Comparative Teaching of Old Greek and Latin/Lesson 03 Part 1
Comparative Teaching of Old Greek and Latin Lesson 03 Part 1
Translated from the Greek Wikipedia|Wikiversity: "Συγκριτική διδασκαλία των κλασικών γλωσσών / (Comparative Teaching of the Classical Languages)"
LESSON 03 PART 1. The substantives of male gender. Masculine substantives.
(All substantives must be learned with their nominative and genitive cases.)
3.1.1. The masculine substantives of the Old Greek Language.
Substantives or nouns are the declinable words that mean persons, animals, things, energy, situation or property and are separated in concrete (ἄνθρωπος) and abstract (ἐνέργεια), in proper (Σωκράτης) and common (πόλις). Masculine nouns in Ancient Greek are those that take as article the particle (ὁ). The Old Greek Language, as well as Latin Language, maintained the thematic masculine substantives of the Indoeuropean Language, that is to say, those that take a thematic vowel between the stem of the word and the ending, in the first and second declensions and the not thematic in the third declension. The masculine nouns of the first declension are formed with the thematic vowel of the Indoeuropean Language -a- and of the second declension with the thematic vowel -ο-. From the three languages that maintain better the inflection system of substantives of the Indoeuropean Language, that is to say, Greek, Latin and Sanskrit, Ancient Greek approaches more to the declension forms of the Indoeuropean Language, as they are shown in the following table:
Declension of the masculine substantives of the first and second declension:
Article / Indoeuropean in -ος / A' declension in -ης / Β΄ declension in -ος / B΄ declension contracted
Singular number
ὁ / * agr-o-s1,2,3,4 / λοχί-ας / ἐργάτ-ης / βί-ος / ἔκπλους
τοῦ / * agr-o-sjo / λοχί-ου / ἐργάτ-ου / βί-ου / ἔκπλου
τῷ / * agr-o-i / λοχί-ᾳ / ἐργάτ-ῃ / βί-ῳ / ἔκπλῳ
τὸν / * agr-o-m / λοχί-αν / ἐργάτ-ην / βί-ον / ἔκπλουν
ὦ / - / λοχί-α / ἐργάτ-α / βί-ε / ἔκπλου
Plural number
οἱ / * agr-o- s / λοχί-αι / ἐργάτ-αι / βί-οι / ἔκπλοι
τῶν / * agr-o-m / λοχι-ῶν / ἐργατ-ῶν / βί-ων / ἔκπλων
τοῖς / - / λοχί-αις / ἐργάτ-αις / βί-οις / ἔκπλοις
τοὺς / * agr-o-ns / λοχί-ας / ἐργάτ-ας / βί-ους / ἔκπλους
ὦ / - / λοχί-αι / ἐργάτ-αι / βί-οι / ἔκπλοι
Dual number
τὼ / - / λοχί-α / ἐργάτ-α / βί-ω / ἔκπλω
τοῖν / - / λοχίαιν / ἐργάτ-αιν / βίοιν / ἔκπλοιν
The first declension includes masculine nouns ending in -ας and -ης. All of them in genitive singular end in -ου and in genitive plural are stressed in the ending, with the exception of the substantive "οἱ ἐτησίαι τῶν ἐτησίων" which means annual winds, etesian winds. The national names (ὦ Πέρσα), those nouns which do end in -της (ὦ πολῖτα) and the compound nouns having as second part the -άρχης, -μέτρης, -πώλης, -τρίβης, -ώνης, (ὦ γυμνασιάρχα, ὦ παντοπῶλα), form the singular vocative in -α instead of -η.
There also exist the contracted nouns of the first declension as Ἑρμέας, -ῆς, which are declined precisely as the non contracted ones, but they contract the thematic vowel -α with the preceding -α or -ε of the stem (Ἑρμέας -ῆς, Ἑρμέου -οῦ, Ἑρμέα -ῇ, Ἑρμέαν -ῆν, Ἑρμέα -ῆ, Ἑρμέαι -αῖ, Ἑρμεῶν -ῶν, Ἑρμέαις -αῖς, Ἑρμέας -ᾶς, Ἑρμέαι -αῖ). We shall analyze in the texts the forms of the dual number. The article τώ of the dual number is used for the nominative, accusative, vocative and the article τοῖν for the genitive and dative.
