Imperfect tense 3

Imperfect Tense Three

Classical Greek has 4 PRIMARY Tenses:

Present Future Perfect Future Perfect

There are also 3 SECONDARY Tenses for PAST ACTIONS

IMPERFECT AORIST PLUPERFECT

The Imperfect is used to describe continuous habitual repeated past actions.

All of these secondary tenses have an initial ε added called the augment.

Some are irregular and have irregular Imperfect forms with a pluperfect meaning.

Like Attic ἔοικε

However the laws of contraction apply to augment e

see the next post.

What if and Greek Questions.

What if ...

did you know you cant say that in Greek?

I suppose its possible one author directly combines ei and ti but usually Greek conditional statements follow an logical. If  (not) A ... THEN  B pattern.

What if Henry the Eight had more sons and then there was no Queen Elizabeth the First.

What if is a contraction really allowing one statement to replace two.

What would have happened to Elizabeth if Henry had conceived more sons?

Let's demonstrate this in a Hellenic context.

I can say What if the Persians won at Marathon?

A Greek historian or rhetorician would probably phrase this as

If the Persians had won at Marathon (then) what would have happened next?

OR

What (then) would have happened to hellas IF the Persians had won at Marathon.

English tends towards one clause rhetorical questions. Greek tends towards a balance of primary and secondary  or sentences with several clauses.

Something to think about when you're translating.

The differences between syntactical patterns.

What if a statement is technically grammatical in both languages  but just  doesnt sound or read "right" in the other language?

Grecian Reds

RED and scarlet and Crimson in Greek

κόκκινος was the scarlet color of berries.

Έρυθρός Red Ruber.

Πυρρός or πυρσός FLAME red Latin rufus darker orange or yellow.

Darkness and Black

DARKNESS

Black in classical Greek

Μελας μέλαινα μέλαν Black dark gloomy dusky murky a dense darkness

Κελα(ι)νός Black dark swart

(ἀ)μαυρός The origin of moor via Latin Mauritinia Dark Dim obscure Eclipsed

Έρεμνός black Dark thought to be a contraction of Έρεβεννός

Ἔρεβος the Nether Darkness between Earth and Hell

The Color Yellow in Classical Greek

Yellow in Classical Greek

κνηκός Note Doric κνᾱκός a pale whitish yellow

κροκός the color of saffron or crocus the flower and the pollen derived from it which Also used as a spice perfume and dye κροκό / εις / εσσα / εν

ξανθος a yellow brown an adjective used to describe blondes. Perhaps the color we would call honey blonde. The Romans translated this as flavus so the word could also be translated as light brown chestnut or auburn. I pt for honey blonde that peculiar hair color some Italians and Greeks have?

The less common ξουθος seems to be a yellowish tawny dusky yellow.

Κίτρινος is the yellow to orange of citrus fruit specific the ancient ancestors of modern lemons and oranges the κίτρον fruit.

Gray in Greek

Words for Gray in Classical Greek

Perhaps the best known word is γλαυκός blue gray the color γλαυκῶπις of the goddess Athena's eyes but also the pale gray green or bluish green of leaves and plants, a changeable shifting gray.

Γραῖος is sometimes translated as gray but it is the gray of aging fading things and beings believed by scholars to be a contraction of γεραίος

Ashen white gray is μέλινος.

Ὄρφνινος is the color of darkness a gloomy night Ὄρφνᾱ in Doric and Ὄρφνη in Attic.

Πολιός is gray too and probably cognate to the word for dove πελεια and πελλός.

Φαιός is a deep dark dun gray but ψᾱρός is the speckled gray of a starling.

WHITE words for white in classica lGreek

Words for White in classical Greek

There are more words for gray and pale than white in Greek.

The two main words from which a variety of adjectives and nouns derive are

λευκός pale white and  ἀργής shiny white like silver ἀργυρός

White objects were also often compared to

Snow νιφος or stone λυγδος or marble μαρμαρος.

The Greeks seem to have associated the quality of whiteness with shine and gleam and brightness.

Color names begun as names. Color as an abstract concept developed later.

The ancients had to write about color by comparing it to objects.

More examples of this soon.

Greek Prepositions One

Here's a simple list of Greek prepositions you can save and edit and then add your own notes.

ἀμφί

ἀνά

ἀντί

ἀπό

διά

εἰς ἐς

ἐκ ἐξ

ἐν

ἐπί

κατά

μετά

παρά

περί

πρό

πρός

σύν

ὑπέρ

ὑπό

I will be discussing these prepositions individually in later posts.

A Very Feminine Adjective

ΘΗΛΥΣ

A Very Feminine Adjective

θῆλυς θῆλεια θῆλυ

Some adjectives combine the features of the First and Third Declension particularly those with u stems like this one θῆλυς θῆλεια θῆλυ which means female, of female sex, feminine, belonging to women, tender, delicate, nourishing, and sometimes effeminate.

The Masculine and Neuter are declined like ἄστυ but the feminine is declined like a First Declension adjective ending in α.

So Masculine and Neuter Singular

Nominative θῆλυς Accusative θῆλυν Genitive θῆλέος Dative θηλεῖ

The Classics example is the declension of γλυκύς which you can see in Goodwin's Grammar Pages 67-8 or in whichever Grammar you are using as a reference for further details.

There are however some minus differences between θῆλυς θῆλεια θῆλυ and γλυκύς.

Note how the genitive singular ends in - ος and the – έα Neuter Plural with both Adjectives.

θῆλεια has more differences in the accusative forms. The Epic and Ionic forms end in α instead of ια so that θήλεα θεός is a goddess.

The original feminine ending of this adjective and possibly of the other genders may have been – eu or ewo changing and contracting to u in one gender and eu then e in the other.

