Ancient Greek for Everyone: A New Digital Resource for Beginning Greek Unit 2 part 2: Six Common Greek Verbs 2013 edition Wilfred E. Major

Ancient Greek for Everyone This class AGE Unit 2: Six Common Greek Verbs You have learned the basics of building and parsing a Greek verb and seen the model (“paradigm” in Greek) of δείκνυμι. This section presents six very common Greek verbs, all of which are built like δείκνυμι. Following the general Greek principle of spelling words like they sound, these words do show some changes according to the way they were pronounced.

Ancient Greek for Everyone Six Common Greek Verbs The six verbs in this lesson are: – εἰμί be – φημί say – δίδωμι give – τίθημι put, make – ἵστημι stand – ἵημι throw

Ancient Greek for Everyone Building a Greek verb The most common verb in Greek is the verb “be.” In most languages, the verb “be” is very common but also tends to be irregular from constant use. Consider the present tense indicative of “be” in English:

Ancient Greek for Everyone I am You are (S)he/it is We are Y’all are They are Building a Greek Verb The Present Indicative Active of “be” in English

Ancient Greek for Everyone Six Common Greek Verbs As always, a Greek verb builds out from its stem, which designates what action the verb describes: εσ = “be” Recall the endings in the present indicative active that indicate person and number: - μι = I (1 st person singular) - μεν = we (1 st person plural) - ς = you (2 nd person singular) - τε = y’all (2 nd person plural) - σι = (s)he, it (3 rd person sing) - ασι = they (3 rd person plural)

Ancient Greek for Everyone εἰμί – I am εἶ – You are ἐστί – (S)he/it is ἐσμέν – We are ἐστέ – Y’all are εἰσί – They are Present infinitive active: εἶναι Building a Greek Verb The Present Indicative Active of εἰμί

Ancient Greek for Everyone The Trouble with Sigma Since the verb εἰμί has a stem ending in a - σ, contractions and irregularities in pronunciation (and spelling) result. In this case, – ἐσμι  εἰμι – ἐσς  εἰ – ἐσντι  εἰσι (see next slide for details) – ἐσναι  εἰναι Notice that, effectively, an - ε - replaces the σ (remember that ε + ε = ει ). Greek does this in order to eliminate the sigma without shortening the word. This process, called “compensatory lengthening,” is a common way to eliminate sigma in words.

Ancient Greek for Everyone Building a Greek verb The most unusual form of εἰμί is the 3 rd person singular present indicative active, ἐστι. The ending – τι is actually the original 3 rd person singular present indicative active ending, but εἰμί was the only verb in Classical Greek which retained the old form. Like any word ending in – σι, however, it can add a – ν movable: ἐστίν. Similarly, the 3 rd person plural present indicative active ending was originally – ντι, so εἰσι is the end result of simplifying * ἐσντι.

Ancient Greek for Everyone Placing the accent: – Recall that, for most Greek words, the “recessive” rule determines the placement of the accent. – For the verb εἰμί, however, only the 2 nd person singular present indicative active follows the rule: έἐ  εἶ. – In the present infinitive active, as often, the Greeks pronounced the ending – αι quickly enough that they considered it a short sound: έἰναι  εἶναι. – All the other forms were pronounced as suffixes to the words that preceded them. Such words are called “enclitic,” meaning they “lean on” the preceding word for their accent.

Ancient Greek for Everyone Placing the accent: – “Enclitic” means a word “leans on” the preceding word for its accent. – If the preceding word has an acute two syllables back or a circumflex one syllable back, it adds an acute accent on its last syllable (as if the whole combination were again being accented recessively; all the enclitic forms of εἰμί have two syllables, the last one being short). Ἕλληνές ἐσμεν. (= Ἕλληνέσεσμεν ) – “We are Greeks.” παῖδές ἐσμεν. (= πάὶδέσεσμεν ) – “We are children.”

Ancient Greek for Everyone Placing the accent: – “Enclitic” means a word “leans on” the preceding word for its accent. – Otherwise, the enclitic form carries its own accent (an acute on the final syllable). φίλοι ἐσμέν. – “We are friends.” ἀδελφοί ἐσμέν. – “We are brothers.” βασιλεῖς ἐσμέν. – “We are kings.”

