form to reflect voice (active, passive) and tense (present, past, future), but not to reflect the gender, number, and case of the noun being modified. Greek participles, on the other hand, change their from not only to reflect voice (active, middle, passive) and tense (present, future, aorist, perfect), but also to reflect gender, number, and case of the noun they are modifying. The ancient Greeks loved the elegant succinctness of participles and filled their sentences with them.

Answer 2

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #251

Question 3

In Attic Greek, Like the adjective πᾶς, πᾶσα, πᾶν, all of the active participles have a mixed declension: they use third-declension endings for their masculine and neuter forms, first-declension endings for their feminine forms. the feminines have endings like those of θάλαττα, -ης or, if the letter before the ending is an ι, like those of μοῖρα, -ας.

Answer 3

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #252

Question 4

In Attic Greek, In the present, future, and second aorist, the participial suffix is -οντ- (a combination of the thematic vowel ο + ντ); in the feminine forms, the suffix appears as –ουσ- (a contraction of οντ + semivocalic ι). In the first aorist, σα replaces the thematic vowel in -οντ-, creating the suffixes -σαντ- and -σασ-. In the perfect, the participial suffix is -οτ- (originally -ϝοτ-) for masculine and neuter forms, -νι- (a contraction of υσ + semivocalic ι) for feminine forms.

Answer 4

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #253

Question 5

In Attic Greek, Adding the endings -σι (dative plural) to -οντ- or -σαντ- causes the ντ to drop out and preceding vowel to lengthen, producing -ουσι or -σασι; in the perfect active participle, the τ of -οτ- drops out before -σι, but the vowel remains an omicron (-οσι). In the masculine nominative singular, the participial suffix loses it τ (in the first aorist its ν also) and has a long vowel (-ων); the first aorist and the perfect also add ς (-σας, -ως). In the neuter nominative singular, the τ of the suffix drops out, leaving -ον or -σαν; the perfect also adds -ς (-ος).

Answer 5

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #254

Question 6

In Attic Greek, Like infinitives, participles are never augmented. The only difference between the present active participle and the future active participle is the tense-marker -σ- added to the stem to make the future tense. The first aorist active participle is distinguished by its -σα-, the second aorist by the same special stem (zero-grade) that it has in its finite forms. The perfect has the reduplicated stem characteristic of the perfect tense. First perfects, as usual, attach a κ to the end of that stem. Second perfect participles have exactly the same endings as first perfect participles, but their stems end in a letter other than a kappa (e.g., λελοιπώς, λελοιπυπῖα, λελοιπός).

Answer 6

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #255

Question 7

In Attic Greek, Active participles all have the persistent accent typical of adjectives. In the present, future, and first aorist, the accent remains on the final syllable of the stem, i.e., on the syllable just before the participial suffix, unless a long ultima forces it to move to the right. In the perfect and second aorist, the accent remains on the participial suffix itself. This helps to distinguish the second aorist active participle from the present active participle (e.g., βάλλων, βαλών). In the feminine genitive plural, the accent jumps to the ultima, as it does in the adjective πᾶς, πᾶσα, πᾶν and in all first-declension nouns.

Answer 7

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #256

Question 8

In Attic Greek, the present participle of εἰμί (“being”) is nothing more than the suffixes/endings of the present active participle, written with accents and smooth breathings.

Answer 8

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #257

Question 9

In Attic Greek, Like the accents of the other active participles, the accent of ὤν, οὖσα, ὄν is persistent; it remains above the participial suffix except in the feminine genitive plural, where it jumps to the ultima. You might expect it to jump to the ultima in the masculine/neuter genitive and dative, singular and plural, on the model of third-declension noun with monosyllabic stems (see §99.6 in Lesson 16); in active participles with monosyllabic stems, however, that does not happen.

Answer 9

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #258

Question 10

In Attic Greek, The Present active participle of a contract verb is formed in the same way as the present active participle of a regular verb. Predictable contractions occur when the -ε, -α, or -ο of the stem makes contact with the -ω or -ο of the participial suffix (-εω, -αω, -οω, -αο → -ω; -εο, -οο → -ου).

Answer 10

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #259

Question 11

In Attic Greek, The tense of a participle, like the tense of an infinitive, is associated with a particular aspect. Present tense implies imperfective aspect; aorist tense implies aoristic aspect; perfect tense implies perfective aspect. Future tense implies that the action is intended or expected. {Notice that Greek has no imperfect or pluperfect participles. If they did exist, they would be redundant since the present and perfect participles are sufficient to show imperfective and perfective aspect.

Answer 11

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #260

Question 12

In Attic Greek, While a participle’s tense primarily indicates aspect, it is also a clue to the relative time of the action, i.e., whether it takes place earlier than, at the same time as, or later that the action of the main verb.

Answer 12

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #261

Question 13

In Attic Greek, for the Relative time of participles, Present participle: action contemporaneous with that of the main verb. Example: γράφουσα εἶδε (or ἔβλεψε) τὸν λέοντα. Literal translation: “Writing, she saw the lion.” Expanded translation: “While she was writing, she saw the lion.”

