Ancient Greek nouns
Encyclopedia
In Ancient Greek, all nouns are classified according to grammatical gender
(masculine, feminine, or neuter) and are used in a number
(singular, dual
, or plural
). According to their function in a sentence
, their form
changes to one of the five cases
(nominative
, genitive
, dative
, accusative
, or vocative
). The set of forms that a noun will take for each case and number is determined by the declension
that it follows.
, like the Proto-Indo-European
nominative, is used for the subject
and for things equal to the subject (predicate nouns or adjectives
):
corresponds to the Proto-Indo-European genitive or ablative. When the genitive corresponds to the PIE genitive, it has meanings that can often be translated with the preposition "of" or the English possessive case
:
When the genitive corresponds to the Proto-Indo-European ablative case
(this is the case when it is used with prepositions), it can often be translated by "from":
corresponds to the Proto-Indo-European dative, instrumental
, or locative
. When it corresponds to the dative, it expresses the person or thing that is indirectly affected by an action, and can often be translated with the prepositions "to" or "for":
When the dative corresponds to the Proto-Indo-European instrumental, it expresses the thing with which something is done, and can often be translated by the preposition "with":
When the dative corresponds to the Proto-Indo-European locative case (this is often the case when it is used with prepositions, it expresses location (sometimes figuratively) or time, and can often be translated by "in", "at", or "on"::
When it is used with prepositions, it frequently indicates motion towards.
and third-declension nouns with a single-syllable stem, the strong cases (nominative and accusative) have one type of accent, and the weak cases (genitive and dative) have another.
Specifically, the first- and second-declension nouns have acute in the strong cases, but circumflex in the weak cases —
— and the third-declension nouns accent the stem in the strong cases, but the ending in the weak cases:
Both of these patterns are summarized by a single rule: post-stem accent in the strong cases, and pre-ending accent in the weak cases.
For first- and second-declension nouns, the rule is more complex. The thematic vowel (ο or ᾱ) counts as neither stem nor ending, but alternates between the two depending on which accent is considered. For post-stem accent, it counts as part of the ending; for pre-ending accent, it counts as part of the stem.
, this changes to η everywhere except before ε, ι, or ρ. The first declension includes mostly feminine nouns, but also a few masculine nouns, including agent noun
s in -της, patronyms
in -ίδης, and demonym
s.
The first-declension genitive plural always takes a circumflex on the last syllable. In Homeric Greek the ending was -άων (ᾱ) or -έων (from quantitative metathesis
of *-ηων). -έων was contracted to -ῶν in Attic.
These were formed with the suffix -ι̯ᾰ or ιᾰ. The ι̯ (written as y or i̯ in Proto-Indo-European
, representing the semivowel
j) undergoes one of several sound changes with the consonant at the end of the stem:
retains the older masculine ending -ᾱ and uses ναύτᾱ "sailor" instead of ναύτης: compare Latin
nauta.
The masculine genitive singular ending comes from the second declension. Homeric Greek uses -ᾱο or -εω.
When a second-declension noun is accented on the ultima, the accent switches between acute for the nominative, accusative, and vocative, and circumflex for the genitive and dative. The only exceptions are Attic-declension and contracted nouns.
(switching of vowel lengths) changes it to -εως or -εων.
The placement of the accent does not change, even when the ultima is long, and all forms take an acute instead of a circumflex.
In these nouns, the vocative singular is the same as the nominative singular.
When the ultima is accented, it takes a circumflex in all forms, including the nominative, accusative, and vocative.
These nouns in the nominative singular end with the vowels α, ι, υ, ω or with the consonants ν, ρ, ς (ξ, ψ). They form the genitive case with -ος, ως or -ους.
Third-declension nouns may have one, two, or three stems. Each stem is used in different case-and-number forms. In nouns with two stems, the stem with the long vowel is called the strong stem, while the stem with the short vowel is called the weak stem. The strong stem is found at the nominative singular, and the weak stem in the genitive singular.
. It appears after consonants, or after a vowel where a consonant was lost (ϝ
, ι̯
, σ). The ending -νς always changes to -ας, except in the accusative plural of ἰχθύς, where it lengthens the preceding υ by compensatory lengthening
.
The mute
-stem nouns have stems ending in -κ-, -γ-, -χ- (velar-stem nouns), -π-, -β-, -φ- (labial-stem nouns), -τ-, -δ-, -θ- (dental-stem nouns).
The semi mute
-stem nouns have stems ending in -ν- (nasal-stem nouns), -λ-, -ρ- (liquid-stem nouns), -σ- (sibilant-stem nouns).
Nominative singular -ς and dative plural -σι cause pronunciation or spelling changes, depending on the consonant at the end of the stem.
In the nominative singular and dative plural, a dental τ, δ, θ before σ is lost: τάπης, not τάπητς.
If a noun is not accented on the last syllable and ends in -ις, -ης, or -υς, it often has an accusative singular in -ν and a vocative with no ending.
In the nominative singular and dative plural, ντ before σ is lost, and the previous vowel is lengthened
by compensatory lengthening
. In the vocative singular, final -τ is lost, as Ancient Greek words cannot end in stops.