Ancient Greek for Everyone Placing the accent: – Sometimes a Greek will accent ἐστι recessively: ἔστι. – This can be to emphasize that something exists or serve as the equivalent of “there is…” – ἔστιν ἡ ἀλήθεια. “The Truth exists.” – οὐκ ἔστιν. “No there isn’t!”

Ancient Greek for Everyone Six Common Greek Verbs φημί say – Greeks have always liked to talk a lot, so it is no surprise that this is a very common verb. Normally, it indicates a direct quotation (effectively serving as a quotation mark). – The verb has the stem φη -. – The long stem vowel shortens in the plural forms. – So in the plural, the stem becomes φα -

Ancient Greek for Everyone φημί – I say φῄς – You say φησί – (S)he/it says φαμέν – We say φατέ – Y’all say ( φαασι  ) φασί – They say Present infinitive active: φάναι Building a Greek Verb The Present Indicative Active of φημί

Ancient Greek for Everyone Placing the accent: – As with the verb εἰμί, the present indicative active forms of φημί, except the 2 nd person singular, are enclitic. ὡς οἱ Ἕλληνές φασιν, … (= Ἕλληνέσφασιν ) – As the Greeks say, “... καί φησίν, … – And he says, “…

Ancient Greek for Everyone Six Common Greek Verbs δίδωμι give τίθημι put, make ἵστημι stand ἵημι throw The other four verbs in this lesson all have two features in common: – To mark the present tense, they double the initial sound of their stem. – Their stems all end in a long vowel, which shortens in the plural forms (as with φημί ).

Ancient Greek for Everyone Six Common Greek Verbs The verb “give” has the stem δω -: – The present tense doubles the initial sound of the stem. – So in the present, the stem becomes διδω - – The long stem vowel shortens in the plural forms. – So in the plural, the stem becomes διδο -

Ancient Greek for Everyone δίδωμι – I give δίδως – You give δίδωσι – (S)he/it gives δίδομεν – We give δίδοτε – Y’all give διδόασι – They give Present infinitive active: διδόναι Building a Greek Verb The Present Indicative Active of δίδωμι

Ancient Greek for Everyone Six Common Greek Verbs The verb “put, make” has the stem θη -: – The present tense doubles the initial sound of the stem. Greek does not allow aspirated consonants in consecutive syllables. – So in the present, the stem becomes ( θιθη-  ) τιθη - – The long stem vowel shortens in the plural forms. – So in the plural, the stem becomes τιθε -

Ancient Greek for Everyone τίθημι – I put, make τίθης – You put, make τίθησι – (S)he/it puts, makes τίθεμεν – We put, make τίθετε – Y’all put, make τιθέασι – They put, make Present infinitive active: τιθέναι Building a Greek Verb The Present Indicative Active of τίθημι

Ancient Greek for Everyone Six Common Greek Verbs The verb “stand” has the stem στη -: – The present tense doubles the initial sound of the stem. The Trouble with Sigma: The sigma here does not double. – So in the present, the stem becomes ( σιστη-  ) ἱστη - – The long stem vowel shortens in the plural forms. – So in the plural, the stem becomes ἱστα -

Ancient Greek for Everyone ἵστημι – I stand ἵστης – You stand ἵστησι – (S)he/it stands ἵσταμεν – We stand ἵστατε – Y’all stand ( ἱστάασι  ) ἱστᾶσι – They stand Present infinitive active: ἱστάναι Building a Greek Verb The Present Indicative Active of ἵστημι

Ancient Greek for Everyone Six Common Greek Verbs The verb “throw” has the stem ἡ -: – The present tense doubles the initial sound of the stem. Doubling the stem is a problem. – So in the present, the stem becomes ἱη - – The long stem vowel shortens in the plural forms. – So in the plural, the stem becomes ἱε -

