Hansen & Quinn, Greek: An Intensive Course, Unit 6
Morphological content in this unit:
48. Third-Declension Nouns: Consonant Stems
49. The Relative Pronoun
Unit 6 Vocabulary
48. Third-Declension Nouns: Consonant Stems
With a few exceptions, 3rd declension nouns (consonant and vowel stems alike) form following the same pattern we saw in the 1st and 2nd declensions. Only the genitive singular (/ος) and nominative plural (/ες) use different markers than those we’ve learned before.
The markers for all 3rd declension nouns (and adjectives) are these:
| Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | /L or /ς if neuter: nothing | /ες if neuter: /α |
| Genitive | /ος | /ων |
| Dative | /ι | /σι |
| Accusative | /Ṇ if neuter: same as nom. | /Ṇς if neuter: same as nom. |
| Vocative | nothing (the base with no marker) | same as the nominative plural |
The main variability is found in the nominative singular. For feminine and masculine nouns, if the last vowel of the base can lengthen, it will to mark the nominative singular. If it can’t, /ς is used.
In the case of feminine and masculine nouns, the gender of the noun does not determine which marker is used. Neuter nouns, however, adds nothing to form the nominative singular:
| γέρωντ/L > γέρων old man (masculine) | αἴγ/ς > αἶξ goat (feminine or masculine) | πρᾶγματ/ > πρᾶγμα thing, affair, deed (neuter) |
In the case of γέρων and πρᾶγματ/, τ drops because it can’t end a Greek word. In the case of αἶξ, γσ is spelled with ξ.
Sadly, there’s no great way to predict which marker a noun will use in the nominative singular. Again, feminine and masculine nouns equally use /L and /ς. This is why you must memorize the dictionary entry.
As for the accusative singular and plural of feminine and masculine nouns, Ṇ becomes α after a consonant and ν after a vowel. All nouns introduced in this unit have bases that end in consonants. So for them the accusative singular will be /α and the accusative plural will be /ας.
Remember that the accusative of neuter nouns is always the same as the nominative of the same number. Also remember that neuter nouns always mark the nominative plural with /α.
Looking to the dative plural, we find the usual behavior of stop consonants before σ: πσ, βσ, and φσ are spelled with ψ, κσ, γσ, and χσ are spelled with ξ, and stop consonants (τ, δ, θ) drop before σ.
Monosyllabic bases take the accent on the last syllable of the word in the genitive and dative, both singular and plural. So for instance αἶγα (accusative singular) but αἰγός (genitive singular) and αἰγί (dative singular).
49. The Relative Pronoun
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Vocabulary
The first column (left) lists the base of nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs. Words that do not decline, like prepositions and conjunctions, have no base. When the meaning of a word (right) differs from that in the book, it is because the book’s definition is outdated.
| αἴγ/ | αἴξ, αἰγός, ἡ or ὁ | goat |
| γε | “at least” (limiting) or “definitely” (emphasizing) | |
| γέροντ/ | γέρων, γέρωντος, ὁ | old man |
| γνώμα/ | γνώμη, γνώμης, ἡ | opinion, judgment |
| δεινό/ | δεινός, δεινή, δεινόν | clever, fearsome |
| δούλο/ | δοῦλος, δούλου, ὁ | slave |
| δουλεία/ | δουλεία, δουλείας, ἡ | slavery |
| δουλευ/ | δουλεύω, δουλεύσω, ἐδούλευσα, δεδούλευκα, [none], [none] | be enslaved |
| ἐλεύθερο/ | ἐλεύθερος, ἐλευθέρα, ἐλεύθερον | free |
| ἐλευθερία/ | ἐλευθερία, ἐλευθερίας, ἡ | freedom |
| Ἕλλην/ | Ἕλλην, Ἕλληνος, ὁ | a Greek speaker |
| ἐλπίδ/ | ἐλπίς, ἐλπίδος, ἡ | expectation, hope |
| κατά | down (can also mean “under, against” with gen. and “according to” with acc.) | |
| κωλυ/ | κωλύω, κωλύσω, ἐκώλυσα, κεκώλυκα, κεκώλυμαι, ἐκωλύθην | hinder, prevent |
| νύκτ/ | νύξ, νυκτός, ἡ | night |
| ὅ/ | ὅς, ἥ, ὅ | who, which |
| παλαιό/ | παλαιός, παλαιά, παλαιόν | old |
| πολιτευ/ | πολιτεύω, πολιτεύσω, ἐπολίτευσα, πεπολίτευκα, πεπολίτευμαι, ἐπολιτεύθην | serve as a citizen |
| πρᾶγματ/ | πρᾶγμα, πράγματος, τό | thing, affair, deed |
| σοφό/ | σοφός, σοφή, σοφόν | wise, skilled |
| σοφία/ | σοφία, σοφίας, ἡ | wisdom, skill |
| στάδιο/ | στάδιον, στάδιου, τό (in the plural, sometimes masculine στάδιοι, σταδίους) | stade (the length of 100 outstretched arms) |
| σώματ/ | σῶμα, σώματος, τό | body |
| τε | and (enclitic) | |
| τοι | ya know (enclitic) | |
| φάλαγγ/ | φάλαγξ, φάλαγγος, ἡ | battle line, phalanx |
| φύλακ/ | φύλαξ, φύλακος, ὁ | guard |
| χάριτ/ | χάρις, χάριτος, ἡ | beauty; kindness, gratitude (“grace” has largely fallen out of use in common Modern English but remains a technical term in Christian theological language) |
| gen. + χάριν | for the sake of | |
| χορό/ | χορός, χοροῦ, ὁ | dance |
| χορευ/ | χορεύω, χορεύσω, ἐχόρευσα, κεχόρευκα, κεχόρευμαι, ἐχορεύθην | dance |
| χορευτά/ | χορευτής, χορευτοῦ, ὁ | dancer |
reading morphologically 