When a noun is accented on the last syllable, the vocative singular is identical to the nominative:
These nouns have a weak stem in -οντ- and a strong stem in -ωντ-. The strong stem is used only in the nominative singular. The vocative singular is the weak stem without an ending. In both the nominative and vocative singular, the final τ disappears. In the dative plural, the σ in the ending causes the ντ to disappear, and the ο is lengthened to ου by compensatory lengthening
.
In these nouns, the stem originally ended in -ν̥τ- (with syllabic n
), which changed to -ατ- in Greek. In the nominative singular, the final -τ disappeared.
Some nouns have stems ending in -ν-. The nominative singular may end in -ς, causing compensatory lengthening, or have no ending.
Some nouns have a strong stem in -ην-, -ων- and a weak stem in -εν-, -ον-. The nominative singular is the only form with the strong stem. Nouns of this class that are not accented on the last syllable use the weak stem without an ending for the vocative singular.
Some nouns end in -ηρ, -ωρ and take the endings without any sound changes.
Some nouns have a nominative singular in -ηρ, -ωρ. The stem for the rest of the forms ends in -ερ-, -ορ-.
Nouns in this class that are not accented on the last syllable use the weak stem without an ending for the vocative singular.
Some nouns have a strong stem in -ηρ in the nominative singular, a middle stem in -ερ- in other forms, and a weak stem in -ρ(α)- in yet other forms. The α in the dative plural was added for ease of pronunciation; the original form ended in -ρσι.
These include ὁ πατήρ "father", ἡ μήτηρ "mother", ἡ θυγάτηρ "daughter), ἡ γαστήρ "stomach", ἡ Δημήτηρ "Demeter", ὁ ἀνήρ "man".
The first three and γαστήρ use the weak stem in the genitive and dative singular and in the dative plural. The rest use the weak stem in the genitive, dative, and accusative singular and in the plural.
The vocative singular is usually the middle stem without an ending and accent on the first syllable. The exception is γαστήρ:
σσ is simplified to single σ.
There are several masculine proper names with nominative singulars in -ης and stems in -εσ-. The vocative singular is the bare stem without an ending.
There are a few feminines with nominative singulars in -ως and stems in -οσ-.
Some neuter nouns have nominative, accusative, and vocative singulars in -ος, and stems in -εσ-.
from -υνς to -ῡς.
One stem is in -ι- or -υ-, another is in -ει- or -ευ-, and a third is in -ηι- or -ηυ-. But these stems underwent sound changes, so that they are no longer obvious. Before a vowel, the ι or υ in the second and third stem became the semivowel ι̯ or ϝ, and was lost. The long-vowel stem in the genitive singular was shortened, and the vowel in the ending lengthened (quantitative metathesis
). Therefore, there appear to be two stems, ending in ι/υ and ε.
The nouns with a vowel before the -εύς often contract the final ε of the stem (either original or from quantitative metathesis of η), which disappears into the following ω and ᾱ of the genitive and accusative singular and plural. As is the rule, the vowel resulting from contraction takes a circumflex:
Grammatical gender
Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
(masculine, feminine, or neuter) and are used in a number
Grammatical number
In linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions ....
(singular, dual
Dual (grammatical number)
Dual is a grammatical number that some languages use in addition to singular and plural. When a noun or pronoun appears in dual form, it is interpreted as referring to precisely two of the entities identified by the noun or pronoun...
, or plural
Plural
In linguistics, plurality or [a] plural is a concept of quantity representing a value of more-than-one. Typically applied to nouns, a plural word or marker is used to distinguish a value other than the default quantity of a noun, which is typically one...
). According to their function in a sentence
Sentence (linguistics)
In the field of linguistics, a sentence is an expression in natural language, and often defined to indicate a grammatical unit consisting of one or more words that generally bear minimal syntactic relation to the words that precede or follow it...
, their form
Morphology (linguistics)
In linguistics, morphology is the identification, analysis and description, in a language, of the structure of morphemes and other linguistic units, such as words, affixes, parts of speech, intonation/stress, or implied context...
changes to one of the five cases
Grammatical case
In grammar, the case of a noun or pronoun is an inflectional form that indicates its grammatical function in a phrase, clause, or sentence. For example, a pronoun may play the role of subject , of direct object , or of possessor...
(nominative
Nominative case
The nominative case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or the predicate noun or predicate adjective, as opposed to its object or other verb arguments...
, genitive
Genitive case
In grammar, genitive is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun...
, dative
Dative case
The dative case is a grammatical case generally used to indicate the noun to whom something is given, as in "George gave Jamie a drink"....
, accusative
Accusative case
The accusative case of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb. The same case is used in many languages for the objects of prepositions...
, or vocative
Vocative case
The vocative case is the case used for a noun identifying the person being addressed and/or occasionally the determiners of that noun. A vocative expression is an expression of direct address, wherein the identity of the party being spoken to is set forth expressly within a sentence...
). The set of forms that a noun will take for each case and number is determined by the declension
Declension
In linguistics, declension is the inflection of nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and articles to indicate number , case , and gender...
that it follows.
Nominative
The Ancient Greek nominativeNominative case
The nominative case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or the predicate noun or predicate adjective, as opposed to its object or other verb arguments...
