A PLAIN AND EASY

GREEK GRAMMAR,

&c.

SECTION I.

OF THE LETTERS AND READING.

1. THE Letters in Greek are twenty-four, of which the following Table shows,

2. Writing over the letters several times is the best way of making them familiar to the learner, who should also, as he is going through the grammar, continually exercise himself in reading.

3. г before y, z, %, and x, is sounded like n, as in ayyeλos angelos, áɣrádŋ ancalee, λúyg lunx, έγχος enchos.

4. Y before is pronounced like the Eng. wh, thus viós pronounce whios. Comp. rule 11. below. 5. Of the Greek letters these seven, a, e, n, i, o, u, w, are cowels; the remaining seventeen are

consonants.

6. The towels, in respect to quantity or time in pronouncing, are divided into long, n, w; short, ɛ, o ; doubtful, a, i, v.

7. Diphthongs (díployyoɩ, i. e. double sounds) are formed of two vowels joined together, and in A

Greek may be reckoned twelve; six proper, ai, av, et, ev, ot, ov; and six improper, a, n, w, nv, vɩ, wv ; the little stroke under a, ŋ, w, standing for iota, and being called iota subscribed, or subscript.

8. The consonants are divided into nine mutes, 7, ß, & ; k, Y, X ; 7, 8, 0; four liquids, λ, μ, v, p ; σ, and three double letters, made of cg or od; made of ys, xs, or xs; and 4, of ẞs, πs, or pc. 9. The nine mutes are divided into tenues, or smooth, π, к, T ; media, or intermediate, ß, 7, 8; and aspirate, or rough, p, x, ☀; of which the labials, or lip-letters, π, ß, ; the palatines, or palateletters, K, Y, X; and the dentals, or teeth-letters, 7, 8, 0, are related respectively, and frequently exchanged for each other, i. e. one labial for another labial, as π for 3 or ; one palatine for another palatine, as x for y or x ; or one dental for another dental, as 7 for d or 0.

10. If in a word one mute follows another, a tenuis is put before a tenuis, a media before a media, and an aspirate before an aspirate, as τέτυπται, for τέτυφται, he was smitten, ἕβδομος, for ἕπτομος, the seventh ; ἐτύφθην, for ἐτύπθην, I was smitten.

11. Every word having a vowel or diphthong for the first letter is, in most printed books, marked at the beginning either with an aspirate, i. e. a rough breathing ('), as opoç pronounce horos, or with a smooth one ('), as opoç pronounce oros.

12. The former only of these breathings is of necessary use, and may be considered as a real letter, which was anciently written H2, then, and for expedition (); whence the other side of the letter,, in quick writing (), was taken to denote the smooth breathing. [It occurs in this form in the most ancient editions of the Greek writers. The spiritus was introduced by the Alexandrian grammarians 200 years B.C.]

13. Almost all words beginning with v or p3 are aspirated, or marked with a rough breathing; and if there be two ps in the middle of a word, the former is marked with a smooth, the latter with a rough breathing, as ippwoo pronounce errhoso, óppw porrho.

14. Of the marks over words, called accents, I shall only observe, that the acute (') marks the elevation of the voice in a syllable, the grare () the depression of it, and the circumflex (*) first the elevation of the voice, then the depression of it, in the same syllable, and is therefore placed only on long syllables.

15. A diaresis (") divides diphthongs, and shows that the vowels are to be sounded separate ; as ävπvoç, pronounce a-upnos.

16. A diastole (,) distinguishes one word from another; thus ró,7ɛ and the is distinguished from τότε then.

17. An apostrophe (') is the mark of the vowels a, e, i, o, or more rarely of the diphthongs at, ot, being rejected at the end of a word, when the word following begins with a vowel, as áλX' ¿yú for áλλà ly; and observe, that if the first vowel of the second word have an aspirate breathing, a preceding tenuis or smooth consonant must be changed into its correspondent aspirate or rough one, (comp. above 11.) as ἀφ' ἡμῶν for ἀπὸ ἡμῶν, νύχθ ̓ ὅλην for νύκτα ὅλην. Comp. above 10.

18. N is frequently added to words ending in or, if the next word begins with a vowel, to prevent the concurrence of two vowels, as είκοσιν ἄνδρες for εἴκοσι άνδρες twenty men, τύπτουσιν αὐτόν for τύπτουσι αὐτόν they beat him, ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ for ἔδωκε αὐτῷ he gave to him.

19. A letter or syllable is called pure which has a vowel, and impure which has a consonant, before it; thus w in Touw is pure, in TúπTw, impure.

20. The manner in which most Greek books were formerly printed, makes it necessary to add a Table of the most usual ABBREVIATIONS OF LIGATURES, which see fronting page 1.