The second declension as well has contracted nouns in -όος -οῦς, that they contract the thematic vowel -ο- with the preceding -ο- or -ε- of the stem (πλόος, -οῦς, πλόου -οῦ, πλόω -ῷ, πλόον - πλοῦν, πλόε -οῦ, πλόες -οῖ, πλόων -ῶν, πλόοις -πλοῖς, πλόους -οῦς, πλόες -οῖ).
The ending -osjo or -oso of the Indoeuropean Language became -ου in Old Greek, after the missing of -σ- between vowels and the contraction of the remaining two -ο into -ου. The ending -m of the accusative of singular and of the genitive plural became -ν. The -n of the ending of the accusative plural was removed before -s while at the same time the previous short thematic vowel -ο- became long -ου-.
Declension of the masculine substantives of the third declension:
Article / Indoeuropean / ending in palatal (κ,γ,χ) / ending in -ντ / ending in vowel /ending in -εύς
Singular number
ὁ / * reg-s1,2 / κόραξ (κ-ς) / γίγας (ντ-ς) / ἰχθύ-ς / ἱππεύ-ς
τοῦ / * reg-os / κόρακ-ος / γίγαντ-ος / ἰχθύ-ος / ἱππέ-ως
τῷ / * reg-i, -ei / κόρακ-ι / γίγαντ-ι / ἰχθύ-ι / ἱππεῖ
τὸν / * reg-m / κόρακ-α / γίγαντ-α / ἰχθύ-ν / ἱππέα
ὦ / - / κόραξ (κ-ς) / γίγαν / ἰχθύ / ἱππεῦ
Plural number
οἱ / * reg-es / κόρακ-ες / γίγαντ-ες / ἰχθύ- ες / ἱππεῖς
τῶν / * reg-om / κοράκ-ων / γιγάντ-ων / ἰχθύ- ων / ἱππέων
τοῖς / - / κόραξι (κ-σι) / γίγασι (ντ-σι) / ἰχθύ- σι / ἱππεῦσι (ν)
τοὺς / * reg-ns / κόρακ-ας / γίγαντ-ας / ἰχθῦ-ς / ἱππέας
ὦ / - / κόρακ-ες / γίγαντ-ες / ἰχθύ-ες / ἱππεῖς
Dual number
τὼ / - / κόρακ-ε / γίγαντ-ε / ἰχθύ-ε / ἱππεῖ
τοῖν / - / κοράκ-οιν / γιγάντ-οιν / ἰχθύ-οιν / ἱππέ-οιν
The third declension includes masculine nouns having stems ending in a consonant and masculine nouns having stems ending in a vowel. The consonant-ended and the vowel-ended nouns of the third declension are declined by the same endings and differ only in the accusative (-α /-ν) and vocative (-ς / -) singular as well as in the accusative plural (-ας / -ς).
The vowel-ended nouns ending in -ως, -ωος, as the noun ὁ ἥρως, are declined precisely as the consonant-ended ones. All monosyllabic masculine nouns in the genitive and dative of singular and plural are stressed in last syllable, except the genitive plural Τρώων, παίδων, Θώων. Masculine nouns having two stems and ending in -υς, as ὁ πῆχυς, maintain the -ε- of the stem in genitive and dative singular and in all plural cases (πῆχυς, πήχεως, πήχει, πῆχυν, πῆχυ, πήχεις, πήχεων, πήχεσι, πήχεις, πήχεις) and form the genitive singular in -εως because of a change in the prosody of the two syllables of the form -ηος (πόλε-ως < πόλη-ος). The masculine nouns as ὁ ἱππεύς, ὁ, ἡ βοῦς, remove the character digamma between vowels and change it in -υ before a consonant or in the end of a word. Contrary to the accentual rules they take in the vocative case circumflex (ἱππεῦ).
