Greek I.6 The A-Declension
Lesson I.6
Nouns in the A-Declension
Most A-declension nouns have a stem in long-A. In Attic this is changed to η except when preceded by ε, ι, or ρ. Nouns with a short-A will be taken up later.
The most common group of adjectives combine the -O and -A declensions, as in Latin, for the three genders.
At this point, note that the genitive plural of perispominenon, that is a circumflex on the ultima.
Word Order
Greek adjectives may be attributive, that is, like English adjectives modifiers of the noun, in which case they normally come between the article and the noun as in English: The good man
There are several attributive positions. The most common is sometimes referred to as the first attributive position. One may also put the adjective after the noun but only with a repeated definite article: The man the good. Any modifier of the noun, including prepositional phrases, can be used this way.
Or they may be used as predicates to make a statement that X noun is of Y quality, as in The man is good. The verb “to be” is not required in such statements. In this case the adjective comes first and is followed by the article and the noun: Good the man [is].
Dative of Possession
In Greek as in Latin, French, etc., a statement that something belongs to someone is generally put in the form: X object is to me, C’est à moi. This is closely related to other uses of dative to show the person interested or affected by an action or feeling.
Audio
I’ve been sending these to the kids – did I miss Greek I.5?
In Part B of Lesson 4, I noted that lesson 5 was a brief review and could easily be done with lesson 6, particualrly since we are going at a rate of about one normal the speed.
I meant to ask these questions when we were doing 4.b but I didn’t have the chance: When do you know to add “ν” at the end of a third person plural verb? Also, your answer to question four of the translation of English into Greek gave “εθελουσιν” for the translation of “he wishes.” Shouldn’t it be “εθελει”?
-Cornell Kid
thanks, Tom. Kate
Acute over the nominative. Circumflex over the dative with an iota subscript. Now the accent marks become very important.
The nu elphystikon is generally added before a vowel or at the end of a clause. In poetry, it is also used to lengthen the preceding syllable, since most two-consonant combinations create a long syllable. The metrical point is not to worry about here.
I must have, with my deteriorating vision, read they for he in the exercise. Thanks for the correction/
It is becoming more apparent that some of my previous concerns ( finer points of pronunciation, the idea that a bad habit will be difficult to change, etc.) were unfounded. As it was pointed out, young children typically do not pronounce things correctly at first or know all the rules but learn as they continue to use language. I am glad that I had to be told that however. I think it is good to know the outline of these things.