H. W. Smyth

Greek Grammar Notes

Part 1 §60-§

 

 

 

 

68 D. Hom. has ὥριστος = ὁ ἀριστος, ωὐτός = ὁ αὐτός.  Hdt. has οὕτερος = ὁ ἑτερος, ὡνήρ = ὁ ἀνήρ, ὡυτοί = οἱ αὐτοί, τωὐτό = τό αὐτό, τὠυτοῦ = τοῦ αὐτοῦ, ἑωυτοῦ = εὃ αὐτοῦ, ὡνδρες = οἱ ἄνδρες.  Doric has κἠπί = καὶ ἐπί.

 

 

 

 

 

 

72 D. Absence of elision in Homer often proves the loss of Ϝ (3), as in κατὰ ἄστυ X 1. Epic admits elision in σά thy, ῥά, in the dat. sing. of the third decl., in -σι and -αι in the personal endings, and in -ναι, σθαι of the infinitive, and (rarely) in μοί, σοί, τοί, ἄνα oh king, and ἄνα = ἀνάστηθι rise up, elide only once, ἰδέ and never. Hdt. elides less often than Attic prose; but the Mss. are not a sure guide. περί sometimes appears as πέρ in Doric and Aeolic before words beginning with other vowels than ι.  ὀξεί ὀδύναι L 272. Cp. 148 D. 1.

 

 

 

73 D. In poetry a vowel capable of taking movable ν is often cut off.

75 D. Apocope (ἀποκοπή cutting off) occurs when a final short vowel is cut off before an initial consonant. In literature apocope is confined to poetry, but in the prose inscriptions of the dialects it is frequent. Thus, in Hom., as separate words and in compounds, ἄν, κατ, παρ (ἀπ, ὑπ rarely) for ἀνά, κατά, παρά (ἀπό, ὑπό).  Final τ is assimilated to a following consonant (but κατθανεῖν to die, not καθθανεῖν, cp. 83 a); so final ν by 91-95. Thus, ἀλλέξαι to pick up, ἂμ πόνον into the strife; κάββαλε threw down, κάλλιπε left behind, κακκείοντες lit. lying down, καυάξαις break in pieces, for καϜϜάξαις = κατ-Ϝάξαις, κὰδ δέ, καδδῦσαι entering into, κὰπ πεδίον through the plain, κὰγ γόνυ on the knee (kag not kang), κὰρ ῥόον in the stream;ὑββάλλειν interrupt, ἀππέμψει will send away. When three consonants collide, the final consonant of the apocopate word is usually lost, as κάκτανε slew, from κάκκτανε out of κατ(έ)κτανε.  Apocope occurs rarely in Attic poetry. πότ for ποτί = πρός in meaning) is frequent in Doric and Boeotian.

N. – The shorter forms may have originated from elision.