The labial-ended stems of the third declension nouns change the labial character of the stem (π,β,φ) before the -σ-, -σι of the ending in -ψ (Ἄραψ <Ἄραβ+ς). The dental-ended stems of the third declension nouns remove the dental character of the stem (τ,δ,θ) before the -σ-, -σι of the ending (τάπησι <τάπητ-σι). The masculine nouns in -ντος, -νος, -ρος, when they have the accent on last syllable, have the vocative singular similar to the nominative and when they do not have it on last syllable, they form the vocative singular by the naked stem (ὦ ἱμάς, ὦ γίγαν, ὦ ἐλέφαν). Nouns of one or two stems ending in a nasal consonant remove the character -ν of the stem before the -σι of the ending in dative plural (τιτάν - τιτᾶσι <τιτάν-σι, ποιμήν - ποιμέσι <ποιμέν-σι ).
The contracted masculine nouns the stem of which end in a consonant as ὁ πατήρ, ὁ ἀνήρ remove the -ε- of the second syllable in genitive and dative singular (πατρός <πατέρ-ος, πατρί, ἀνδρός, ἀνδρί) and in vocative maintain the -ε- (ὦ πάτερ, ὦ ἄνερ). Finally masculine nouns having stem ending in -σ- as Σωκράτης < Σωκράτεσ-, Περικλῆς < Περικλέεσ-, form the nominative singular by the naked stem and at the same time extent the short vowel -ε- of the ending in -η- (Σωκράτης < Σωκράτεσ-) and form the genitive, dative and accusative by removing the -σ- between vowels (Σωκράτεσος - Σωκράτους, Σωκράτεσι - Σωκράτει, Σωκράτεσα - Σωκράτη) and contraction of the remaining two vowels. They also form the accusative singular as wel as in -ην (Σωκράτην), according to the nouns of the first declension, and the vocative singular by the naked stem (Σώκρατες).
Old Greek maintained the endings of the Indoeuropean Language but changed the final -m of the genitive plural in -ν and removed the syllabic sound n of the ending in the accusative plural of those nouns having a stem ending with a vowel, and made it -α in nouns having a sterm ending with a consonant. Special cases of masculine substantives will be examined in the texts.
3.1.2. The masculine substantives of the Latin Language.
Masculine nouns in Latin are usually those that declare male beings and their professions, names of populations, of winds, of rivers, of nations, of months. The first declension have a few masculine nouns and the fifth one have the noun dies = day, not always, and the noun meri'dies - noon.
Declension of the masculine substantives in Latin:
Cases / A' Declension / B' Declension / C' Declension / D' Declension / E' Declension
Singular number - Numerus singularis
Nominative / naut-a / nu’mer-us / rex (reg-s) / exe’rcit-us / di-es
Genitive / naut-ae / numer-i / reg-is / exe’rcit-us / di-e’i
Dative / naut-ae / numer-o / reg-i / exerci’t-ui / di-e’i
Accusative / naut-am / numer-um / reg-em / exe’rcit-um / di-em
Vocative / naut-a / numer-e / rex / exe’rcit-us / di-es
Ablative / naut-a / numer-o / reg-e / exe’rcit-u / di-e
Plural number - Numerus pluralis
Nominative / naut-ae / numer-i / reg-es / exe’rcit-us / di-es
Genitive / naut-a’rum / numer-o’rum / reg-um / exerci’t-uum / di-e’rum
Dative / naut-is / numer-is / re’g-ibus / exerci’t-ibus / di-e’bus
Accusative / naut-as / numer-os / reg-es / exe’rcit-us / di-es
Vocative / naut-ae / numer-i / reg-es / exe’rcit-us / di-es
Ablative / naut-is / numer-is / reg-ibus / exerci’t-ibus / di-e’bus
dies: Usual only in the singular number.
The contracted masculine nouns of the B' declension, as puer, ager, are declined regularly but in the nominative and vocative singular remove the ending -us and -e (puerus > puer, agrus >agr > ager). Of these those having before the -r of the stem a consonant develop before the -r in the nominative and vocative a euphonic -e- sound (agrus > agr- > ager, ager). The noun deus (= god) has the vocative as dive or deus and contracts the -e- of the stem with the -i- of the ending (dei-dii-di, deis-diis-dis). Masculine nouns having more than two syllables and ending in -ius contract the two -i- in the genitive singular in -i- (Vergi'lius - Vergilii - Vergi'li) and maintain the accent in the penultimate. Main names ending in -ius and the common noun fi'lius form the vocative in -i (Vergi'li, fili).
