Glossary

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2-1-2 adjective

An adjective that uses second declension endings for masculine and neuter and first declension endings for feminine, such as ἀγαθός, ἀγαθή, ἀγαθόν. Intro to Classical Greek: Adjectives and Pronouns

A

Accusative subject

The subject of an infinitive, which Greek puts in the accusative case: φησὶ τὸν ἵππον μέγαν εἶναι, 'he says (that) the horse is big.' Intro to Classical Greek: Infinitives and Indirect Statement

Adjective

A word that describes a noun, such as good, just, beautiful. In Greek it agrees with its noun in gender, number and case. Intro to Classical Greek: Adjectives and Pronouns

Agent

The person who actually performs the action of a passive verb. In Greek, usually ὑπό with the genitive. Intro to Classical Greek: The Present Middle and Passive

Agreement

The rule that words belonging together share the same gender, number and case, so the reader can tell which words go with which. Intro to Classical Greek: The Article and Agreement

Alphabet

A writing system in which letters stand for single sounds. The word comes from the first two Greek letter names, alpha and beta. Intro to Classical Greek: The Alphabet and Handwriting

Aorist

The Greek tense that presents an action as a single whole event, a snapshot. In the indicative it refers to the past: 'I loosed.' Intro to Classical Greek: The Aorist

Articular infinitive

An infinitive with the neuter article (τό, τοῦ, τῷ), used as a noun: 'the speaking,' 'of speaking.' Intro to Classical Greek: Infinitives and Indirect Statement

Aspect

The way a verb presents an action: ongoing (present, imperfect), simple and whole (aorist), or completed with a lasting result (perfect). Intro to Classical Greek: The Aorist

Aspirated stop

A consonant made by stopping the air and releasing it with a puff of breath, like the t in English 'top.' Classical θ, φ and χ were aspirated t, p and k. Intro to Classical Greek: Pronunciation: Restored Attic, Erasmian and Modern

Aspiration

Adding a puff of breath. Before a rough breathing, elided π, τ, κ become φ, θ, χ: ἀφʼ, καθʼ. Intro to Classical Greek: Prepositions

Attic reduplication

A special reduplication for some verbs starting with a vowel, which repeats the vowel and consonant: ἀκούω, ἀκήκοα; ἔρχομαι, ἐλήλυθα. Intro to Classical Greek: The Perfect and Pluperfect

Attributive participle

A participle used like an ordinary adjective, usually with the article: ὁ λύων ἀνήρ 'the man who is loosing.' With no noun, it acts as a noun. Intro to Classical Greek: Participles

Attributive position

The slot between an article and its noun (or right after a repeated article). Anything placed there describes the noun. Intro to Classical Greek: The Article and Agreement

An adjective inside the article-noun group (ὁ ἀγαθὸς ἵππος). It describes the noun: the good horse. Intro to Classical Greek: Adjectives and Pronouns

Augment

A mark added to the front of a verb to show past time in the indicative: an extra ε- before a consonant, or a lengthened first vowel. Intro to Classical Greek: The Imperfect and the Future

B

Breathing

A mark over a word's first vowel or ρ. The rough breathing ῾ means an h sound comes first; the smooth breathing ᾿ means no h. Intro to Classical Greek: Breathings, Accents and Punctuation

C

Cardinal number

A counting number: one, two, three. Ordinals are the ranking numbers: first, second, third. Intro to Classical Greek: Greetings and Classroom Phrases

Case

A form of a noun, pronoun or adjective that shows its job in the sentence, such as subject, object or possessor. Greek shows case with endings. Intro to Classical Greek: The Cases and What They Do

Circumstantial participle

A participle without the article that adds the circumstances of the main action: when, since, although, while, if. Intro to Classical Greek: Participles

Citation

A reference inside a dictionary entry to a passage where the word is used, usually abbreviated: X.An.1.1.1 means Xenophon, Anabasis book 1, chapter 1, section 1. Intro to Classical Greek: Using a Lexicon and Reading Aids