21. As to the Greek punctuation, that language, in its present form, has four marks or stops; the full stop and comma, as in English,-a dot placed towards the upper part of the word, and serving both for a colon and a semicolon, as λóyog'—and the mark of interrogation resembling our semicolon, as λóyos;

22. The Greeks express their numbers either by their small letters with a dash over them, thus, a', or by their capitals. To express numbers by their small letters they divide their alphabet, which with the addition of the three ἐπίσημα, 5 σταυ, 4 κόππα, and 2 σάνπι, consists of twenty-seven letters, into three classes: the letters of the first class, from a to 0, denote units; of the second, from to 4, tens; of the third, from p to 2, hundreds. Thousands are expressed in the same order by adding an accent under the letters; thus የ is 1000.

3 Thus many words used by our Saxon ancestors begin with hr, as hpacode ragged, hɲeaþ raw, hneod a reed, &c.

They join them thus, ta', 11; ß, 12; ty', 13, &c. ; xß′, 22; λy', 33; μỡ, 44, &c. ; pa', 101; σia', 211; räß, 322, &c. ; apia', 1111 ; axes', 1666; q↓žŋ', 1768, &c. In denoting their numbers by capitals the Greeks use six letters, I, ia or μία, 1 ; Π, πέντε, 5; Δ, δέκα, 10 ; Η, ἑκατόν, 100; Χ. χίλια, 1000; Μ, μύρια, 10000. Two of these letters placed together signify the sum of the numbers; thus II is 2, IIIII 8, AA 20: and when the letter II (5) incloses any one of these, it denotes that it is to be multiplied by 5, or raises it to 5 times its own value; thus II is 50, IHI 500, IXI 5000, IMI 50,000; and 1768 may be thus expressed, XIHIHHAIIII.

SECTION II.

OF WORDS, AND FIRST OF THE ARTICLE.

1. WORDS are, in Greek, usually distinguished into eight kinds, called Parts of Speech; Article, Noun, Pronoun, Verb, Participle, Adverb, Conjunction, Preposition.

2. Of which the first five are declined, the last three undeclined.

3. A word is said to be declined when it changes its ending; and to be undeclined, when it does

not.

4. The Artide, Noun, Pronoun, and Participle, are declined by number, case, and gender.

5. Numbers are two; the singular, which speaks of one, as λóyog a, i. e. one, word; and the plural, which speaks of more than one, as λóyoɩ words.

6. To these the Greeks have added a third number, called the dual, which speaks of two only, as Adyw two words. [This number did not exist in the oldest state of the Greek language. It is not found in the Latin, which is in many respects the oldest form of the Greek; nor in the Æolic dialect, which retains far more of the ancient language than the others.] It is not much used in the profane writers; and neither in the New Testament, nor in the Septuagint version of the Old, do we ever meet with a dual, either noun or verb; and therefore-Observe, once for all, that though in the following examples, both of nouns and verbs, the dual number is printed, yet it may greatly contribute to the ease and progress of the learner entirely to omit it in declining.

7. A case is a variation of the termination or ending, denoting certain particles, of, to, &c.

8. The Cases are five in each number, nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, and vocative.

66

9. 1❝ Things are frequently considered with relation to the distinction of sex or gender, as being male or female, or neither one nor the other. Hence,"

10. "Substantives are of the masculine, or feminine, or neuter, that is neither, gender."

11.

The English language, with singular propriety, following nature alone, applies the distinction of masculine and feminine only to the names of animals; all the rest (except in a figurative style) are neuter." But,

12. In Greek, very many nouns, which have no reference to sex, are masculine or feminine. 13. The mark of the masculine gender is ó, of the feminine, and of the neuter ró. To this the grammarians have given the name of apepov, or article, which properly denotes a joint in the body, because of the particular connexion it has with the nouns. And before we come to the declining of nouns, it will be necessary to be quite perfect in

14. The manner of declining the article ò, n, ró, the or a.

15. The article has no vocative, but the interjection numbers, as does sometimes both in Latin and English.

M. F. N.

Plural.

N. oi, ai, rá, the

G. τῶν, τῶν, τῶν, of the
D. τοῖς, ταῖς, τοῖς, to the

Α. τούς, τάς, τά, the

supplies the defect of this case in all

16. N.B. In declining the article, and in all the following declensions of substantives, the learner should repeat the Greek words, first with, and then without, the English; and should always, in declining, name the number and case, thus: singular, nominative ò, ǹ, ro, the or a; genitive Tou, TS, Tov, of the or of a; dative 79, Tỷ, T, to the or to a, &c. : plural, nominative oi, ai, rá; genitive Twv, Tv, tŵv; dative roic, &c.

1 Bishop Lowth's Introduction to English Grammar, p. 27, 28. 2nd edit.

SECTION III.

OF NOUNS SUBSTANTIVE, AND THEIR DECLENSIONS.