, like the Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European language
The Proto-Indo-European language is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans...
nominative, is used for the subject
Subject (grammar)
The subject is one of the two main constituents of a clause, according to a tradition that can be tracked back to Aristotle and that is associated with phrase structure grammars; the other constituent is the predicate. According to another tradition, i.e...
and for things equal to the subject (predicate nouns or adjectives
Subject complement
In grammar, a subject complement is a phrase or clause that follows a linking verb and that complements the subject of the sentence by either renaming it or describing it. In the former case, a renaming noun phrase such as a noun or pronoun is called a predicate nominative...
):
- ὁ Σωκράτης ἦν σωφός. "Socrates was wise."
Genitive
The Ancient Greek genitiveGenitive case
In grammar, genitive is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun...
corresponds to the Proto-Indo-European genitive or ablative. When the genitive corresponds to the PIE genitive, it has meanings that can often be translated with the preposition "of" or the English possessive case
Possessive case
The possessive case of a language is a grammatical case used to indicate a relationship of possession. It is not the same as the genitive case, which can express a wider range of relationships, though the two have similar meanings in many languages.See Possession for a survey of the different...
:
- ὁ Ἀλέξανδρος εἰσῆλθε ἐις τὴν τοῦ Παρμενίωνος οἰκίαν. "Alexander entered the house of Parmenion." (or "Parmenion's house")
When the genitive corresponds to the Proto-Indo-European ablative case
Ablative case
In linguistics, ablative case is a name given to cases in various languages whose common characteristic is that they mark motion away from something, though the details in each language may differ...
(this is the case when it is used with prepositions), it can often be translated by "from":
- τοῦ Ὁμήρου ἔμαθον τὴν τῶν ἐπῶν ποίησιν. "From Homer I learned the composition of epic poetry."
Dative
The Ancient Greek dativeDative case
The dative case is a grammatical case generally used to indicate the noun to whom something is given, as in "George gave Jamie a drink"....
corresponds to the Proto-Indo-European dative, instrumental
Instrumental case
The instrumental case is a grammatical case used to indicate that a noun is the instrument or means by or with which the subject achieves or accomplishes an action...
, or locative
Locative case
Locative is a grammatical case which indicates a location. It corresponds vaguely to the English prepositions "in", "on", "at", and "by"...
. When it corresponds to the dative, it expresses the person or thing that is indirectly affected by an action, and can often be translated with the prepositions "to" or "for":
- ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπε τῷ Παύλῳ: ἐλθὲ μετ' ἐμοῦ. "Jesus said to Paul: Come with me."
When the dative corresponds to the Proto-Indo-European instrumental, it expresses the thing with which something is done, and can often be translated by the preposition "with":
- κόπτω πελέκει. "I am cutting with an axe."
When the dative corresponds to the Proto-Indo-European locative case (this is often the case when it is used with prepositions, it expresses location (sometimes figuratively) or time, and can often be translated by "in", "at", or "on"::
- ἑβδομηκοστῷ ἔτει ὁ Σωκράτης ἀπέθανε. "In his seventieth year Socrates died."
Accusative
The accusative has meanings derived from the Proto-Indo-European accusative:- ἔφαγε τὸ βρῶμα. "He ate the food."
When it is used with prepositions, it frequently indicates motion towards.
Vocative
The vocative is used for addressing people or things. It is frequently the same as the nominative in the singular and always the same in the plural.- ὦ Ἀλέξανδρε, Ἰᾶσον, ἔλθετε. "Alexander, Jason, come."
Accent of strong and weak cases
For first- and second-declension nouns accented on the ultimaUltima
Ultima is a series of fantasy role-playing video games from Origin Systems, Inc. Ultima was created by Richard Garriott, a.k.a. Lord British. Several games of the series are considered seminal games of their genre...
and third-declension nouns with a single-syllable stem, the strong cases (nominative and accusative) have one type of accent, and the weak cases (genitive and dative) have another.
Specifically, the first- and second-declension nouns have acute in the strong cases, but circumflex in the weak cases —
- ἀγορά, ἀγοράν — ἀγορᾶς, ἀγορᾷ "gathering, marketplace"
- ἀγοραί, ἀγοράς — ἀγορῶν, ἀγοραῖς
- θεός, θεόν — θεοῦ, θεῷ "god"
- θεοί, θεούς — θεῶν, θεοῖς
— and the third-declension nouns accent the stem in the strong cases, but the ending in the weak cases:
- πούς, πόδα — ποδός, ποδί "foot"
- πόδες, πόδας — ποδῶν, ποσί
Both of these patterns are summarized by a single rule: post-stem accent in the strong cases, and pre-ending accent in the weak cases.
For first- and second-declension nouns, the rule is more complex. The thematic vowel (ο or ᾱ) counts as neither stem nor ending, but alternates between the two depending on which accent is considered. For post-stem accent, it counts as part of the ending; for pre-ending accent, it counts as part of the stem.
| pre-ending accent |
post-stem accent |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st decl. |
ἀγοραά- | ἀγοραά-ν | ἀγορ-άὰς | ἀγορ-άαεὶ |
| ἀγορά-ι̯ | ἀγοραά-νς | ἀγορ-άαὼν | ἀγορ-άαὶς | |
| 2nd decl. |
θεό-ς | θεό-ν | θε-όὸ | θε-όεὶ |
| θεό-ι̯ | θεό-νς | θε-όὼν | θε-όὶς | |
| 3rd decl. |
πόδ-ς | πόδ-ν | ποδ-ός | ποδ-ί |
| πόδ-ες | πόδ-νς | ποδ-όον | ποδ-σί | |
First declension
The first declension or alpha declension is pseudo-thematic, with long alpha (ᾱ) at the end of the stem. In Attic GreekAttic Greek
Attic Greek is the prestige dialect of Ancient Greek that was spoken in Attica, which includes Athens. Of the ancient dialects, it is the most similar to later Greek, and is the standard form of the language studied in courses of "Ancient Greek". It is sometimes included in Ionic.- Origin and range...