Commentary

An edition of a Greek text with notes on grammar, vocabulary and meaning, usually line by line. The standard bridge from a course to real authors. Intro to Classical Greek: Review and Next Steps

Complementary infinitive

An infinitive that completes the meaning of another verb, as in 'I want to learn' or 'I am able to speak.' Intro to Classical Greek: Infinitives and Indirect Statement

Composition

Writing your own Greek, as opposed to translating out of it. The fastest way to find out what you really know. Intro to Classical Greek: Conversation and Composition

Compound verb

A verb with a preposition fused to its front, such as ἐκβάλλω, throw out, or εἰσέρχομαι, go in. Intro to Classical Greek: Prepositions

Conjugation

The full set of forms of a verb, changing for person, number, tense, mood and voice. To conjugate is to recite those forms. Intro to Classical Greek: The Present Active Indicative and εἰμί

Consonant

A sound made by closing or narrowing the mouth somewhere, such as b, t, s or k. Intro to Classical Greek: The Alphabet and Handwriting

Correlatives

Sets of related words built on the same root for asking, answering and pointing: ποῦ where?, που somewhere, ὅπου where (in a clause), ἐκεῖ there. Intro to Classical Greek: Conversation and Composition

D

Dactylic hexameter

The meter of Homer: six feet per line, each a dactyl (long short short) or a spondee (long long), with the last foot always two syllables. Intro to Classical Greek: Readings: Aesop, Xenophon, Plato, Homer

Declension

A family of nouns that share one set of endings. Greek has three. Also the act of listing all of a noun's forms. Intro to Classical Greek: Nouns: Gender, Number, and the First and Second Declensions

A family of nouns that share the same set of case endings. Greek has three. Intro to Classical Greek: The Third Declension

Definite article

The word for the in English. Greek has one, ὁ ἡ τό, with different forms for each gender, number and case. Greek has no word for a or an. Intro to Classical Greek: The Article and Agreement

Demonstrative

A pointing pronoun or adjective: this (οὗτος), that (ἐκεῖνος). Intro to Classical Greek: Adjectives and Pronouns

Demotic

Spoken modern Greek, declared the official language of Greece in 1976 in place of the older learned Katharevousa. Intro to Classical Greek: Review and Next Steps

Deponent

A verb that has only middle or passive forms in a tense but translates as active, such as βούλομαι, I want. Intro to Classical Greek: The Present Middle and Passive

Descender

The part of a handwritten or printed letter that hangs below the line, as in Greek β, γ, ζ, η, μ, ξ, ρ, ς, φ, χ and ψ. Intro to Classical Greek: The Alphabet and Handwriting

Diphthong

Two vowel sounds said together in one syllable, gliding from one to the other, as in English 'high' or 'boy.' Intro to Classical Greek: Pronunciation: Restored Attic, Erasmian and Modern

Direct object

The person or thing that receives the action of the verb directly: in 'Dana sees the horse,' the horse. In Greek it is usually in the accusative. Intro to Classical Greek: The Cases and What They Do

Dual

A grammatical number for exactly two, besides singular and plural. Common in Homer, still alive in classical Attic, gone in Koine. Intro to Classical Greek: Readings: Aesop, Xenophon, Plato, Homer

E

Elision

Dropping a short final vowel before a word that begins with a vowel, marked with an apostrophe: ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ. Intro to Classical Greek: Prepositions

Enclitic

A short word that leans on the word before it and usually loses its own accent, such as σοι 'to you' or ἐστι 'is.' Intro to Classical Greek: Breathings, Accents and Punctuation

A short word that leans on the word before it and gives up its own accent, like μοι and σοι in ὄνομά μοι and τί ὄνομά σοι. Intro to Classical Greek: Greetings and Classroom Phrases

A word that leans back on the word before it and often loses its own accent, like most forms of εἰμί. Intro to Classical Greek: The Present Active Indicative and εἰμί

A short word that leans on the word before it in pronunciation and usually gives up its own accent, such as most forms of φημί and εἰμί. Intro to Classical Greek: Infinitives and Indirect Statement