Answer 13

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #262

Question 14

In Attic Greek, for the Relative time of participles, Aorist Participle: action prior to that of the main verb Example: ἰδοῦσα (or βλέψασα) τὸν λέοντα, ἔφεθγεν. Literal translation: “Seeing/having seen the lion, she fled.” Expanded translation: “When/after she saw/had seen the lion, she fled.”

Answer 14

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #263

Question 15

In Attic Greek, for the Relative time of participles, Perfect Participle: state contemporaneous with the action of the main verb, but the result of an earlier action now completed. Example: τιμῶμέν σε εὖ πεπαιδευκότα τὰ τέκνα. Literal translation: “We honor you, having finished teaching the children well.” Expanded translation: “We honor you because you have taught the children well.”

Answer 15

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #264

Question 16

In Attic Greek, for the Relative time of participles, Future Participle: action that, at the time represented by the main verb, is still in the future but already anticipated. Example: τιμήσομέν σε εὖ πεπαιδεύσοντα τὰ τέκνα. Literal translation: “We shall honor you, going to teach the children well.” Expanded translation: “We shall honor you if you will teach the children well.”

Answer 16

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #265

Question 17

In Attic Greek, for the Relative time of participles: A future participle may express the purpose or motivation behind an action especially when the participle is combined with a verb of motion (e.g., “go,” “come,” “send,” “summon”). Example: ἔπεμψάν με παιδεύσοντα τὰ τέκνα. Literal translation: “They sent me, going to teach the children.” Expanded translation: “They sent me to teach the children.”

Answer 17

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #266

Question 18

In Attic Greek, for the Relative time of participles, Since the tense of the participle is a more reliable indicator for aspect than for relative time, you should be on the lookout for adverbs (e.g., νῦν and τότε) and other words in the sentence that will clarify the time relationship between the participle and the main verb. Example: δοῦλοι τότ᾽ ὄντες, ἐλεύθεροι νῦν εἰσιν. Literal translation: “Being slaves then, they are free now.” Expanded Translation: “Although they were slaves then, they are free now.”

Answer 18

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #267

Question 19

In Attic Greek, Translating a participle accurately requires considering the context and deciding which nuance the author intended the participle to convey.

Answer 19

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #268

Question 20

In Attic Greek, Every Participle can be categorized as attributive, circumstantial, or supplementary, according to its use in a particular sentence.

Answer 20

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #269

Question 21

In Attic Greek, An attributive participle modifies a noun, agreeing with it in gender, number, and case, and stand in the attributive position. Its purpose is the same as that of an attributive adjective or a relative clause: to characterize the noun that it modifies. It is often advisable to translate an attributive participial clause with a relative clause. Example: ὁ δοῦλος ὁ ἄγων καθ᾽ἡμέραν τὰ τέκνα φίλος ἐστίν is literally “the slave daily leading the children is dear,” but it could also be rendered as “the slave who daily leads the children is dear.” In the example just given, the participle comes immediately after one of the definite articles modifying δοῦλος and thus is clearly in the attributive position. A Participle is also considered to be in the attributive position if the only words between it and the preceding article are the participle’s own modifiers (adverbs, prepositional phrases) or objects; e.g., the words in the example could be rearranged as ὁ τὰ τέκνα καθ᾽ ἡμέραν ἄγων δοῦλος without changing their meaning. (Putting the words in the order ὁ δοῦλος τὰ τέκνα καθ᾽ἡμέραν ἄγων or ὁ δοῦλος ἄγων τὰ τέκνα καθ᾽ ἡμέραν would shift the participle into the predicate position and change the meaning of the clause.)

Answer 21

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #270

Question 22

In Attic Greek, Like any attributive adjective, an attributive participle may function as a substantive if the noun that it modifies is omitted. Examples: ὁ τὰ τέκνα καθ᾽ ἡμέραν ἄγων “the (man) who daily leads the children”; ἡ τὰ τέκνα καθ᾽ ἡμέραν ἄγουσα “the (woman) who daily leads the children”.

Answer 22

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #271

Question 23

In Attic Greek, A circumstantial participle modifies a noun, agreeing with it in gender, number, and case, and stands in the predicate position. Its purpose is not to characterize the noun but to join with it to describe the circumstances under which the sentence’s main action takes place.

Answer 23

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #272

Question 24

In Attic Greek, Just as an attributive participial clause is a condensed version of an adjectival (relative) clause, so a circumstantial participial clause is a condensed version of an adverbial clause. Exactly which type of adverbial clause it represents must be deduced from the context. Example: ὁ δοῦλος ἄγων τὰ τέκνα ἔλεγεν is literally “(under the circumstances of) leading the children, the slave was talking,” but, depending on the context, this could be understood as “while he was leading…” (temporal clause) or “although he was leading…” (concessive clause) or “because he was leading…” (Causal clause) or “if he was leading…” (conditional clause).

Answer 24

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #273

Question 25

In Attic Greek, Conjunctions like ἐπεί (“after,” “when,” “since,” “because”) and ἕως (“while”) are used only to introduce adverbial clauses with finite verbs; they are never combined with participles. To clarify the connection in thought between a circumstantial participle and the rest of the sentence, a particle such as καίπερ (“although”), ἅτε (“because”), or ὡς (“as if”) may be placed in front of the participle or at the start of the participial clause.

Answer 25

Attic Greek Grammar Rule #274