Learn greek (7 of 7) - The nominal system, part II.pdf - język grecki - Mistra

7 The Nominal System (Part 2)

§7.0 Introduction

The acquisition of a new language is difficult. This difficulty may be

compounded if it is not heard and spoken on a regular b

Because of this special challenge, it takes several exposur

to new elements of NTGreek grammar before it is

understood. Make no mistake about it; acquiring a new

language and the skills required is a daunting task! Any

grammar positing anything differently is selling something.

asis.

Many enthusiastic students soon realize they are swimming—if not

perhaps drowning—in information. Out of frustration, they blame

themselves and think they are not intelligent enough or too old to tackle

Greek. What they do not realize is that this is the natural learning process.

Babies are at first engulfed in a sea of meaningless noise before they

gradually learn to detect and recognize meaningful sounds as words.

Instead of frustration, the proper response is to continue to be enthusiastic

and inquisitive about what you are learning, just like a child!

Those studying NTGreek on their own may become unsure what they are

learning, especially when there is no authoritative source in their

immediate vicinity to ask questions and gain needed reassurance that they

are on the right path. This uneasiness may continue until a “language

threshold” is achieved. When this will occur depends upon the individual

and the amount of time spent studying and practicing of the language.

However, if the student does not quit, this threshold will be achieved.

People have different levels of ability and different rates of progress. Be

encouraged! The God of creation delights in diversity and variety and

perfectionism is not a prerequisite to learn Greek. If perfectionism was a

requirement (or to write a NTGreek grammar), then we all should stop

now! Do not compare yourself with someone else’s ability; enjoy what you

are learning by keeping in mind the purpose for your language study.

Everyone needs some grace of perseverance to learn and understand the

Greek New Testament, including this author.

Second Declension Nouns (Module B)

Feminine and Neuter Nouns

Lesson 7: The Second Declension (Module B) Page 136

Feminine and Neuter Nouns

________________________________________________________________

§7.1 Second Declension Feminine Nouns

Lesson Six introduced the Greek nominal system, and that not all nouns

are inflected in the same manner. Those patterns which are alike or nearly

alike when inflected are grouped together into one of three distinct

declensions, either first, second or third declension. A substantive’s

declension is determined by its stem termination, whether with a vowel

(first and second declension) or a consonant (third declension).

Any noun may correctly be called a substantive. A substantive

is an all-inclusive term for any part of speech that functions as a

noun. Other parts of speech other than nouns may function

substantivally within a syntactical context, such as adjectives,

pronouns, participles, infinitives, and at times the article.

All word stems ending with the vowel omikron belong to the second

declension. The great majority of these are masculine or neuter in gender.

However, sixty-seven nouns in the second declension are feminine. The

feminine case endings are introduced next (before neuter second

declension nouns) because second declension feminine nouns are

inflected in the same way that masculine nouns in the same declension.

h9 o9do/j (road, way, journey, conduct) o9do + case ending

listen

Singular

Plural

Article Noun Article Noun

Nominative h9 o9do/ j i9 o9do i /

Genitive th=j o9d ou = ~n o9d w ~ n

Dative th=| o9d w ~ | i=j o9do i = j

Accusative th/n o9do/ n ta&j o9do u / j

Vocative o9d e / i9 o9do i /

It must be clearly understood that second declension feminine case

endings are identical to second declension masculine case endings. The

determining factor between these two genders is lexical, and not forms.

Lesson 7: The Second Declension (Module B) Page 137

Feminine and Neuter Nouns

________________________________________________________________

§7.11 Lexical form. The lexical form of second declension feminine

nouns, like their masculine counterparts, is the nominative singular form.

The nominative singular form

is the lexical entry, followed

by the genitive singular, and

then the article.

The above lexical citation is from A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament

and Other Early Christian Literature by Walter Bauer and translated into English

by William F. Arndt and F. Wilbur Gingrich (1979:553). Originally, this was a

Greek-German lexicon.

The lexical form for all nouns is their nominative singular form.