Erasmian pronunciation

A family of school pronunciations of ancient Greek based on the ideas Erasmus published in 1528. It differs from country to country. Intro to Classical Greek: Pronunciation: Restored Attic, Erasmian and Modern

F

Final sigma

The form ς that sigma takes at the end of a word. Everywhere else it is σ. Intro to Classical Greek: The Alphabet and Handwriting

First aorist

An aorist formed with the marker -σα added to the stem, as in ἔλυσα. Also called the sigmatic or weak aorist. Intro to Classical Greek: The Aorist

First perfect

A perfect formed with -κα after the reduplicated stem, used mainly by vowel, liquid and dental stems: λέλυκα, πέπεικα. Intro to Classical Greek: The Perfect and Pluperfect

Future

The tense for what will happen, formed in most verbs by adding -σ- to the stem: λύσω, 'I will loose.' Intro to Classical Greek: The Imperfect and the Future

G

Genitive absolute

A noun or pronoun with a participle, both in the genitive, forming a clause that is not tied to the main sentence: ἡλίου δύνοντος 'as the sun was setting.' Intro to Classical Greek: Participles

Graded reader

A book of Greek written or adapted to grow harder step by step, so that a learner can read a lot of easy text before tackling real authors. Intro to Classical Greek: Review and Next Steps

Grammatical gender

A class every Greek noun belongs to: masculine, feminine or neuter. For things without sex it is a matter of form, not meaning. Intro to Classical Greek: Nouns: Gender, Number, and the First and Second Declensions

I

I-stem

A third declension noun whose stem ends in ι, like πόλις. In Attic it shows ε instead of ι in most cases and a genitive in -εως. Intro to Classical Greek: The Third Declension

Imperative

The verb form for giving a command or making a request, such as 'say!' or 'listen!' χαῖρε is an imperative. Intro to Classical Greek: Greetings and Classroom Phrases

The mood of commands: loosen! let him loosen! Intro to Classical Greek: Subjunctive, Optative and Imperative

Imperfect

The past tense of ongoing, repeated or attempted action: 'I was loosing,' 'I used to loose,' 'I tried to loose.' Intro to Classical Greek: The Imperfect and the Future

Indefinite

A word meaning 'some, any, someone,' such as τις. In Greek the indefinites look like the interrogatives but are enclitic. Intro to Classical Greek: Conversation and Composition

Indicative

The mood of verbs that states facts or asks factual questions. Most sentences in a story or speech are indicative. Intro to Classical Greek: The Present Active Indicative and εἰμί

Indirect object

The person or thing to or for whom something is done: in 'I give a book to the teacher,' the teacher. In Greek it is in the dative. Intro to Classical Greek: The Cases and What They Do

Indirect statement

Reporting what someone said or thought without quoting their exact words: 'he says that the road is long' instead of 'he says, "The road is long."' Intro to Classical Greek: Infinitives and Indirect Statement

Infinitive

The to form of a verb: λύειν, to loosen; λύεσθαι, to be loosened or to loosen for oneself. Intro to Classical Greek: The Present Middle and Passive

A verb form that names the action without a person or number, like English 'to loosen.' Greek infinitives have tense and voice. Intro to Classical Greek: Infinitives and Indirect Statement

Ingressive aorist

An aorist of a verb that names a state, translated as entering that state: ἐβασίλευσε, 'he became king.' Intro to Classical Greek: The Aorist

Interrogative

A word that asks a question, such as τίς (who?) or ποῦ (where?). Intro to Classical Greek: Conversation and Composition

Ionic

The dialect group of the Ionian cities of Asia Minor and most Aegean islands, closely related to Attic. Old Ionic is the main ingredient of Homer's language; later Ionic is the dialect of Herodotus. Intro to Classical Greek: Readings: Aesop, Xenophon, Plato, Homer