, this changes to η everywhere except before ε, ι, or ρ. The first declension includes mostly feminine nouns, but also a few masculine nouns, including agent noun
Agent noun
In linguistics, an agent noun is a word that is derived from another word denoting an action, and that identifies an entity that does that action. For example, "driver" is an agent noun formed from the verb "drive". The endings "-er", "-or", and "-ist" are commonly used in English to form agent...
s in -της, patronyms
Patronymic
A patronym, or patronymic, is a component of a personal name based on the name of one's father, grandfather or an even earlier male ancestor. A component of a name based on the name of one's mother or a female ancestor is a matronymic. Each is a means of conveying lineage.In many areas patronyms...
in -ίδης, and demonym
Demonym
A demonym , also referred to as a gentilic, is a name for a resident of a locality. A demonym is usually – though not always – derived from the name of the locality; thus, the demonym for the people of England is English, and the demonym for the people of Italy is Italian, yet, in english, the one...
s.
The first-declension genitive plural always takes a circumflex on the last syllable. In Homeric Greek the ending was -άων (ᾱ) or -έων (from quantitative metathesis
Quantitative metathesis
Quantitative metathesis is a specific form of metathesis or transposition involving quantity or vowel length...
of *-ηων). -έων was contracted to -ῶν in Attic.
Feminine long a-stem
| feminine: ἡ Article (grammar) An article is a word that combines with a noun to indicate the type of reference being made by the noun. Articles specify the grammatical definiteness of the noun, in some languages extending to volume or numerical scope. The articles in the English language are the and a/an, and some... |
||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ᾱ | η | |||||||
| χώρᾱ- "country" |
θεᾱ´- "goddess" |
οἰκίᾱ- "house" |
φωνή- "voice" |
|||||
| sg. | pl. | sg. | pl. | sg. | pl. | sg. | pl. | |
| nominative vocative |
χώρᾱ | χῶραι | θεά | θεαί | οἰκίᾱ | οἰκίαι | φωνή | φωναί |
| genitive | χώρᾱς | χωρῶν | θεᾶς | θεῶν | οἰκίᾱς | οἰκιῶν | φωνῆς | φωνῶν |
| dative | χώρᾳ | χώραις | θεᾷ | θεαῖς | οἰκίᾳ | οἰκίαις | φωνῆ | φωναῖς |
| accusative | χώρᾱν | χώρᾱς | θεάν | θεάς | οἰκίᾱν | οἰκίᾱς | φωνήν | φωνάς |
Feminine short a-stem
Some nouns have short ᾰ in the nominative, accusative, and vocative singular, but are otherwise identical to other feminine first-declension nouns. They are recessively accented.These were formed with the suffix -ι̯ᾰ or ιᾰ. The ι̯ (written as y or i̯ in Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European language
The Proto-Indo-European language is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans...
, representing the semivowel
Semivowel
In phonetics and phonology, a semivowel is a sound, such as English or , that is phonetically similar to a vowel sound but functions as the syllable boundary rather than as the nucleus of a syllable.-Classification:...
j) undergoes one of several sound changes with the consonant at the end of the stem:
- *γλωχ-ι̯ᾰ → γλῶσσᾰ, Attic γλῶττᾰ "tongue" (palatalizationPalatalizationIn linguistics, palatalization , also palatization, may refer to two different processes by which a sound, usually a consonant, comes to be produced with the tongue in a position in the mouth near the palate....
; compare γλωχῑν "point") - *μορ-ι̯ᾰ → μοῖρᾰ "portion" (metathesisMetathesis (linguistics)Metathesis is the re-arranging of sounds or syllables in a word, or of words in a sentence. Most commonly it refers to the switching of two or more contiguous sounds, known as adjacent metathesis or local metathesis:...
; compare μόρος) - *γεφυρ-ι̯ᾰ → γέφῡρᾰ "bridge" (compensatory lengtheningCompensatory lengtheningCompensatory lengthening in phonology and historical linguistics is the lengthening of a vowel sound that happens upon the loss of a following consonant, usually in the syllable coda...
of υ after loss of ι̯) - *ἀληθεσ-ι̯ᾰ → ἀλήθειᾰ "truth" (assimilationAssimilation (linguistics)Assimilation is a common phonological process by which the sound of the ending of one word blends into the sound of the beginning of the following word. This occurs when the parts of the mouth and vocal cords start to form the beginning sounds of the next word before the last sound has been...
of σ to ι̯; compare ἀληθές "something true")
| feminine: ἡ | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ᾱ | η | |||
| ἀληθείᾱ- (ᾰ-) "truth" |
γλώσση- (ᾰ-) "tongue" |
|||
| sg. | pl. | sg. | pl. | |
| nominative vocative |
ἀλήθει | ἀλήθειαι | γλῶσσ | γλῶσσαι |
| genitive | ἀληθείᾱς | ἀληθειῶν | γλώσσης | γλωσσῶν |
| dative | ἀληθείᾳ | ἀληθείαις | γλώσσῃ | γλώσσαις |
| accusative | ἀλήθειᾰν | ἀληθείᾱς | γλῶσσᾰν | γλώσσᾱς |
Masculine a-stem
Masculine first-declension nouns end in -ᾱς or -ης in Attic. HomerHomer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
retains the older masculine ending -ᾱ and uses ναύτᾱ "sailor" instead of ναύτης: compare Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
nauta.