1. NOUNS OF NAMES are of two kinds, substantive and adjective.

2. A Noun Substantive is the name of a substance or thing, as avОρwжоç a man, wóλeμog war, κάλλος beauty.

3. There are in Greek three declensions, or ways of declining substantives. Compare sect. ii. Rule 3.

4. Of which the two first have an equal number of syllables in all numbers and cases, and are therefore called parisyllabic1; but the last increases in the oblique cases 2, and so is called imparisyllabic3.

OF THE FIRST DECLENSION.

5. The first declension of substantives takes, in general, the termination of the feminine article, and hath in the nominative four terminations, and a feminine, ns and as masculine; as Tun, ἡ Μοῦσα ; ὁ ̓Αγχίσης, ὁ Αἰνείας.

n

[The Ionic dialect has 7 universally in the final syllable of this declension, as σopin, nμéon, Movon, Mions. The Doric a. The Attic retains a where a vowel or p precedes the termination, as σopía, ας, α ; νεανίας, τα ; ἡμέρα, ας, q, except αθάρη, ης, husked wheat, αἴθρη, fair weather, κόρη, Thuc. vi. 56. and the compounds of perpéw1.]

[In Æolic, the forms ng and as were changed into a, i. e. in the old Greek, and so in Homer μnrira, &c.; whence the Latin form poeta, cometa, &c. Hence too the Latins changed Greek names in ας into α, and the Greeks change the Roman names in a into as, as Σύλλας.]

in

6. 'H run, the or an honour, is thus declined:

7. The nouns that end in a, ng, and aç, differ but little from those in ŋ, and are thus declined:
Sing. Ν. ἡ Μοῦσα, a Muse, G. τῆς Μούσης, D. τῇ Μούσῃ, Α. τὴν Μοῦσαν, V. ὦ Μοῦσα.
Sing. N. ὁ ̓Αγχίσης, Anchises, G. τοῦ ̓Αγχίσου, D. τῷ ̓Αγχίσῃ, Α. τὸν ̓Αγχίσην, V. ὦ ̓Αγχίση.
Sing. N. ò Aiveias, Æneas, G. Tov Aiveiov, D. 7ų Aiveig, A. ròv Aiveiav, V. & Aivɛía.

In the dual and plural they are all declined like Tiμń.

8. Nouns ending in da, Oa, pa, and a pure (see sect. i. 19.) make their genitive in ag, and dative q, as Λήδα, Μάρθα, ἡμέρα, φιλία ; and so do nouns in a contracted of aa, as μνᾶ from μνάα. 9. Nouns in ac and ng reject ç in their vocative.

10. But nouns ending in rns, and those denoting countries and nations, poetic nouns in S, and the compounds of perpéw to measure, wλew to sell, and rpißw to beat, make their vocative in a; thus, κριτής, Πέρσης (α Persian), κυνώπης, γεωμέτρης, βιβλιοπώλης, παιδοτρίβης, have the vocatives κριτά, Πέρσα, &c.

11. Nouns in στης have either η or a in the vocative, as ληστής, Voc. ὦ ληστή or ληστά. 12. Some nouns in aç make a in the genitive, especially proper names, as Boppaç, Owμãç, Kndãç, Λουκᾶς, G. Βοῤῥᾶ, Θωμᾶ, Κηφά, Λουκᾶ. [In old Greek (Hom. Il. φ. 85), from the Nom. ης, two forms, ao and sw, occur, of which the 1st remained in Doric (Pind. Pyth. iv. 21), the 2nd in Ionic (see Herodotus, passim); and, in some cases, in Attic. This form is always monosyllabic; see the first line of the Iliad. It was, of course, originally written so, and hence came the Attic contraction ov, and the Æolic form εv. From the 1st form ao, arose the Doric genitive a, which is retained in proper names and some other nouns by the Attics.]

13. Contraction is the drawing of two final syllables into one: and there are contracted nouns of every declension. In this the general rule of contraction is, to cut off the vowel before the termination throughout all the cases ; thus, Ν. ἡ γαλέη, γαλῆ (a weasel), G. τῆς γαλέης, γαλῆς, D. τῇ γαλέη, γαλῇ, Α. τὴν γαλέην, γαλῆν, V. ὦ γαλέη, γαλῆ ; Ν. ἡ μνάα, μνᾶ (a pound), G. τῆς μνάας, μνᾶς, D. τῇ μνάᾳ, μνᾷ, Α. τὴν μνάαν, μνᾶν. But ea is contracted into n, as N. Ερμέας, τῆς (Mercury), D. 'Epμéa, -, A. 'Equéav, v, unless p or a vowel immediately precedes, and then the contraction is in a, as épia, à, wool. On is contracted into ŋ, as (fem.) áñλóŋ, àñλñ, simple.

1 From the Latin par equal, and syllaba a syllable.

2 All the cases except the nominative are by Grammarians called oblique, because they deviate or decline from the nominative.