Iotacism

The historical sound change by which η, ι, υ, ει, οι and υι all came to be pronounced [i], as they are in modern Greek. Intro to Classical Greek: Pronunciation: Restored Attic, Erasmian and Modern

K

Koine

The common Greek of the eastern Mediterranean from about 300 BC to about AD 600, based mainly on Attic. The language of the Septuagint and the New Testament, and of much Hellenistic prose. Intro to Classical Greek: Review and Next Steps

L

Lemma

The headword of a dictionary entry, the form under which a word is listed: λόγος, ἀγαθός, λύω. Intro to Classical Greek: Using a Lexicon and Reading Aids

Lexical entry

The way a dictionary lists a noun: nominative, genitive ending, and article for gender, as in φύλαξ, -ακος, ὁ. Intro to Classical Greek: The Third Declension

Lexicon

A dictionary of an ancient language. For Greek the word usually means LSJ or one of its abridgments. Intro to Classical Greek: Using a Lexicon and Reading Aids

Linear B

A syllabic script used on clay tablets in Mycenaean palaces about 1400 to 1200 BC. It records the oldest known form of Greek and was deciphered in 1952. Intro to Classical Greek: Review and Next Steps

Liquid aorist

The first aorist of a verb whose stem ends in λ, μ, ν or ρ. It drops the σ and lengthens the stem vowel: μένω, ἔμεινα. Intro to Classical Greek: The Aorist

Liquid verb

A verb whose stem ends in λ, μ, ν or ρ. Its future drops the σ and contracts: μένω, μενῶ. Intro to Classical Greek: The Imperfect and the Future

M

Middle voice

A voice in which the subject acts on itself, for itself, or with special interest in the result, such as λούομαι, I wash myself. Intro to Classical Greek: The Present Middle and Passive

Monotonic

The modern Greek spelling system with a single accent mark and no breathings, made official in 1982. Classical texts are printed in the polytonic system this course uses. Intro to Classical Greek: Review and Next Steps

Mood

The form of a verb that shows how the speaker presents the action: as a fact (indicative), as wanted or expected (subjunctive), as wished or possible (optative), or as an order (imperative). Intro to Classical Greek: Subjunctive, Optative and Imperative

Morphological parser

A program that takes an inflected word and lists the lemma and every grammatical analysis the form could have. Intro to Classical Greek: Using a Lexicon and Reading Aids

Movable nu

A ν added to certain endings, such as -ουσι and ἐστί, before a vowel or at the end of a sentence, written -ουσιν, ἐστίν. Intro to Classical Greek: The Present Active Indicative and εἰμί

N

Noun

A word that names a person, place, thing or idea, such as 'teacher,' 'Athens,' 'gift' or 'honor.' Intro to Classical Greek: Nouns: Gender, Number, and the First and Second Declensions

Number

Whether a word refers to one (singular), more than one (plural) or, rarely, exactly two (dual). Intro to Classical Greek: Nouns: Gender, Number, and the First and Second Declensions

O

Object of a preposition

The noun or pronoun a preposition governs. In Greek it must stand in the case that preposition requires. Intro to Classical Greek: Prepositions

Oblique cases

The genitive, dative and accusative, the cases other than the nominative and vocative (Smyth 201 a). Intro to Classical Greek: The Cases and What They Do

Optative

The mood of wishes and remote possibilities: may it happen, it might happen. Named from Latin opto, I wish. Recognized by -οι- or -αι- before the ending. Intro to Classical Greek: Subjunctive, Optative and Imperative

P

Paradigm

A model table showing every form of one word, used as a pattern for others like it. Intro to Classical Greek: Nouns: Gender, Number, and the First and Second Declensions

Parse

To identify a word's form fully. For a noun: its case, number, gender and dictionary form. Intro to Classical Greek: The Cases and What They Do

Participle

A verb form that works as an adjective: it has tense and voice like a verb, and gender, number and case like an adjective. English 'loosing,' 'having loosed.' Intro to Classical Greek: Participles

Particle

A small uninflected word that adds tone or links sentences, such as δέ, γάρ, οὖν, δή, ἆρα. Greek uses far more of them than English. Intro to Classical Greek: Conversation and Composition