The masculine genitive singular ending comes from the second declension. Homeric Greek uses -ᾱο or -εω.
| masculine: ὁ | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ᾱς | ης | |||
| νεᾱνίᾱ- "young man" |
ποιητή- "poet" |
|||
| sg. | pl. | sg. | pl. | |
| nominative | νεᾱνίᾱς | νεᾱνίαι | ποιητής | ποιηταί |
| genitive | νεᾱνίου | νεᾱνιῶν | ποιητοῦ | ποιητῶν |
| dative | νεᾱνίᾳ | νεᾱνίαις | ποιητῇ | ποιηταῖς |
| accusative | νεᾱνίᾱν | νεᾱνίᾱς | ποιητήν | ποιητάς |
| vocative | νεᾱνί | same as nominative |
ποιητά (ᾰ) | same as nominative |
Second declension
The second or omicron declension is thematic, with an -ο or -ε at the end of the stem. It includes one class of masculine and feminine nouns and one class of neuter nouns.When a second-declension noun is accented on the ultima, the accent switches between acute for the nominative, accusative, and vocative, and circumflex for the genitive and dative. The only exceptions are Attic-declension and contracted nouns.
Masculine and feminine o-stems
Masculine and feminine both end in -ος, and can only be distinguished by an article or adjective.| masculine: ὁ | feminine: ἡ | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἄνθρωπο- "person" |
ὁδό- "way" |
|||
| sg. | pl. | sg. | pl. | |
| nominative | ἄνθρωπος | ἄνθρωποι | ὁδός | ὁδοί |
| genitive | ἀνθρώπου | ἀνθρώπων | ὁδοῦ | ὁδῶν |
| dative | ἀνθρώπῳ | ἀνθρώποις | ὁδῷ | ὁδοῖς |
| accusative | ἄνθρωπον | ἀνθρώπους | ὁδόν | ὁδούς |
| vocative | ἄνθρωπε | same as nominative |
ὁδέ | same as nominative |
Neuter o-stems
In the neuter, the nominative, accusative, and vocative are the same, with a singular in -ον and plural in -ᾰ. Other forms are identical to the masculine and feminine second declension.| neuter: τό | ||
|---|---|---|
| δῶρο- "gift" |
||
| singular | plural | |
| nominative, vocative, accusative |
δῶρον | δῶρ |
| genitive | δώρου | δώρων |
| dative | δώρῳ | δώροις |
Attic declension
In Attic, some second-declension nouns and adjectives have endings with lengthened vowels. When a noun or adjective ends in -ηος or -ηον, quantitative metathesisQuantitative metathesis
Quantitative metathesis is a specific form of metathesis or transposition involving quantity or vowel length...
(switching of vowel lengths) changes it to -εως or -εων.
- ο, ου → ω
- οι → ῳ
- original ῳ remains.
The placement of the accent does not change, even when the ultima is long, and all forms take an acute instead of a circumflex.
In these nouns, the vocative singular is the same as the nominative singular.
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Contracted second declension
In Attic, nouns and adjectives ending in -εος or -οος and -εον or -οον are contracted so that they end in -ους and -ουν.When the ultima is accented, it takes a circumflex in all forms, including the nominative, accusative, and vocative.
| masculine | ||
|---|---|---|
| νοῦ- (νόο-) "mind" |
||
| sg. | pl. | |
| nominative | νοῦς | νοῖ |
| genitive | νοῦ | νῶν |
| dative | νῷ | νοῖς |
| accusative | νοῦν | νοῦς |
| vocative | νοῦ | same as nominative |
Third declension
The third declension group includes masculine, feminine and neuter nouns. It is an athematic declension that lacks the standard thematic vowels of the two thematic declensions above. This results in varied and often complex phonemic interactions between stem and suffix, especially so between adjacent consonants, that often make these nouns appear to be highly irregular compared to their straightforward thematic counterparts.These nouns in the nominative singular end with the vowels α, ι, υ, ω or with the consonants ν, ρ, ς (ξ, ψ). They form the genitive case with -ος, ως or -ους.
Third-declension nouns may have one, two, or three stems. Each stem is used in different case-and-number forms. In nouns with two stems, the stem with the long vowel is called the strong stem, while the stem with the short vowel is called the weak stem. The strong stem is found at the nominative singular, and the weak stem in the genitive singular.
- ἡγεμών (long vowel, strong stem: nominative singular)
- ἡγεμόνος (short vowel, weak stem: genitive singular)
Suffixes
The α of the accusative singular and plural comes from ν pronounced as a vowelSyllabic consonant
A syllabic consonant is a consonant which either forms a syllable on its own, or is the nucleus of a syllable. The diacritic for this in the International Phonetic Alphabet is the under-stroke, ⟨⟩...