It seems off that there would be a masculine and neuter at all but there exists such phrases as θήλειαι ἵπποι meaning mares or female horses and τὸ θῆλυ the female (gender).

Some other u- stem adjectives that follow the γλυκύς pattern are:

βραχύς short brief εὐρύς broad wide ἡδύς sweet pleasant pleasing

ἥμισυς half ὀξύς pointed sharp ταχύς swift fast

Kosmos the Ordered World

KOSMOS THE ORDERED WORLD

Chaos and Cosmos are two excellent examples of ancient Greek words that have changed meanings over the centuries in both Greek and English usage.

We think of Chaos and Order as being opposites but its more that one comes forth from the other.

Κόσμος has several meaning Order Good order and hence government also mode or fashion and ornamament or decoration and world or universe.

While when we hear the words Cosmos and cosmic we think often of outer space to a Greek κοσμικός meant earthly or worldly.

Cosmos is reality arranged or ordered into beauty.

Note these related verbs κομέω and κομάω the first meaning to take care of or tend and the second to wear or arrange long hair on a human or a horse. In the preclassical period both men and women especially aristocrats arranged their long hair into elaborate curls and plaits and braids and mixture of both.

Chaos the great opening or space (see my previous post) becomes an ordered place the Cosmos.

KHAOS AND CREATION

KHAOS AND CREATION

K^haos is how Χάος was pronounced by the ancientGreeks.

The letter Χ “Chi” was an aspirated / k^{h /.}

We tend to think of Chaos as the opposite to order but the actual word originally meant a wide open open or a wide opening and SPACE might be a more accurate translation.

How do scholars know this?

For those of you who don't have access or ownership of the Lidell online or in print here's some words to consider as proof.

Χάσμα a chasm or gulf then these verbs Χάσκω Χασκάζω Χαίνω open wide gape yawn.

Hesiod in his Theogony wrote first (πρώτιστα ) Chaos came into being γένετ̓ (Line 116) next Gaia widebreasted and her siblings Erebos and Night (123)n Heaven and the Mountains and Ocean and the Titans and much more.

Notice how Hesiod uses geneto not poieo become be born not made.

The world comes into being by change in the earliest Greek myths though later versions such as that in Ovid's metamorphoses means a possible creator. There's a process from a primordial unity into complexity and multiplicity from oneness to many.

You might want to read the beginning of Ovid's metamorphoses and contrast the two.

Hesiod's version judging from authors philosophers and poets between his time and that of Ovid's wasn't the ONLY version known to the Greeks. Mythmaking was an active process. Stories change.

The opposite of Chaos is Cosmos the Ordered arranged world but that's another story!

Some numi verbs

SOME – νυμι Verbs

Note One Some books print - νυμι verbs without the macron over the upsilon ῡ

Note Two many of these verbs are only used combiend with prefixes.

Note Three

δείκνῡμι

is used for text book paradigms

δαίνῡμι entertain dine stem δαι dai

ἕννῡμι cloth robe stem wes like latin ves-tis

ζώννῡμι gird belt ζω sdoo

ζεύγνῡμι bind yoke join stem ζυγ

κεράννῡμι mix usually liquids stem κερα κρα kera kra

κορέννῡμι satiate satisfy stem κορε kore

κρεμάννῡμι suspend hang stem κρεμα krema

μΐγνῡμι mix mingle stem μιγ mig

οἴγνῡμι open stem oig

ὄλλῡμι stem ol is contracted from olnumi

ὄμνῡμι swear an oath stem ομο or μο om(o)

ὄρνῡμι raise rouse stem ορ or

πήγνῡμι fix stem παγ

πετάννῡμι expand spread stem πετα peta

ῥήγνῡμι break stem ῥαγ rag wrag

ῥώννῡμι strengthen stem ῥω ro

σβέννῡμι extinguish put out smother stem σβε sbe

σκεδάννῡμι scatter stem σκεδα

χρήγνῡμι color

If you missed it scroll back to read my post on δείκνῡμι.

Fabulous First Feminines

First Declension A Stem Feminine Nouns

A list for your use of fabulous Greek that are feminine in more than one way!

ἀγκῡρα anchor for a ship

ἀγλαΐα beauty splendour glory pomp also used in a negative sense in the plural of worldly vanities like the English phrase “pomp and glories”

ἀγορά Agora the central space used for markets and meetings the town “square” the plaza also the Assembly since the Agora was used for public meetings like a Roman forum.

ἀγυία way road street in plural can mean town or city the “streets”

αἰτία cause origin occasion by extension blame crime negative action

ἀκτέα the elder tree

ἄνασσα Queen Lady Mistress

ἀνία grief sorrow distress

ἄρουρα tillage acreage plowed or cultivated land used for grain crops

ἀσία Asia Minor and Major

There are also First Declension Feminine Nouns that end in η

In Attic and Ionic long final a sounds in many words but not all changed to η a change of a long a sound to a long ee.

ἀγάπη love charity compassion

ἀγκάλη arm bent or curved arm

ἀδελφή sister

ἀδελφιδῆ niece

ἀλόη The ALOE plant

ἀμυγδάλη the Almond tree and fruit also admired for its white flowers

ἀνθρήνη the wild bee

Ἀρετή Virtue excellence goodness manliness

ἀρχή beginning source origin

αὐγή bright light ray or beam of usually the sun

ALERT Nouns ending in – μα(τα) are THIRD DECLENSION

Here's the Declension pattern

Nominative Singular α η Plural αι

Accusative Singular αν ην Plural ας

Genitive Singular ας ης Plural ῶν

Dative Singular ᾳ ῃ Plural αις

There are more First Declension Nouns mostly Feminine and some masculine.

Watch for future posts!