Ancient Greek for Everyone:A New Digital Resource for Beginning Greek

Unit 7: Introduction to -ω verbs

2013 editionWilfred E. Majorwmajor@lsu.edu

Ancient Greek for Everyone

This class AGE Unit 7: Introduction to -ω verbs• This unit introduces -ω verbs, • but first: Review Greek verbs from Unit 2.

Ancient Greek for Everyone• From Unit 2: A Greek verb by itself usually

communicates FIVE pieces of information: – Person– Number – Tense – Mood – Voice

PARSING: To “parse” a Greek verb means to identify the above five qualities about a specific verb form.

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From Unit 2: Building a Greek verb• To begin building a Greek verb, start with the “stem.” • The stem tells you what action the verb describes:

δεικ = “show”

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From Unit 2: Building a Greek verb• All the verbs in this unit are in the present tense. • So the stem needs a marker that says the verb is in the

present tense. • Adding a -ν- to the stem typically marks a verb as in the

present tense. It will be easier to pronounce this verb by adding –νυ–.

• So now the stem looks (and sounds) like this: – δεικνυ = “show” (in the present)

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From Unit 2: Building a Greek verb• So now the verb is in the present tense. • The most common mood of Greek verbs is the

indicative (which means the action is real). This is also effectively the default mood for verbs.

• All the verbs in this unit are in the active voice, so the following verb forms are – Present tense – Indicative mood– Active voice

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From Unit 2: Building a Greek verb• To indicate person and number, the verb needs distinct

endings, which are as follows:

• -μι = I (1st person singular) -μεν = we (1st person plural) • -ς = you (2nd person singular) -τε = y’all (2nd person plural) • -σι = (s)he, it (3rd person sing) -ασι = they (3rd person plural)

Ancient Greek for Everyone• δείκνυμι – I show, am showing, do

show. • δείκνυς – You show, are showing,

do show. • δείκνυσι – (S)he/it shows, is

showing, does show.

• δείκνυμεν – We show, are showing,

do show. • δείκνυτε – Y’all show, are showing,

do show. • δεικνύασι – They show, are showing,

do show.

Building a Greek VerbThe Present Indicative Active of δείκνυμι

Ancient Greek for EveryoneFrom Unit 2: • The second most common mood of Greek verbs is the

infinitive (which refers to the action without person, number or tense, so it needs only a single ending).

• The ending –ναι signals the verb is in the infinitive. • δεικνύναι – “show” in the infinitive mood (mode)

• This form is the present, infinitive, active.

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Conjugating a Greek verb• The Latin verb conjugare means “join together” and from this

verb “conjugate” means to join a verb stem together with its endings.

• Thus conjugating the present indicative active of a Greek verb means saying or writing out all the forms in the present indicative active.

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Conjugating a Greek verb• From the practice of conjugating verbs, we can speak of a

“conjugation.” A conjugation is simply a set of verbs that all use the same endings. You can think of a conjugation as a verb family or verb type.

• Greek has two conjugations. They are named and identified by the 1st person singular present active indicative ending that they use.

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Conjugating a Greek verb• All the verbs so far use the 1st person singular present

active indicative ending -μι, so they are known as “-μι verbs.” This is one conjugation. • This unit introduces the other conjugation, known as

“-ω verbs,” because they use the 1st person singular present active indicative ending -ω.

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Conjugating a Greek verb• Greek has two conjugations: – -μι verbs– -ω verbs

• Both conjugations build and parse the same way. They just use somewhat different endings to designate person and number.

• These two conjugations are not totally separate. Once all the tenses (past, present and future) are reckoned, all Greek verbs in fact use a blend of the two conjugations.

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Building a Greek verb• Remember that, to begin building a Greek verb,

start with the “stem.” • The stem tells you what action the verb describes:

δεικ = “show” λυ = “loosen, destroy”

λαβ = “take”

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Building a Greek verb• All -ω verbs have a sort of buffer sound just before the

verb’s ending. This buffer is a vowel sound called the “thematic vowel.” -μι verbs do not have this vowel.