. It appears after consonants, or after a vowel where a consonant was lost (ϝ
Digamma
Digamma is an archaic letter of the Greek alphabet which originally stood for the sound /w/ and later remained in use only as a numeral symbol for the number "6"...
, ι̯
Palatal approximant
The palatal approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is '...
, σ). The ending -νς always changes to -ας, except in the accusative plural of ἰχθύς, where it lengthens the preceding υ by compensatory lengthening
Compensatory lengthening
Compensatory lengthening in phonology and historical linguistics is the lengthening of a vowel sound that happens upon the loss of a following consonant, usually in the syllable coda...
.
EWLINE
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Consonant-stems
These nouns end in -ν, -ρ, -ς (-ξ, -ψ). Based on the last letter of the stem, they are divided into two categories:The mute
Stop consonant
In phonetics, a plosive, also known as an occlusive or an oral stop, is a stop consonant in which the vocal tract is blocked so that all airflow ceases. The occlusion may be done with the tongue , lips , and &...
-stem nouns have stems ending in -κ-, -γ-, -χ- (velar-stem nouns), -π-, -β-, -φ- (labial-stem nouns), -τ-, -δ-, -θ- (dental-stem nouns).
The semi mute
Continuant
A continuant is a sound produced with an incomplete closure of the vocal tract. That is, any sound except a stop or nasal. An affricate is considered to be a complex segment, composed of both a stop and a continuant.-See also:...
-stem nouns have stems ending in -ν- (nasal-stem nouns), -λ-, -ρ- (liquid-stem nouns), -σ- (sibilant-stem nouns).
Nominative singular -ς and dative plural -σι cause pronunciation or spelling changes, depending on the consonant at the end of the stem.
| consonant at end of stem | nominative singular, dative plural |
|
|---|---|---|
| no consonant | — | -ς, -σι |
| dental | τ, δ, θ | -ς, -σι |
| velar | κ, γ, χ | -ξ, -ξι |
| labial | π, β, φ | -ψ, -ψι |
Velar- and labial-stems
In the nominative singular and dative plural, the velars κ, γ, χ combined with σ are written as ξ, and the labials π, β, φ combined with σ are written as ψ.| masc. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| κορακ- "raven" |
γῡπ- "vulture" |
|||
| sg. | pl. | sg. | pl. | |
| nominative, vocative |
κόραξ | κόρακες | γύψ | γῦπες |
| genitive | κόρακος | κοράκων | γυπός | γυπῶν |
| dative | κόρακι | κόραξι | γυπί | γυψί |
| accusative | κόρακα | κόρακας | γῦπα | γῦπας |
Stems in t
In the nominative singular and dative plural, a dental τ, δ, θ before σ is lost: τάπης, not τάπητς.
| masc. | ||
|---|---|---|
| ταπητ- "floor" |
||
| sg. | pl. | |
| nominative, vocative |
τάπης | τάπητες |
| genitive | τάπητος | ταπήτων |
| dative | τάπητι | τάπησι |
| accusative | τάπητα | τάπητας |
If a noun is not accented on the last syllable and ends in -ις, -ης, or -υς, it often has an accusative singular in -ν and a vocative with no ending.
- ἡ χάρις, Πάρνης, κόρυς
- τὴν χάριν, Πάρνην, κόρυν (accusative)
- ὦ χάρι, Πάρνη, κόρυ (vocative)
Single-stems in nt
In the nominative singular and dative plural, ντ before σ is lost, and the previous vowel is lengthened
Vowel length
In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived duration of a vowel sound. Often the chroneme, or the "longness", acts like a consonant, and may etymologically be one, such as in Australian English. While not distinctive in most dialects of English, vowel length is an important phonemic factor in...
by compensatory lengthening
Compensatory lengthening
Compensatory lengthening in phonology and historical linguistics is the lengthening of a vowel sound that happens upon the loss of a following consonant, usually in the syllable coda...
. In the vocative singular, final -τ is lost, as Ancient Greek words cannot end in stops.
| masc. | ||
|---|---|---|
| γιγαντ- "giant" |
||
| Singular | Plural | |
| nominative | γίγᾱς | γίγαντες |
| genitive | γίγαντος | γιγάντων |
| dative | γίγαντι | γίγᾱσι |
| accusative | γίγαντα | γίγαντας |
| vocative | γίγαν | γίγαντες |
When a noun is accented on the last syllable, the vocative singular is identical to the nominative:
- ὁ ἰμάς
- ὦ ἰμάς (vocative)
Double-stems in nt
These nouns have a weak stem in -οντ- and a strong stem in -ωντ-. The strong stem is used only in the nominative singular. The vocative singular is the weak stem without an ending. In both the nominative and vocative singular, the final τ disappears. In the dative plural, the σ in the ending causes the ντ to disappear, and the ο is lengthened to ου by compensatory lengthening
Compensatory lengthening
Compensatory lengthening in phonology and historical linguistics is the lengthening of a vowel sound that happens upon the loss of a following consonant, usually in the syllable coda...
.
| masc. | ||
|---|---|---|
| γερων(τ)-, γεροντ- "old man" |
||
| sg. | pl. | |
| nominative | γέρων | γέροντες |
| genitive | γέροντος | γερόντων |
| dative | γέροντι | γέρουσι |
| accusative | γέροντα | γέροντας |
| vocative | γέρον | γέροντες |
Stems in at
In these nouns, the stem originally ended in -ν̥τ- (with syllabic n
Syllabic consonant
A syllabic consonant is a consonant which either forms a syllable on its own, or is the nucleus of a syllable. The diacritic for this in the International Phonetic Alphabet is the under-stroke, ⟨⟩...