Passive voice

A voice in which the subject receives the action: the horse is untied. Intro to Classical Greek: The Present Middle and Passive

Perfect

The tense of a completed action whose result still stands at the time of speaking: λέλυκα, 'I have loosed (and it is loose).' Intro to Classical Greek: The Perfect and Pluperfect

Perry Index

The standard numbering of Aesop's fables, from B. E. Perry's Aesopica (1952). The fox and the grapes is Perry 15. Intro to Classical Greek: Readings: Aesop, Xenophon, Plato, Homer

Persistent accent

An accent that tries to stay on the same syllable it has in the dictionary form, moving only when the rules force it. Nouns and adjectives have it. Intro to Classical Greek: Breathings, Accents and Punctuation

Person

Who is acting: first person is the speaker (I, we), second is the one spoken to (you), third is anyone else (he, she, it, they). Intro to Classical Greek: The Present Active Indicative and εἰμί

Pitch accent

An accent marked by raising the voice to a higher note, as in ancient Greek, instead of by saying the syllable louder, as in English. Intro to Classical Greek: Breathings, Accents and Punctuation

Pluperfect

The past of the perfect: an action already completed at some point in the past, with its result standing then: ἐλελύκη, 'I had loosed.' Intro to Classical Greek: The Perfect and Pluperfect

Postpositive

A word that can never stand first in its clause, such as δέ, μέν and γάρ. It usually comes second. Intro to Classical Greek: The Article and Agreement

Predicate position

An adjective outside the article-noun group (ὁ ἵππος ἀγαθός). It makes a statement: the horse is good. Intro to Classical Greek: Adjectives and Pronouns

Preposition

A small word placed before a noun to show a relationship such as place, direction, time or cause: in, into, from, with, through. Intro to Classical Greek: Prepositions

Primary and secondary tenses

Primary tenses (present, future, perfect) refer to present or future time. Secondary tenses (imperfect, aorist, pluperfect indicative) refer to the past. The choice between subjunctive and optative in many clauses depends on which kind the main verb is. Intro to Classical Greek: Subjunctive, Optative and Imperative

Principal parts

The handful of forms you memorize for each verb because every other form is built from them. The present and the future are the first two. Intro to Classical Greek: The Imperfect and the Future

The six forms of a verb from which every other form can be built: present, future, aorist active, perfect active, perfect middle/passive, aorist passive. Intro to Classical Greek: Using a Lexicon and Reading Aids

Proclitic

A short word with no accent of its own that leans forward onto the next word, like ὁ, ἡ, οἱ and αἱ. Intro to Classical Greek: The Article and Agreement

Pronoun

A word that stands in for a noun, such as I, you, he, this, that. Intro to Classical Greek: Adjectives and Pronouns

Purpose clause

A clause that says why something is done: so that, in order that. In Greek, introduced by ἵνα, ὅπως or ὡς. Intro to Classical Greek: Subjunctive, Optative and Imperative

R

Recessive accent

An accent that moves as far from the end of the word as the length of the last syllable allows. Most verb forms have it. Intro to Classical Greek: Breathings, Accents and Punctuation

Reduplication

Copying the first consonant of a verb with ε to mark the perfect: λύω, λέλυκα. Intro to Classical Greek: The Perfect and Pluperfect

Restored Attic pronunciation

A scholarly reconstruction of how educated Athenians spoke in the late fifth and fourth centuries BC, based on ancient descriptions, spellings, inscriptions and loanwords. Intro to Classical Greek: Pronunciation: Restored Attic, Erasmian and Modern

S

Scansion

Marking each syllable of a line of verse as long or short and dividing it into feet. Intro to Classical Greek: Readings: Aesop, Xenophon, Plato, Homer

Second aorist

An aorist formed on a short, changed stem with the same endings as the imperfect, as in ἔλαβον from λαμβάνω. Also called the strong aorist. Intro to Classical Greek: The Aorist

