Feminine and Masculine Accusative Plural

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Introduction

The feminine and masculine accusative plural marker is /Ṇς. The Ṇ becomes α after a consonant and ν after a vowel, as depicted visually on this simple chart:

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Intermediate

In bases that end in vowels (a class which includes the entire first and second declensions), /Ṇς becomes /νς, a combination of letters which Ancient Greek does not allow; in nouns and adjectives, this conflict results in the dropping of the ν. The absence of ν leaves behind a quantitative gap. Via a process called compensatory lengthening, the preceding vowel ‘stretches’ to fill the empty space, resulting in the final forms of the accusative plural:

     κεφαλά/Ṇς > κεφαλάνς > κεφαλά_ς > κεφαλάς (κεφαλᾱς)
     ἄνθρωπο/Ṇς > ἄνθρωπονς > ἄνθρωπο_ς > ἄνθρώπους
     πόλι/Ṇς > πόλινς > πόλι_ς > πόλις (πόλῑς)

Vowels ‘stretch’ to fill these quantitative gaps in the following ways:

     α > ᾱ
     ε > ει
     ι > ῑ
     ο > ου
     υ > ῡ

For the majority of bases that end in consonants, the accusative plural is unproblematic:

     νύκτ/Ṇς > νύκτας
     παίδ/Ṇς > παίδας

In bases ending in ϝ or σ, as in the accusative singular, the Ṇ becomes α, makes the ϝ or σ intervocalic, and causes it to drop:

     βασιλέϝ/Ṇς > βασιλέϝας > βασιλέας
     ἀληθέσ/Ṇς > ἀληθέσας > ἀληθέας

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Vocabulary for this lesson (click here for the full lexicon)