3 From the Latin impar unequal, and syllaba a syllable.

4 In Pierson on Moris, p. 184. a few more examples are given.

OF THE SECOND DECLENSION.

14. The second declension takes, in general, the termination of the masculine or neuter article, and hath in the nominative two terminations, og masculine and feminine, and ov neuter, as ò λóyos a word, ή οδός a way, τὸ ξύλον wood.

16. The neuter ξύλον is declined in like manner : only observe that the nominative, accusative, and vocative of neuter nouns are always alike, and in the plural these cases, both in the second and third declension, end in α, thus,

Sing. N. A. V. τὸ ξύλον, G. τοῦ ξύλου, D. τῷ ξύλῳ.
Dual, N. A. V. τώ ξύλω, G. D. τοῖν ξύλοιν.

Plur. N. A. V. τὰ ξύλα, G. τῶν ξύλων, D. τοῖς ξύλοις.

17. The Attics I have a peculiar manner of forming some nouns of this declension, by changing the last vowel or diphthong into w, or into q, and a long or at, before the termination, into ε, as from ὁ ναός a temple, νεώς, from τὸ ἀνάγαιον an upper chamber, ἀνώγεων : and as the Atties in all other nouns have the vocative like the nominative, so in these nouns also, thus,

Sing. N. V. ὁ νεώς, G. τοῦ νεώ, D. τῷ νεῷ, Α. τὸν νεών.

Dual, N. A. V. τώ νεώ, G. D. τοῖν νεών.

Plur. N. V. οἱ νεφ, G. τῶν νεῶν, D. τοῖς νεῷς, Α. τοὺς νεώς.

Sing. N. A. V. τὸ ἀνώγεων, G. τοῦ ἀνώγεω, D. τῷ ἀνώγεῳ.
Dual, N. A. V. τὼ ἀνώγεω, G. D. τοῖν ἀνώγεων.

Plur. N. A. V. τὰ ἀνώγεω, G. τῶν ἀνώγεων, D. τοῖς ἀνώγες.

18. [In the accus. the Attics often omit v, as λαγώ α hare, ἕw the morning; and this is regular in proper names.]

19. There is one noun in ως of the neuter gender, τὸ χρέως a debt.

20. [The Attics often declined after this form words of the 3rd declension ; for we find γέλων from γέλος, ἤρων and ἥρω from ἥρως, and Μίνω (both in the gen. and acc.) from Μίνως. On the other hand, the later Greeks declined some nouns of the 2nd decl. in ως, according to the 3rd.]

21. Contractions in this declension are made thus, e and o before @ or a diphthong are dropped; to and oo are contracted into ov, and ea into α. Thus ὁ ἀδελφιδέος α sister's son :

Sing. N. ὁ ἀδελφιδέος, -οῦς, G. τοῦ —έου, -οῦ, D. τῷ πέψ, —, Α. τὸν —έον, οὖν, &c.

Dual, N. A. V. τὼ ἀδελφιδέω, —ῶ, G. D. τοῖν ἀδελφιδέοιν, οῖν.

Plur. N. οἱ ἀδελφιδέοι, ποῖ, G. τῶν ἀδελφιδ-έων, —ῶν, &c.

Sing. N. A. V. τὸ ὀστέον, ὀστοῦν, a bone, G. τοῦ ὀστέου, ὀστοῦ, D. τῷ ὀστέῳ, ὀστῷ.

Dual, N. A. V. τὰ ὀστέω, ὀστῶ, G. D. τοῖν ὀστέοιν, ὀστοῖν.

Plur. N. A. V. τὰ ὀστέα, ὀστᾶ, G. τῶν ὀστέων, ὀστῶν, D. τοῖς ὀστέοις, ὀστοῖς.

Sing. N. ὁ νέος, νοῦς, the mind, G. τοῦ νόου, νοῦ, D. τῷ νόῳ, νῷ, Α. τὸν νόον, νοῦν.
Dual, N. A. V. τώ νόω, νῶ, G. D. τοῖν νόοιν, νοῖν.

Plur. N. V. οἱ νόοι, νοῖ, G. τῶν νόων, νῶν, D. τοῖς νόοις, νοῖς, Α. τοὺς νόους, νοῦς.

[“ The plural and dual of the form in oos do not occur, but are formed by analogy. Ανεψιαδούς and θυγατριδούς are of this form also.” Matth.]

OF THE THIRD DECLENSION.

22. The third declension is imparisyllabic, and hath in the nominative nine terminations, a, e, v neuter ; ω, feminine ; and ν, ξ, ρ, ς, ψ, of all genders.

Ο Δελφίν a dolphin is thus declined :

1 There are three principal dialects of the Greek language, the Attic, Ionic, and Doric. See sect. xxiii.