Second perfect

A perfect formed with plain -α and no κ, often with a changed or aspirated stem: γέγραφα, πέπομφα, πέποιθα. Intro to Classical Greek: The Perfect and Pluperfect

Sigma stem

A third declension noun whose stem ends in σ, which drops out between vowels and makes contractions, like γένος, γένους. Intro to Classical Greek: The Third Declension

Singular and plural

Singular means one person or thing; plural means more than one. χαῖρε greets one person, χαίρετε greets several. Intro to Classical Greek: Greetings and Classroom Phrases

Stem

The part of a verb that stays the same while endings change. For λύω the present stem is λυ-. Intro to Classical Greek: The Present Active Indicative and εἰμί

The part of a noun that stays the same while the endings change. In the third declension you find it by dropping -ος from the genitive singular. Intro to Classical Greek: The Third Declension

Stem and ending

The stem carries a word's meaning and stays the same; the ending changes to show case and number. In λόγ-ος, λογ- is the stem and -ος the ending. Intro to Classical Greek: Nouns: Gender, Number, and the First and Second Declensions

Subject

The person or thing that does the action of the verb, or is described by it. In Greek it is in the nominative case. Intro to Classical Greek: The Cases and What They Do

Subjunctive

The mood of will and expectation: let us ..., what are we to ...?, so that ..., do not ... . Recognized by its long thematic vowels ω and η. Intro to Classical Greek: Subjunctive, Optative and Imperative

Substantive

Any word or phrase used as a noun. The article can turn an adjective, a genitive or a phrase into a substantive. Intro to Classical Greek: The Article and Agreement

Supplementary participle

A participle that completes the meaning of certain verbs, such as τυγχάνω 'happen' or ὁράω 'see': ἐτύγχανε παρών 'he happened to be present.' Intro to Classical Greek: Participles

Syllabic augment

The augment ε- added before a verb that starts with a consonant, which adds a syllable: λύω, ἔλυον. Intro to Classical Greek: The Imperfect and the Future

Synizesis

Two vowels that would normally be separate syllables run together into one long syllable for the meter, as -εω in Πηληϊάδεω. Intro to Classical Greek: Readings: Aesop, Xenophon, Plato, Homer

T

Temporal augment

The augment for a verb that starts with a vowel: the vowel is lengthened instead of adding a syllable: ἄγω, ἦγον. Intro to Classical Greek: The Imperfect and the Future

Tense

The verb form that tells you when an action happens and, in Greek, what kind of action it is (ongoing, simple or completed). Intro to Classical Greek: The Imperfect and the Future

Third declension

The large noun family whose stems end in a consonant or in ι, υ, or a diphthong. Its genitive singular usually ends in -ος, -ους or -ως. Intro to Classical Greek: The Third Declension

Transliteration

Writing the letters of one alphabet with the letters of another, letter by letter, as when φιλοσοφία becomes philosophia. Intro to Classical Greek: The Alphabet and Handwriting

U

Ultima, penult, antepenult

The last syllable of a word, the second-to-last, and the third-to-last. Greek accent can only fall on one of these three. Intro to Classical Greek: Breathings, Accents and Punctuation

V

Vocative

The form of a name or noun used when speaking directly to someone, as in 'Hello, Socrates': χαῖρε, ὦ Σώκρατες. Intro to Classical Greek: Greetings and Classroom Phrases

Voice

The verb feature that shows how the subject relates to the action: doing it (active), doing it to or for itself (middle), or receiving it (passive). Intro to Classical Greek: The Present Middle and Passive

Vowel

A sound made with the mouth open and the air flowing freely, such as a, e, i, o, u. Greek has seven vowel letters: α, ε, η, ι, ο, υ, ω. Intro to Classical Greek: The Alphabet and Handwriting

Vowel length

How long a vowel is held. In ancient Greek a long vowel lasted about twice as long as a short one, and length could change a word's meaning. Intro to Classical Greek: Pronunciation: Restored Attic, Erasmian and Modern