REVISION REMINDER LIST FOR GREEK GRAMMAR

#classicalgreek #greekgrammar #revision okay chapter 20 of matthew doesn't seem to have any ambiguities or unusual words open to multiple readings that regard special notes or discussion so I'm skipping most of it and doing a revision / reminder list.

SOME THINGS YOU NEED TO KEEP IN MIND
WHEN LEARNING OR READING GREEK
biblical classical new testament

ASPECT AND TENSE are BOTH Important.
 Yes think about that difference a lot!

Aorist is NOT just Past! Likewise the rarer Perfect and Pluperfect!

VERBS VERBS VERBS

Moods Tense Aspect Voice

Understand what each of those words mean in relation to Greek Grammar

The SUBJUNCTIVE is your Ally NOT your Enemy!
Yes its a pain learning the differences between Aorist and Present Subjunctive and Imperatives and Exhortations and Secondary clauses etc
but learn remember Grammar and Syntax are Tools!

CASE and Prepositions work together.

Just be happy you don't have to deal with the Ablative as well!

Learn how use of the Genitive or Accusative or Dative changes meaning.

Finally

Learn some Basic Linguistics.

Studying examples of Phonology and Morphology in other languages and historical changes and their laws and patterns will be it easier to get comfortable with IRREGULAR VERBS and other seeming oddities. TRULY !

More Greek Verbs! EIMI

Here's #EIMI  

the #GREEK #VERB TO BE 

#INDICATIVE MOOD

Present

Singular εἰμί εἶ ἐστί

 Dual ἐστόν ἐστόν 

 Plural ἐσμέν ἐστέ εἰσί

Imperfect

Singular ἦ(ν) ἦσθα ἦν 

 Dual ἦ(σ)τον ἦ(σ)την 

 Plural ἦμεν ἦ(σ)τε ἦσαν

I picked a larger screen and narrowed the page for people using smaller older mobiles or who might have several pages open at once on a bigger screen.

So you thought Greek verbs were nasty ...

I frequently see people claim they can't or don't want to learn to read Greek becasue they can't manage the grammar and syntax and the declensions and the accidence and the cases and moods ....

In modern greek one can simply say

S'agapoo you I love.

In Japanese you have to say

Watakushi wa anata o aishimasu

In the House becomes talossa in FInnish ev de in Turkish and ni uchi in Japanese and in Greek en ton oikou ... not so bad?

I can write dunamai graphein in Greek is kaku koto ga dekimasu in Japanese

I have left the worst for last.

 English

I was made to eat

Japanese

Tabesaserareta

Okay the causative passive is a rather extreme example.

Next time we may look at the Greek optative .

Really if you think Greek is difficult look at some Japanese verbs or Turkish !

Thrilling Future Passives

#Greek #newtestamentgreek #Classicalgreekgrammar #futurepassive #biblestudy

Matthew 13: 11-12 Thrilling Future passives

While this is the start of a new section about the parables and the parable of the sowes be warned this first  post will focus on language features.

If you're not into #biblestudy but rather looking for verb forms examples these two verses have three beauties!

Note that he's talking to the disciples after a public preaching of a parable.

13: 11

to you it has been given dedotai PERFECT PASSIVE didoomi
to know Aorist Infinitive the mysteries of the realm of the heavens,
to them but not it has been given.

13: 12

He who(ever) note that hostis is used in Greek for has / owns hold
 (the knowledge and interpretation Jesus is about to give?)
dotheesetai FUTURE PASSIVE from didoomi will be given to him
and more / and he will have abundance / abundant knowledge?
perisseutheesetai FUTURE PASSIVE

hewhoever not has and what (he) has will have taken away from him
FUTURE PASSIVE artheesetai

If you're reading this for bible study do read and reread the rest of Chapter 13 in English or Greek or both.

Any section involving a Parable requires thought.

If you're reading cos you're studying or teaching Greek I hope you enjoy and make good use of the future passives I pointed out and the usage of hostis too!

ERRETHEE

Matthew 5:21 includes an aorist passive from of said.

Rather than just use the aorist it uses ἐρρήθη

“You have heard that it was said (by) the ancients,”

Not merely it was or is said.

But how can ἐρρήθη be the aorist passive form of λεγω?

Originally judging from Epic and Ionic forms the verb to say speak or ask was * ἔρομαι with a stem of * ero cognate with Latin (v)erbum.

That explains partly the er but why erre. Greek uses reduplication and not just in the perfect.

Greek also uses metathesis.

Plus sometimes the present tense of a verb gets replaced by another verb.

Finally the reduplication and reversal of the stem also reduces possible confusion with similar verbs with an ree stem in the aorist like rhiptoo and p(h)eoo. And r(h)gnumi.