Masculine nouns of the third declension with a stem ending in a vowel and having the same number of syllables both in nominative and genitive singular (isosyllable) are declined in the same way as those having a stem ending in a consonant (not isosyllable), the genitive of which has one more syllable than the nominative. These nouns form the genitive plural by the ending -ium instead of the ending -um (civis, civis, cives, ci’vium), except the masculine nouns canis1, canis, canes, canum, and ju'venis, ju'venis, ju'venes, ju'venum). In the same way momosyllable nouns having a stem ending in two or more consonants form the genitive plural by the ending -ium instead of the ending -um (fons, fontis, fo'ntium, pons, pontis, po'ntium). Masculine nouns having the same number of syllables both in nominative and genitive (isosyllable) and denoting names of rivers form the accusative singular in -im and the ablative singular in -i (Albim, Ti’berim) as well as masculine nouns denoting names of months ending in -is or -er (Apri'lis, Nove'mber) and common nouns ending in -is, which at first were adjectives, (anna’lis, nata’lis, Athenie’nsis) form the ablative singular in -i (anna’li, nata’li, Athenie’nsi).
The substantives of the D' declension are mainly masculine. A few are neuter and very few are feminine nouns (feminine: acus = needle, domus = house, residence, manus = hand, tribus = race, po'rticus = gallery, idus,= the 15th or 13th day of the month). The substantives of the E' declension are all feminine. Masculine is the noun dies = day, when it does not declare time or limited time, and the noun meri'dies (midday) always. More special cases of masculine substantives will be examined in the texts.
The ending -osjo or -oso of the Indoeuropean Language became -i or -us in Latin. The ending -m of the accusative singular and of the genitive plural was maintained in Latin. The -n of the ending of the accusative plural was removed before -s while at the same time the previous short thematic vowel in most cases became long.
3.1.3. Peculiarities, deflections and completions:
(These elements are studied in second and in third phase, i.e. after it has been completed the study of the regular course.)
1. Functional or useful only in the singular number are usually the names of metals, nouns declaring natural phenomena and situations and abstract nouns (Περικλῆς, ἄργυρος, ἡ ἠχώ, τὸ γῆρας, ἡ αἰδώς). Functional only in the plural are main names of plural number and names of feasts (αἱ Ἀθῆναι, τὰ Παναθήναια, Saturna’lia). Functional only in the dual number are persons or things that constitute, from their nature, a pair or go together (τὼ πόδε, τὼ χεῖρε, τὼ βόε).
2. Nouns δεσπότης and ἀδελφός have the accent on the antepanultimate in the vocative singular (ὦ δεσποτα, ὦ ἄδελφε).
3. The nominative of the dual number in the second declension contracted nouns when it is stressed in last syllable takes, contrary to the rule, acute (τὼ θρώ, τὼ ὀστώ).
4. The second declension masculine nouns, declined according to the attic declension, are declined as the regular second declension nouns, but have ω and ῳ instead of ο and οι, they have the vocative similar to the nominative, they usually form the accusative singular without final -n and in all cases are stressed as in the nominative (ὁ λεώς, λεώ, λεῲ, λεώ, λεώς / λεῲ, λεών, λεῲς, λεώς, λεῲ).
5. The nouns ὁ παῖς and ἡ τυραννίς form the vocative singular without ending (ὦ παῖ, ὦ τυραννί).
6. Nominative, accusative and vocative are called strong cases and the remainder week cases.
7. The ending of the genitive plural in the first and second declension nouns of Latin is also found in -um instead of -orum, -arum, particularly in ancient forms.
8. Nouns civis,-is (= citizen), ignis, -is m, (= fire), navis,-is f, (= boat), imber, imbris m, (= rain,) usually have ending in i the ablative singular (civi, igni, navi, imbri).
To continue look at: Lesson 03 Part 2
To see the Introduction look at: Introduction