), which changed to -ατ- in Greek. In the nominative singular, the final -τ disappeared.
| neut. | ||
|---|---|---|
| κτηματ- "property" |
||
| sg. | pl. | |
| nominative, accusative, vocative |
κτῆμα | κτήματα |
| genitive | κτήματος | κτημάτων |
| dative | κτήματι | κτήμασι |
Single-stems in an, en, in, on
Some nouns have stems ending in -ν-. The nominative singular may end in -ς, causing compensatory lengthening, or have no ending.
| fem. | ||
|---|---|---|
| ἀκτιν- beam |
||
| sg. | pl. | |
| nominative, vocative |
ἀκτίς | ἀκτῖνες |
| genitive | ἀκτῖνος | ἀκτίνων |
| dative | ἀκτῖνι | ἀκτῖσι |
| accusative | ἀκτῖνα | ἀκτῖνας |
Double-stems in en, on
Some nouns have a strong stem in -ην-, -ων- and a weak stem in -εν-, -ον-. The nominative singular is the only form with the strong stem. Nouns of this class that are not accented on the last syllable use the weak stem without an ending for the vocative singular.
- ὁ γείτων
- ὦ γεῖτον (vocative)
masc. ἡγεμων-, ηγεμον-
"leader "Singular Plural nominative,
vocativeἡγεμών ἡγεμόνες genitive ἡγεμόνος ἡγεμόνων dative ἡγεμόνι ἡγεμόσι accusative ἡγεμόνα ἡγεμόνας
- ὦ γεῖτον (vocative)
Liquid-stems
Liquid-stems have stems ending in -λ- or -ρ-. Unlike mute-stems, these nouns do not change in spelling or pronunciation when the dative plural ending -σι is added.Single-stems in er, or
Some nouns end in -ηρ, -ωρ and take the endings without any sound changes.
| masc. | ||
|---|---|---|
| κλητηρ- "usher" |
||
| sg. | pl. | |
| nominative | κλητήρ | κλητῆρες |
| genitive | κλητῆρος | κλητήρων |
| dative | κλητῆρι | κλητῆρσι |
| accusative | κλητῆρα | κλητῆρας |
| vocative | κλητήρ | κλητῆρες |
Double-stems in er, or
Some nouns have a nominative singular in -ηρ, -ωρ. The stem for the rest of the forms ends in -ερ-, -ορ-.
Nouns in this class that are not accented on the last syllable use the weak stem without an ending for the vocative singular.
| masc. | ||
|---|---|---|
| ῥητωρ-, ῥητορ- "orator" |
||
| sg. | pl. | |
| nominative | ῥήτωρ | ῥήτορες |
| genitive | ῥήτορος | ῥητόρων |
| dative | ῥήτορι | ῥήτορσι |
| accusative | ῥήτορα | ῥήτορας |
| vocative | ῥῆτορ | ῥήτορες |
Triple-stems in er
Some nouns have a strong stem in -ηρ in the nominative singular, a middle stem in -ερ- in other forms, and a weak stem in -ρ(α)- in yet other forms. The α in the dative plural was added for ease of pronunciation; the original form ended in -ρσι.
These include ὁ πατήρ "father", ἡ μήτηρ "mother", ἡ θυγάτηρ "daughter), ἡ γαστήρ "stomach", ἡ Δημήτηρ "Demeter", ὁ ἀνήρ "man".
The first three and γαστήρ use the weak stem in the genitive and dative singular and in the dative plural. The rest use the weak stem in the genitive, dative, and accusative singular and in the plural.
The vocative singular is usually the middle stem without an ending and accent on the first syllable. The exception is γαστήρ:
- ἡ γαστήρ
- ὦ γαστήρ (vocative)
| masc. | ||
|---|---|---|
| πατηρ-, πατερ-, πατρ(α)- father |
||
| sg. | pl. | |
| nominative | πατήρ | πατέρες |
| genitive | πατρός | πατέρων |
| dative | πατρί | πατράσι |
| accusative | πατέρα | πατέρας |
| vocative | πάτερ | πατέρες |
S-stems
Nouns in all three genders have stems ending in -εσ- or -οσ-. Before vowel endings, the σ is lost. In Attic, the ο or ε is contracted with the vowel of the ending. When σ combines with the -σι of the dative plural, the doubleGemination
In phonetics, gemination happens when a spoken consonant is pronounced for an audibly longer period of time than a short consonant. Gemination is distinct from stress and may appear independently of it....
σσ is simplified to single σ.