Well those are some of the reasons. Its just proof of Heraclitus' famous saying: 

Panta rheei Everything flows! Maybe? 

Dative Spirit Matthew Chapter 5 Verse 3 some notes

DATIVE SPIRIT

MATTHEW Ch. 5 Verse 3

μακαριοι οἱ πτωχοι τῷ πνευματι

Blessed (are) the poor in spirit for theirs is the realm of the heavens

The parallel section in Luke 6. 20 – 23 omits pneumati

Now πνευματι is dative rather than genitive. Why?

Greek can use dative without a preposition.

This could be a dative of place, cause, means, or respect.

Matthew stresses poverty of spirit but the other kind of poverty is meant as well.

As a matter of style the use of the dative also contrasts with the genitive forms in the secondary subordinate clause.

Was Jesus bilingual in Greek? Could the minor differences between verses from Gospel to Gospel reflect jesus speaking first in Greek or Aramaic depending on his audience and then repeating himself in the other language?

However the primary message is the important one.

BLESSED ARE THE POOR

and it is a lovely example of the dative form too!

gegraptai it is written

Matthew 4: 4

The Temptation of Christ or should that be the testing of the devil?

Jesus responds to temptation by citing mainly Deuteronomy.

So whats interesting about his use of the word GEGRAPTAI

translated It is written

Its not Aorist or Present in Greek.

Its Perfect Passive a rarer form and why?


The Greek Perfect is often defined as a verb describing or expressing the

PRESENT STATE RESULTING FROM A PAST ACTION.

... it was written by someone  with the implication that it is active real true valid

the ancient past continuing into the future !

Imperfect Tense One

STESICHORUS ON THE SETTING SUN

̓Αέλιος δ̕ ̒Υπεριονίδας δέπας ἐσκατέβαινε χρύσεον,

and Helios the son of Hyperion into the golden bowl descended,

So what 's special about this opening line of Stesichorus' poem.

You can read the rest of the text in Trypanis P. 154 of the Penguin paperback edition.

Like many fragments of ancient verse it survived in an incomplete form because it was quoted in a later text as an example of metre or dialect by an author who never realised so many literature would become to the ravages of time.

I've cited this opening line because it has an excellent example of the Imperfect Tense.

Eskatebaine is the Imperfect and poetic form of the Verb εἰσκαταβαίνω go down into and the topic of the next few blog posts will be the Imperfect Tense of Greek Verbs.

A note on kaiper

Although in Greek is καίπερ also translated as and yet though albeit or even.

I pity him even though he is an enemy.

Ἐποικτίρω νιν, καίπερ ὄντα δυσμενῆ

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?

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

deiknumi

δείκνῡμι

is used for text book paradigms of - νῡμι verbs

δείκνῡμι and other νῡμι verbs have the following inflections

for Active Present Indicative

Singular δείκνῡμι δείκνῡς δείκνῡσι

Dual δείκνυτον

Plural δείκνυμεν δείκνυτε δείκνύᾱσι

For Imperfect you add ῡν ῡς ῡ υτον etc to ἐδείκν

For Subjunctive take a stem of δεικνύ and add the normal endings

Likewise for Optative

Goodwin's Grammar and other works show all the forms.

The main thing to remember is the u final and to watch how the accents shift

The Infinitive is δεικνύναι and the Participle δεικνύς

In Aorist δείκνῡμι has a First Aorist stem of δείξ and a Second Aorist stem of δύ

The Future stem is δείξ the Perfect δέδειχ and the Pluperfect ἐδεδείχ

LEGO NOT THE TOY!

LEGO NOT THE TOY

One of the most common Classical Greek Verbs is

λέγω

 I say tell ask talk

Here is the PRESENT INDICATIVE ACTIVE.

(Present is the Tense Indicative the Mode and Active the Voice)

λέγω λέγεις λέγει λέγομεν λέγετε λέγουσι(ν)

I say You say He or she says We say You plural say They say.

The final n is used if the the next word starts with a or at the end of a sentence.

You will also see a movable n after any third person verb form ending with a ε.

Note the endings or suffixes.

- ω - εις - ει - ομεν - ετε - ουσι(ν)

Let's look at these verbs arranged another way

SINGULAR First Second Third person

  I - ω                      λέγω

   You - εις               λέγεις

She or he or it - ει  λέγει

Plural First Second Third person

We - ομεν     λέγομεν

You - ετε   λέγετε

They - ουσι(ν)  λέγουσι(ν)

If you're a beginning student copy those suffixes and make a note for memorisation

- ω - εις - ει - ομεν - ετε - ουσι(ν)

WAS Always Important

Was Always Important !

This is one of  the most important and common words in Classical Greek and one of the first verb forms you should learn.