Ancient Greek for Everyone ἵημι – I throw ἵης – You throw ἵησι – (S)he/it throws ἵεμεν – We throw ἵετε – Y’all throw ( ἱέασι  ) ἱᾶσι – They throw Present infinitive active: ἱέναι Building a Greek Verb The Present Indicative Active of ἵημι

Ancient Greek for Everyone Examples of Vocabulary entries: δίδωμι give – ἀποδίδωμι give back – παραδίδωμι hand over, deliver εἰμί be – πάρειμι be present ἵημι throw – ἀφίημι let go, allow, forgive

Ancient Greek for Everyone Examples of Vocabulary entries: ἵστημι stand – ἀνίστημι raise, appoint – καθίστημι set down, establish – παρίστημι present τίθημι put, make – ἐπιτίθημι put on – προστίθημι add to φημί say

Ancient Greek for Everyone Unit 2 Vocabulary: DCC Classical ἀποδίδωμι give back ἀπόλλυμι kill, destroy ἀφίημι let go, allow δείκνυμι show δίδωμι give εἰμί be ἵημι throw ἵστημι stand

Ancient Greek for Everyone Unit 2 Vocabulary: DCC Classical καθίστημι set down, establish μίγνυμι mix παραδίδωμι hand over, deliver πάρειμι be present προστίθημι add to τίθημι put, make φημί say

Ancient Greek for Everyone Unit 2 Vocabulary: NT (New Testament) ἀνίστημι raise, appoint ἀποδίδωμι give back ἀπόλλυμι kill, destroy ἀφίημι forgive, allow δίδωμι give εἰμί be ἐπιτίθημι put on

Ancient Greek for Everyone Unit 2 Vocabulary: NT (New Testament) ἵστημι stand παραδίδωμι hand over, deliver παρίστημι present τίθημι put, make φημί say

Ancient Greek for Everyone Building a Greek verb Some of the verbs in the vocabulary have prefixes: – ἀνίστημι (ἀνα + ἵστημι) raise, appoint – ἀποδίδωμι (ἀπο + δίδωμι) give back – ἀφίημι (ἀπο + ἵημι) let go, allow, forgive – ἐπιτίθημι (ἐπι + τίθημι) put on – καθίστημι (κατα + ἵστημι) set down, establish – παραδίδωμι (παρα + δίδωμι) hand over, deliver – πάρειμι (παρα + εἰμί) be present – παρίστημι (παρα + ἵστημι) present – προστίθημι (προς + τίθημι) add το

Ancient Greek for Everyone Unit 2 Vocabulary: No! οὐ, οὐκ, οὐχ no, not οὔ by itself is accented and says, “No!” Normally οὐ bears no accent and negates an indicative verb. – οὐ δείκνυμι. I do not show. Before a word starting with a vowel, it adds a - κ to make pronunciation easier. – οὐκ ἀφίημι. I do not forgive. Before a word starting with a vowel and aspiration, the - κ becomes - χ : – οὐχ ἵημι. I do not throw.

Ancient Greek for Everyone Unit 2 Vocabulary: No! οὐ, οὐκ, οὐχ no, not Verbs in the infinitive mood use a different word to express “not”: μή – δίδωμι ὑμεῖς παρεῖναι. I give (= allow) y’all to be present. – οὐ δίδωμι ὑμεῖς παρεῖναι. I do not allow y’all to be present. – δίδωμι ὑμεῖς μὴ παρεῖναι. I allow y’all not to be present.

Ancient Greek for Everyone Unit 2 Vocabulary: Core ἀποδίδωμι give back ἀπόλλυμι kill, destroy ἀφίημι let go, allow δίδωμι give εἰμί be ἵστημι stand παραδίδωμι hand over, deliver τίθημι put, make φημί say οὐ, οὐκ, οὐχ, μή no, not

Ancient Greek for Everyone Next – practice with verbs The practice sheet provides forms of verbs. We will draw forms at random from a hat, and you need to (1) say the word out loud (2) parse the form (3) translate it into English and (4) choose the correct form of the “not” for the verb form that you have drawn. – start AGE Unit 3: Introduction to Greek nouns.