• This “thematic vowel” blends with the verb ending in a stable, consistent way, so you actually learn the thematic vowel and the verb ending combination together.

• The thematic vowel keeps the verb ending stable. Recall how some -μι verbs change vowel lengths or make other changes. -ω verbs are not susceptible to these types of changes because of the thematic vowel.

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From Unit 2: Building a Greek verb• Recall that almost all the verb forms so far are

– Present tense – Indicative mood– Active voice

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Building a Greek verb• To indicate person and number, -ω verbs need distinct

endings, which are as follows:

• -ω = I (1st person singular) -ομεν = we (1st person plural) • -εις = you (2nd person singular) -ετε = y’all (2nd person plural) • -ει = (s)he, it (3rd person sing) -ουσι = they (3rd person plural)

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Building a Greek verb• To indicate person and number, -ω verbs need distinct

endings, which are as follows:

• -ω = I (1st person singular) -ομεν = we (1st person plural) • -εις = you (2nd person singular) -ετε = y’all (2nd person plural) • -ει = (s)he, it (3rd person sing) -ουσι = they (3rd person plural)

• Notice that the thematic vowel is an “o” sound in the 1st person (singular and plural) and the 3rd person plural, but an “e” sound in the 2nd person (singular and plural) and the 3rd person singular.

Ancient Greek for Everyone• λύω – I loosen, destroy.

• λύεις – You loosen, destroy.

• λύει – (S)he/it loosens, destroy.

• λύομεν – We loosen, destroy.

• λύετε – Y’all loosen, destroy.

• λύουσι – They loosen, destroy.

Building a Greek VerbThe Present Indicative Active of λύω

Ancient Greek for Everyone• The ending –ειν signals that an -ω verb is in the infinitive. • λύειν – “loosen, destroy” in the infinitive mood (mode)

• This form is the present, infinitive, active.

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Spell it Like It Sounds!• Remember: A word ending in -σι can add a final -ν

(“nu-movable”) to make pronunciation easier: – For example, εἴκοσι εἶσι εἴκοσιν εἶσιν. – This added -ν has no meaning; it simply helps

pronunciation. – For the verb λύω, this means λύουσι can appear

as λύουσιν. It does not affect the parsing, meaning or translation.

Ancient Greek for Everyone• From Unit 2: Placing the accent:– On most Greek words, the “recessive” rule determines the

placement of the accent. This means:– If the last syllable of the word contains a single short

vowel, the accent “recedes” two syllables: – δίδοτε – It can recede only to the last short vowel sound of this

syllable (never to the first part), so the accent appears as an acute (“/”):

– ἄνθρωπος, δώσετε (= δοόσετε)

Ancient Greek for Everyone• From Unit 2: Placing the accent:– On most Greek words, the “recessive” rule determines the

placement of the accent. This means:– If the word has only two syllables and the last syllable of

the word contains a single short vowel, the accent “recedes” to the first syllable:

– δότε– or the first part of a long vowel sound: – δῶρον (= δόορον)

Ancient Greek for Everyone• From Unit 2: Placing the accent:– On most Greek words, the “recessive” rule determines the

placement of the accent. This means:– If the last syllable of the word contains a long vowel sound,

the accent “recedes” only one syllable: – διδότω. – It can recede only to the second part of this syllable, so the

accent always appears as an acute (“/”): – παραδώσω (= παραδοόσω = παραδοόσοο)

Ancient Greek for Everyone• VOCABULARY: Although a Greek verb can morph into

many different forms, it is listed in a dictionary (Greek “lexicon”) under just one form: – First person – Singular – Present – Indicative – Active

• For example: λύω set free, destroy λαμβάνω take

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Unit 7 part 1 Vocabulary: Classical• ἀκούω hear• βουλεύω deliberate, resolve• θύω sacrifice• κελεύω order • κωλύω prevent • λύω loosen, destroy • παύω stop • πιστεύω trust, rely on, believe in • πορεύω carry; (mid.) go, march• φύω produce

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Unit 7 part 1 Vocabulary: NT (New Testament) • ἀκούω hear• ἀπολύω release, divorce, forgive • θεραπεύω heal, serve • κλαίω cry out• λύω loosen, destroy • περισσεύω be left over, increase, exceed • πιστεύω trust, rely on, believe in

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Building a Greek verb• All the verbs so far are in the present tense. • Like some -μι verbs, some -ω verbs have a specific

marker to indicate that the verb is in the present tense. • As for -μι verbs, adding a -ν- to the stem typically marks

a verb as in the present tense. To make a verb easier to pronounce, the stem often adds –αν– rather than –ν– by itself.