Masculines in es
There are several masculine proper names with nominative singulars in -ης and stems in -εσ-. The vocative singular is the bare stem without an ending.
| Σωκρατε(σ)- Socrates Socrates Socrates was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary ... |
|
|---|---|
| sg. | |
| nominative | Σωκράτης |
| genitive | Σωκράτους |
| dative | Σωκράτει |
| accusative | Σωκράτη |
| vocative | Σώκρατες |
Feminines in os
There are a few feminines with nominative singulars in -ως and stems in -οσ-.
| fem. | ||
|---|---|---|
| αἰδωσ-, αἰδο(σ)- shame |
||
| sg. | ||
| nominative, vocative |
αἰδώς | |
| genitive | αἰδοῦς | |
| dative | αἰδοῖ | |
| accusative | αἰδῶ | |
Neuters in es
Some neuter nouns have nominative, accusative, and vocative singulars in -ος, and stems in -εσ-.
| βελοσ-, βελε(σ)- "missile" |
||
|---|---|---|
| sg. | pl. | |
| nominative, accusative, vocative |
βέλος | βέλη |
| genitive | βέλους | βελῶν |
| dative | βέλει | βέλεσι |
Stems in long o
These take the suffixes without sound changes.- nom.: ὁ ἥρως (hḗrōs - "hero"), gen.: τοῦ ἥρωος (hḗrōοs), voc.: ὦ ἥρως (hḗrōs) etc., nom.: οἱ ἥρωες (hḗrōes), gen.: τῶν ἡρώων (hērṓōn) etc.
Single-stems in u
Because these nouns have a stem ending in -υ-, the accusative singular appears as -υν rather than -υα, and the accusative plural changes by compensatory lengtheningCompensatory lengthening
Compensatory lengthening in phonology and historical linguistics is the lengthening of a vowel sound that happens upon the loss of a following consonant, usually in the syllable coda...
from -υνς to -ῡς.
| masc./fem. | ||
|---|---|---|
| ἰχθυ- "fish" |
||
| sg. | pl. | |
| nominative | ἰχθύς | ἰχθύες |
| genitive | ἰχθύος | ἰχθύων |
| dative | ἰχθύϊ | ἰχθύσι |
| accusative | ἰχθύν | ἰχθῦς |
| vocative | ἰχθύ | ἰχθύες |
Triple-stems in i or u
There are many feminine nouns in -ις, and a few masculine nouns in -υς, and one neuter noun: ἄστυ "town".One stem is in -ι- or -υ-, another is in -ει- or -ευ-, and a third is in -ηι- or -ηυ-. But these stems underwent sound changes, so that they are no longer obvious. Before a vowel, the ι or υ in the second and third stem became the semivowel ι̯ or ϝ, and was lost. The long-vowel stem in the genitive singular was shortened, and the vowel in the ending lengthened (quantitative metathesis
Quantitative metathesis
Quantitative metathesis is a specific form of metathesis or transposition involving quantity or vowel length...
). Therefore, there appear to be two stems, ending in ι/υ and ε.
| feminine | ||
|---|---|---|
| πολι-, πολε(ι̯)-, πόληι(̯)- "city" |
||
| sg. | pl. | |
| nominative | πόλις | πόλεις |
| genitive | πόλεως | πόλεων |
| dative | πόλει | πόλεσι |
| accusative | πόλιν | πόλεις |
| vocative | πόλι | πόλεις |
Stems in eu, au, ou
The nouns in -ευς have two stems: one with short ε, another with long η. Both originally ended with digamma, which by the time of Classical Greek had either vanished or changed to υ. Thus the stems end in -ε(υ)-, from *-εϝ-, and -η-, from *-ηϝ-. In Attic Greek the η of the stem underwent quantitative metathesis with the vowel of the ending — the switching of their lengths. This is the origin of the -ως, -ᾱ, and ᾱς of the forms based on the stem in -η-.| masculine | ||
|---|---|---|
| βασιληυ- "king" |
||
| sg. | pl. | |
| nominative | βασιλεύς | βασιλεῖς |
| genitive | βασιλέως | βασιλέων |
| dative | βασιλεῖ | βασιλεῦσι |
| accusative | βασιλέᾱ | βασιλέᾱς |
| vocative | βασιλεῦ | βασιλεῖς |
The nouns with a vowel before the -εύς often contract the final ε of the stem (either original or from quantitative metathesis of η), which disappears into the following ω and ᾱ of the genitive and accusative singular and plural. As is the rule, the vowel resulting from contraction takes a circumflex:
- nom.: ἁλιεύς (halieús), gen.: ἁλιέως (haliéōs) and ἁλιῶς (haliôs), ἁλιέων (haliéōn) and ἁλιῶν (haliôn), acc.: ἁλιέα (haliéa) and ἁλιᾶ (haliâ), ἁλιέας (haliéas) and ἁλιᾶς (haliâs).
Stems in oi
Stems in -οι- end in -ω in the nominative singular. The ι becomes the semivowel ι̯ and is lost, except in the vocative singular. There are no plural forms; when the plural does appear, it follows the second declension. The rest of the cases are formed by contraction.| feminine | ||
|---|---|---|
| ἠχω-, ἠχο(ι̯)- "echo" |
||
| sg. | ||
| nominative, accusative |
ἠχώ | |
| genitive | ἠχοῦς | |
| dative | ἠχοῖ | |
| vocative | ἠχοῖ | |
Diminutive suffixes
New nouns may be formed by suffix addition. Sometimes suffixes are added on top of each other:- βύβλος búblos "papyrus"
- βιβλίον biblíon "book"
- βιβλάριον, βιβλιάριον, βιβλαρίδιον, βιβλιδάριον "small scroll"
- biblárion, biblarídion, biblarídion, biblidárion
- βιβλίδιον biblídion "petition"