There is never an exception to this rule. The Greek-English

lexicon (like the one above) lists only one form for each word

rather than all the forms of every paradigm. For example, if the

form o9dou= is encountered in the Greek text, one would have to

know that o9dou= comes from o9do/j in order to look up the word’s

definition. This is similar for looking up a word in an English

dictionary. For example, to look up the definition for “women”,

one would have to know that this plural noun is from the singular

“woman” to find its definition.

The best and recommended method to learn the gender of a

Greek noun is to memorize the gender of the definite article which

is grammatically associated with its nominative singular form.

§7.12 Stems of Second Declension Feminine Nouns. The stems of

second declension feminine nouns terminate with an omikron just like the

masculine second declension nouns. The appropriate case endings are

added to the vocalic stem according to the noun’s grammatical function in

the sentence (see examples under §7.14).

§7.13 Agreement . When a modifier, such as an article modifies second

declension feminine nouns, they too are feminine. The reason for this is

for grammatical concord (or agreement ). Because of grammatical

concord, the article must be inflected to correspond to the substantive it

modifies grammatically. In other words, the article aligns itself in gender,

number and case to the substantive because the article is the modifier.

This is the reason the article must agree with its substantive.

Lesson 7: The Second Declension (Module B) Page 138

Feminine and Neuter Nouns

________________________________________________________________

Therefore, a grammatical discord like o9 o9do/j will never be encountered in

NTGreek, because in this example, the noun’s gender is feminine and the

article is masculine. It will become evident that concord plays a larger role

in NTGreek than in English because of its highly developed inflected

morphological system.

§7.14 Examples of Second Declension Feminine Nouns. The

following paradigms are second declension feminine nouns. The feminine

article is properly shown with its inflected noun, agreeing in gender,

number and case, in both the singular and the plural.

h9 bi/bloj (roll, book, account) biblo + case ending

listen Singular Plural

Nominative h9 bi/blo j ai9 bi/blo i

Genitive th=j bi/bl ou tw~n bi/bl wn

Dative th=| bi/bl w | tai=j bi/blo ij

Accusative th\n bi/blo n ta_j bi/blo uj

Vocative bi/bl e ai9 bi/blo i

h9 dia&lektoj (language, dialect) dialekto + case ending

listen Singular Plural

Nominative h9 dia&lekto j ai9 dia&lekto i

Genitive th=j diale/kto u ~n diale/kt wn

Dative th=| diale/kt w | tai=j diale/kto ij

Accusative th\n dia&lekto n _j diale/kto uj

Vocative dia&lekt e ai9 dia&lekto i

It will take some mental training also to think of these inflectional endings

as feminine forms. In many cases where these nouns occur in NTGreek,

the article or another modifier will indicate the gender of these nouns.

From the outset, the best way from becoming confused is to memorize the

accompanying nominative singular article with the lexical form—always!

Lesson 7: The Second Declension (Module B) Page 139

Feminine and Neuter Nouns

________________________________________________________________

§7.2 Second Declension Neuter Nouns

NTGreek vocabulary includes two hundred and thirty-two neuter second

declension nouns. These nouns are approximately thirty percent of all

second declension nouns (about sixty percent are masculine).

Like masculine and feminine nouns of the second declension, the neuter

nouns are composed of a stem, a stem vowel, and the case endings. In

the nominative, vocative and accusative plural forms, the omikron has

been irregularly absorbed by the alpha (and not because of contraction).

to\ e1rgon (work, deed, action) e0rgo + case ending

listen

Si ngular

Plural

Article Noun Article Noun

Nominative to/ e1rgo n ta& e1rg a

Genitive tou= e1rg ou ~n e1rg wn

Dative tw~| e1rg w| i=j e1rg oij

Accusative to/ e1rgo n & e1rg a

Vocative e1rgo n e1rg a

• The neuter nominative and accusative singular and plural forms

are identical. The context in which the neuter noun occurs will

aid in determining its grammatical function.

• The final alpha is pronounced short in all neuter nominative,

vocative and accusative plural noun forms.

• The neuter vocative singular and plural case forms are identical

to the nominative case endings. This is different from the

masculine second declension vocative singular that normally

exhibits a separate form than its nominative singular.

• The neuter second declension nouns are identical with the

masculine case forms in the genitive and dative, in both the

singular and the plural. It cannot be overstated how important it

is to learn the gender of each noun as they are encountered.

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