• For example, this stem looks (and sounds) like this: – λαβ = “take” λαμβαν = “take” (in the present)

Ancient Greek for Everyone• λαμβάνω – I take.

• λαμβάνεις – You take.

• λαμβάνει – (S)he/it takes.

• λαμβάνομεν – We take.

• λαμβάνετε – Y’all take.

• λαμβάνουσι – They take.

Building a Greek VerbThe Present Indicative Active of λαμβάνω

Ancient Greek for Everyone• The ending –ειν signals that an -ω verb is in the infinitive. • λαμβάνειν – “take” in the infinitive mood (mode)

• This form is the present, infinitive, active.

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Unit 7 part 1 Vocabulary: Classical• ἁμαρτ- ἁμαρτάνω miss, fail, make a mistake• βη- βαίνω walk, come, go– συμβαίνω happen, agree, result

• ἐλα- ἐλαύνω drive • λαβ- λαμβάνω take, grab; receive, get– καταλαμβάνω seize, catch up to, arrest – ὑπολαμβάνω take up, reply, suppose

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Unit 7 part 1 Vocabulary: Classical• λαθ- λανθάνω escape notice of; (mid.) forget• μαθ- μανθάνω learn• πι- πίνω drink• τεμ- τέμνω cut • τυχ- τυγχάνω happen to (+part.), meet (+gen)

Ancient Greek for Everyone

Unit 7 part 1 Vocabulary: NT (New Testament) • ἁμαρτ- ἁμαρτάνω miss, fail, make a mistake• ἀνα + βη- ἀναβαίνω walk up, go aboard, enter• κατα + βη- καταβαίνω walk down, descend• λαβ- λαμβάνω take, grab; receive, get• παρα + λαβ- παραλαμβάνω take, receive, accept • πι- πίνω drink

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Building a Greek verb• All the verbs so far are in the present tense. • Like some -μι verbs, some -ω verbs have a specific

marker to indicate that the verb is in the present tense. • Another such marker is -σκ-.• Some of these verbs, as do some -μι verbs, duplicate the

initial sound of the stem in the present tense. • For example, this stem looks (and sounds) like this:

γνω = “know” γιγνωσκ = “know” (in the present)

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Unit 7 part 1 Vocabulary: Classical• θαν- θνήσκω or ἀποθνῄσχω die • γνω- γιγνώσκω know• διδαχ- διδάσκω teach • εὑρ- εὑρίσκω find• μνη μιμνήσκω remind • παθ πάσχω suffer, experience

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Unit 7 part 1 Vocabulary: NT (New Testament) • θαν- ἀποθνῄσχω die • γνω- γινώσκω know, recognize, understand

– ἀναγινώσκω read– ἐπιγινώσκω know, recognize, understand

• διδαχ- διδάσκω teach • εὑρ- εὑρίσκω find• παθ πάσχω suffer, experience

Note: Classical γιγνώσκω becomes γινώσκω in Koine Greek.

Ancient Greek for Everyone

Unit 7 part 1 Vocabulary: Core• ἀκούω hear • ἁμαρτάνω miss, fail, make a mistake• ἀποθνῄσχω die • βαίνω walk, come, go• γι(γ)νώσκω know, recognize, understand • διδάσκω teach • εὑρίσκω find

Ancient Greek for Everyone

Unit 7 part 1 Vocabulary: Core• λαμβάνω take, grab; receive, get• λύω loosen, destroy • πάσχω suffer, experience • πίνω drink• πιστεύω trust, rely on, believe in