Verb Formation

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<this page should be parallel with the same one for participles…. basically the few ways a concept of conjugation can be applied to Greek>

Each finite verb has at the very least a base, which provides the verb’s basic meaning, and a personal marker, which indicates person and number, always attached at the end of the word. Personal markers can also mark time and voice. Aspect, mood, usually time, and sometimes voice, are indicated by other explicit markers within the final form, as well. However, the most basic formula for building a finite verb is:

          base + personal marker

For instance, δυνα/ is a base meaning “be able” and /μαι is a personal marker meaning “I.” When combined, δύναμαι means “I am able.”

Leaving aside markers for time, aspect, voice, and mood, personal markers are added to verbs either using a “connecting vowel” or not. The use (or non-use) of a vowel to connect personal markers to a base is called “formation.” There are three types of verb formation in Greek: thematic formation, athematic formation, and alpha formation, a subtype of athematic formation.

The default verb form is thematic in formation. Thematic means that, in the indicative, it uses either ε or ο as a connecting vowel in this order:

Take φέρομαι, “I carry myself” (reflexive middle) or “I am carried” (passive). This verb is the result of base φερ/, 1st person singular personal marker /μαι, and intervening theme vowel ο. In contrast, δύναμαι above has no theme vowel and is thus athematic. However, in some verb forms α is used as a connecting vowel. Since the absence of the theme vowel ε or ο (or their lengthened equivalents η or ω) in a verb’s formation is called athematic (literally “without a theme vowel”), the use of an α connecting vowel is thus a type of athematic formation. Sometimes the formation of a verb will help mark it morphologically, so what vowel is (or is not) used to connect a personal marker to the rest of the verb is important.

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