Learn greek (7 of 7) - The nominal ...

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.
es
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
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.
© Dr. William D. Ramey
InTheBeginning.org
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
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.
© Dr. William D. Ramey
InTheBeginning.org
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
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
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!
© Dr. William D. Ramey
InTheBeginning.org
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
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.
© Dr. William D. Ramey
InTheBeginning.org
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]