What is it? The 3^rd Person Singular Imperfect of the Verb to be WAS

ἦν

In the Beginning ARCHE

In John's Gospel in the beginning was the word.

This simple passage may be Post Classical but still is a classic in several ways.

And a useful teaching example and aid?

In Latin the Gospel of John begins with

In principio verbum erat

Here's Verses 1 – 5 which include a good variety of simple verb and noun forms.

1. Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος.

2. οὗτος ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεόν.

3. πάντα δι᾿ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν. ὃ γέγονεν.

4. ἐν αὐτῷ ζωὴ ἦν, καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἦν τὸ φῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων.

5. καὶ τὸ φῶς ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ φαίνει, καὶ ἡ σκοτία αὐτὸ οὐ κατέλαβεν.

Here's a list of some of the words used and some questions to use for further study and revision.

ἐν Note how this is used with the dative ἀρχῇ.

ἦν equals erat and both mean ...

ὁ λόγος the word is a Second Declension noun along with which other words?

καὶ the most common conjunction and the others are …?

πρὸς is used with the object τὸν θεόν why accusative? how does this change the meaning?

ἐγένετο and γέγονεν are both forms of which verb?

ὁ and ὃ that one different accent changes the meaning ho and hò mean ?

ἡ ζωὴ is a First Declension Feminine Noun. Name the other two nouns of this type used.

My next post will about about ARKHEE arche

First Feminine Nouns Long EE Final

More First Declension Feminine Nouns

A few posts back I mentioned that a final long a sound changed to a long e - η in Attic and Ionic.

This is why we have first declension nouns ending in both η and α.

Here's 20 η final nouns that follow the First Declension Pattern.

Άστραπή a flash of lightning

Βροντή A roar of and Thunder

Γραμματική a female teacher of basic literacy from Γράμματα letters

Δίκη Law Order Right Hence Justice

Ζώνη a belt or sash or girdle the origin of Zone.

εὐνή a sleeping place animal's lair, bird's nest or bed for humans

yet in plural εὐναί the anchor stones thrown off the prow of a ship into the sea.

Κεφαλή the head Now you know why an octopus can also be called a cephalopod.

Κολωνή a hill or mound

Μαχή War Battle This was borrowed into English via Latin and became – machia and -machy.

Μηχανή The origin of – MECH and also again via Latin of Machine.

Νίκη Victory

ὄγχνη the pear tree and its fruit

Πύλη a Gate Don't Confuse this with Φυλή Phyle a tribe group or clan.

Ῥώμη Power Strength Force Might Yes Rome or Roma the goddess and city.

Σκήνη A cover or shelter shade cloth or tent

Σωφροσύνη Moderation Discretion Prudence Chastity Commonsense Virtue

ὕλη Hule Forest Wood Hylo-

Τύχη Fortune

Ψυχή The soul

Some More First Declension Feminine nouns

I've tried to select words that are reasonably useful but not the same as the usual selection you see in first year texts over and over again. 

Here's a list of Nouns ending with α

ἁρμονία joint joining fitting together parts

This is harmonia the origin of Harmony. Look up the Greek Verb ἁρμόζω and other related words.

Βῆσσα also spelt Βᾶσσα in Doric, a forest glen a wooded valley

Bassae Modern Greek Vasse in Arcadia is the site of a famous temple of Apollo Epikouros.

γέφυρα bridge ford river crossing dam

γωνία corner angle.

γλῶσσα tongue hence language speech glossa as in glossary

ἐκκλησία an enclosure for a meeting an assembly in such an area

ζημία penalty or fine the loss or damage to your income if you lost a court case

ἡσυχία calm silence

ἡμέρα day The hemera in the botanical name of day lillies

θύρα door entrance

ἰτέα the willow tree

κιθάρα the Kithara a kind of harp

λέαινα the lionness

λύρα another type of stringed musical instrument the Lyre

οἰκία house household The origin of – eco. What words do you know that have eco in them?

πεῖρα a try or attempt

σκία shadow

φιλία “brotherly love” friendship

the feeling stronger than a minor affection preference or liking you have towards a sibling or family member extended to a friend

χώρα country land

ὥρα time a period of time hence season “hour”

Some Greek Accents and other Diacritics

῾ There's a breathing or h sound

᾽ No Aspiration NO H

´ The ACUTE ACCENT

Its presence or absence and position can show a change of meaning. 

It can appear on any of the last 3 syllables of a word.

Ποτέ means at some time or once but πότε means WHEN

τί means WHAT but τι with no accent means any or some ...

` This is the Grave accent

 and ̆ are used to show if a vowel is long or short in meter and pronounciation.

ᾱ ᾰ ῑ ῐ ῡ ῠ