Lesson 3. Nouns.—Introductory.

Cases

29. There are five CASES in Greek, the nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, and vocative.

In English, readers rely on the order in which words appear in a sentence to indicate the grammatical function of each word. In Ancient Greek, their case tells the reader the grammatical function of each word in the sentence.

30. The nominative and vocative plural are always alike. In neuters, the nominative, accusative, and vocative are alike in all numbers; in the plural these end in α.

Numbers

31. There are three NUMBERS, the singular, the dual (which denotes two objects), and the plural.

Genders

32. There are three GENDERS, the masculine, the feminine, and the neuter.

33. As in Latin, names of males and of rivers, winds and months are masculine; names of females and of countries, towns, trees, and islands, and most nouns denoting qualities or conditions are feminine.

Declensions

34. There are three DECLENSIONS, the First or A-Declension, the Second or O-Declension, and the Third or Consonant Declension. The first two together are sometimes called the Vowel Declension, as opposed to the Third.

35. The place of accent in the nominative singular of a noun or adjective must generally be learned by observation. The other forms accent the same syllable as the nominative, if the last syllable permits (21); otherwise the following syllable.

36. In the genitive and dative of all numbers a long ultima, if accented, takes the circumflex.

A-Declension.—Feminines in ᾱ.

37. Nouns of the A-Declension end in ᾱ, η, or α (feminine), or in ᾱς or ης (masculine). Feminines generally end in ᾱ, if ε, ι, or ρ precedes the ending.

38.Learn the declension of the following A-declension nouns:

χώρᾶ (Country)
Nominative Singularχώρᾱcountry
Genitive Singularχώρᾱςof country
Dative Singularχώρᾳto or for country
Accusative Singularχώρᾱνcountry
Vocative SingularχώρᾱO country
Dual Nominative, Accusative, & Vocativeχώρᾱ
Dual Genitive & Dativeχώραιν
Nominative Pluralχῶραιcountries
Genitive Pluralχωρῶνof countries
Dative Pluralχώραιςto or for countires
Accusative Pluralχώρᾱςcountries
Vocative PluralχῶραιO countries
στρατιά (Army)
Nominative Singularστρατιά
Genitive Singularστρατιᾶς
Dative Singularστρατιᾷ
Accusative Singularστρατιάν
Vocative Singularστρατιά
Dual Nominative, Accusative, & Vocativeστρατιά
Dual Genitive & Dativeστρατιαῖν
Nominative Pluralστρατιαί
Genitive Pluralστρατιῶν
Dative Pluralστρατιαῖς
Accusative Pluralστρατιάς
Vocative Pluralστρατιαί
ἡ μῑκρὰ θύρᾱ (The Small Door)
Nominative Singularἡ μῑκρὰ θύρᾱ
Genitive Singularτῆς μῖκρᾶς θύρᾱς
Dative Singularτῇ μῑκρᾷ θύρᾳ
Accusative Singularτὴν μῑκρὰν θύρᾱν
Vocative Singularμῑκρὰ θύρᾱ
Dual Nominative, Accusative, & Vocativeτὼ μῑκρὰ θύρᾱ
Dual Genitive & Dativeτοῖν μῑκραῖν θύραιν
Nominative Pluralαἱ μῑκραὶ θύραι
Genitive Pluralτῶν μῑκρῶν θυρῶν
Dative Pluralταῑς μῑκραῑς θύραις
Accusative Pluralτὰς μῑκρὰς θύρᾱς
Vocative Pluralμῑκραὶ θύραι

39. The genitive plural of nouns of this declension always has the circumflex on the last syllable.

a. For the accent of the other forms, see (35, 22) final αι is short, (23, 36). The forms ἡ, αἱ of the article are proclitic (26). The vocative of the article does not occur.

b. The nominative and vocative of these nouns, both singular and plural, are alike (30).

40. Vocabulary

ἀγορά, ᾶς, ἡmarket-place.
ἡμέρᾱ, ᾱς, ἡday.
θύρᾱ, ᾱς, ἡdoor.
οἰκίᾱ, ᾱς, ἡhouse.
στρατιά, ᾶς, ἡarmy.
χώρᾱ, ᾱς, ἡplace, land, country.
μακράadj., long.
μῑκράadj., small, little.
ἐνprep. with dat., in (a proclitic).
ἦνhe (she, it) was;
ἦσανthey were.
ἔχειhe (she, it) has;
ἔχουσιthey have.

a. The gender of a noun is indicated by placing after it the corresponding form of the definite article, as ἀγορά, ᾶς, ἡ, where ἡ singnifies that ἀγορά is feminine.

41. READ ALOUD AND TRANSLATE:

1. οἰκίαι μῑκραί.
2. ἐν ταῖς ἀγοραῖς.
3. ἐν οἰκίᾳ μῑκρᾷ.
4. ἡ οἰκίᾱ θύρᾶν ἔχει.
5. ἡ ἡμέρᾱ μακρὰ ἦν.
6. στρατιὰς μῑκρὰς ἔχουσι.
7. αἱ οἰκίαι θύρᾱς ἔχουσι.
8. ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ οἰκίαι ἦσαν.
9. αἱ οἰκίαι μῑκραὶ ἦσαν.
10. μῑκραὶ ἦσαν αἱ θύραι τῶν οἰκιῶν.

REVIEW AND PRACTICE: