138 aorist (aoacuteristos) ancient theories of

almost completed but still taking place at the moment of utterance therefore strictly speak-ing it is not a fully past tense (rarr Aorist)

As the aorist employs a sigmatic paradigm it lends itself to a parallel (termed lsquokinshiprsquo sungeacuteneia) with the other sigmatic tense of the temporal system the future (eg luacute-sō) since anything in the future is inherently uncertain the future as a tense is undefined by nature Thus the aorist is declared katagrave tḕn aoristiacutean tocirci meacutel-lonti sungenḗs lsquoby its indefiniteness related to the futurersquo (Schol Dion Thrax 2519)

If we leave the lsquotechnographicalrsquo discussion and turn to the philological one we find the aorist (called suntelikoacutes by Aristarchus) being opposed to the imperfect (paratatikoacutes lit lsquoextensiversquo) seen here as a past tense proper in numerous passages of the ancient Homeric scholia the Alexandrian grammarians (above all Aristarchus) declare that one of the two tenses is used (incorrectly) instead of the other the two past tenses not being normally synonymous or interchangeable If an explanation is to be given (a rare fact the Greek reader of the critical com-mentary is supposed to lsquosensersquo these things) this is an aspectual one thus Schol Hom Il 11368 thinspthinspthinspexenaacuterizen houacutetō diagrave toucirc z ou gagraver eteacutelesen lsquo[we should read] exenaacuterizen with zeta [ie an imperfect not the aorist exenaacuterixen] for he has not completed [his action]rsquo The aorist is viewed here as its Aristarchean name indicates as per-fective and is opposed to the imperfect which presents the action in its extension (paraacutetasis) and as incomplete We see a similar intuition in Apollonius Dyscolus (Synt III 1023583) who opposes the extensive value of the present imperative skaacutepte lsquogo on diggingrsquo to the termi-native value of the aorist imperative skaacutepson lsquofinish diggingrsquo But it is remarkable that where modern scholars call skaacutepson an aorist impera-tive Apollonius like the Homeric scholiast does not use the term lsquoaoristrsquo even though he knows it (Apoll Dysc Synt III 143ndash146) and applies it both to indicatives like eacutedeira lsquoI flayedrsquo and the subjunctive deiacuterō (Synt III 1443925) nei-ther does he use the term suntelikoacutes lsquocompletedrsquo which would fit well with his account of the perfective value of aorist forms Without naming this lsquotensersquo he finds it sufficient to present the perfective value as an effect of the lsquopastrsquo mean-ing (parōikhēmeacutenon Synt III 1023589) a value which in his eyes attaches to all aorist stem forms even the modal ones

When confronted with this kind of text one cannot help but think that the use of the term lsquoaoristrsquo which would flourish in the later gram-matical tradition was originally not wholly unproblematic Apart from the difficulty in describing the lsquoaoristicrsquo aspectual value of the term aoacuteristos (undoubtedly introduced by the Stoics in their description of the Greek verbal sys-tem) one reason for this could be that a descrip-tion which remains little known perpetuated itself in the terminology of Alexandrian grammar-ians having largely lost its original motivation

BibliographyBerrettoni Pierangiolo 1996 ldquoLa formazione di un par-

adigma stoico-alessandrino nella storia dei tempi del verbordquo Quaderni della Sezione Glottologia e Linguistica 85ndash29

Lallot Jean 1985 ldquoLa description des temps du verbe chez trois grammairiens grecs (Apollonius Steacutephanos Pla-nude)rdquo Histoire Eacutepisteacutemologie Langage VII147ndash81 (repr in Lallot J 2012 Eacutetudes sur la grammaire alexandrine Paris 87ndash112)

mdashmdash 1998 La grammaire de Denys le Thrace Paris Matthaios Stephanos 1999 Untersuchungen zur Grammatik

Aristarchs Texte und Interpretation zur Wortartenlehre Goumlttingen

Schoumlpsdau Klaus 1978 ldquoZur Tempuslehre des Apollonios Dyskolosrdquo Glotta 56273ndash294

Versteegh Kees H M 1980 ldquoThe Stoic verbal systemrdquo Hermes 108338ndash357

Jean Lallot

Aorist Formation

The Greek aorist exhibits a range of verbal forms equaled only by the present tense The seman-tics of the aorist obscures the core function of its morphology Since aorist finite forms generally refer to anterior events the aorist is treated as a preterite and historical tense (Indeed Diony-sius Thrax counts it among the four past tenses rarr Aorist (aoacuteristos) Ancient Theories of) But the aorist indicative refers to time other than the past in Homer Plato Greek Tragedy and the New Testament

Anterior reference however is not an essen-tial function of the aorist from the PIE point of view as demonstrated by the aoristrsquos capacity to express ingressive resultative and gnomic senses (see Sihler 1995447ndash452 rarr Aorist rarr Indo-European Linguistic Background) This range of temporal and aspectual reference may result from the PIE aoristrsquos development as a punctual category In oblique moods the aorist contrasts

aorist formation 139

with the present aspectually (the aorist is atem-poral and non-iterative the present is progres-sive or iterative Apollonius Dyscolus however suggests that the aorist conveys completion) From the perspective of IE languages the aspec-tual distinction of the aorist has been claimed as a Greek development although probably incipi-ent in IE (see Sihler 1995442ff 510ndash511 Szemereacute-nyi 198716ndash17)

The Classical Greek aorist has finite indica-tive forms with an augment is productive in the same range of moods as the present (imperative subjunctive and optative) and exhibits a full complement of participle and infinitive forms Unlike the present aorist morphology distin-guishes between middle and passive forms For most regular verbs the aorist generates active and middle forms from the same stem while the passive forms are generated from a different stem From our earliest evidence Greek devel-oped two general morphological systems for the aorist sigmatic aorists and root aorists (or sec-ond aorists)

1enspHistorical Development

The path to this picture is not quite clear rarr Myce-naean Greek offers some evidence for aorist and perfect alternation as well as for the passive stem (see Palmer 196358 and 266) Early Greek evidence supports the gradual development of the s-aorist Largely Homeric evidence reveals multiple aorist morphologies and an opportu-nistic form selection with a high percentage of second aorists While Watkins (196252ndash60) has argued that the sigmatic aorist developed in the middle voice first in Homer the aorist is more productive in the active (see Drinka 1995) The older PIE sigmatic aorist is reflected in Homer in combination with roots that end in consonants In this category the sigma is lost during athematic formation For example eacutelexa (lsquoI saidrsquo) has the middle forms eleacutegmēn and eacutelekto ocircrsa (lsquoI incitedrsquo) has middle ocircrto and par-ticiple oacutermenos

Homeric forms also display overlapping morphologies from the perspective of Classical Greek Some sigmatic stems follow eo vocaliza-tion instead of alpha vocalization (eg eduacuteseto lsquoentered put onrsquo and ebḗseto lsquowent walkedrsquo instead of eduacutesato and ebḗsato) Homeric sigmatic aorists may also present double sigmas (convenient for metrical reasons eg eteacutelessa

lsquoI completedrsquo and ekoacutemissa lsquoI entertainedrsquo) Following Doric some Homeric dental conso-nant stems use -xa instead of -sa (eg hḗrpaxe lsquosnatched awayrsquo) Often Homeric verbs like Vedic and some Avestan have no augment in the aorist traditionally these verbs have been assumed to have injunctive or conjunctive force (see Hoffmann 1967)

Homer frequently exhibits second aorists where Attic has a sigmatic aorist as in peiacutethō lsquoconvincersquo (epiacutethonto vs Attic epeiacutesanto) there are also places in Homer where second aor-ists coexist with s-aorists (eg diacuteon lsquothey fearedrsquo and ediacuteesan) Unlike Attic Greek some Homeric aorists seem to form directly from nouns as in goacuteon (lsquothey mournedrsquo not goaacuteō) and theacutermeto (lsquowas heated became warmrsquo) Additional varia-tions include verbs with middle athematic aor-ists alongside active thematic forms (eacutektato and eacutektanon lsquokilledrsquo cf Chantraine 1973381ndash383) thematic aorists with different vowel grades (eg lsquoto gather assemblersquo ḗgreto eacutegreto ageacuteronto ēgeacuteresthai) and lengthened vowels for metrical needs (genoacutemenos geinoacutemenos from giacutegnomai lsquobecomersquo)

The chaotic distribution of forms in Homer regularizes somewhat in the Classical period Foremost the rarr augment probably hailing from a PIE particle for lsquopast tense eventiversquo becomes a regular feature in aorist indicative forms The lsquotemporal augmentrsquo (initial vowel lengthening) is unique to Greek Confusion and the loss of the digamma causes some Attic verbs to augment to ē instead of an e (bouacutelomai ēbouloacutemēn lsquoto want wishrsquo) others that have undergone word initial sound changes augment to ei (eacutekhō eīkhon lsquohaversquo) Compound verbs augment between prefix and the verbal root (eg apopeacutempō apeacutepempsa lsquoto send awayrsquo) Vowel initial roots lengthen where possible (id- eicircdon lsquosawrsquo)

2enspSigmatic Aorists

The sigmatic aorist a late and largely second-ary formation becomes standard in the Clas-sical period Productive in late IE the s-aorist merged with the perfect in many languages (eg Latin and Celtic) remaining independent only in Greek and Indic (Sanskrit seems to innovate many sa-aorists separately) Signs of secondari-ness ndash apart from the relatively few IE cognates that share s-aorist morphology ndash include the use of present vocalism by Greek s-aorists and the

140 aorist formation

greater frequency of s-aorists in later forming verbs (rarr Ablaut) Since the PIE s-aorist was ath-ematic personal endings were added directly to the sigmatic root (as observed by Meillet 1908) The loss of the intervocalic sigma in Greek would have obscured the s-aorist for many verbal stems Verbal roots ending in consonants (the bulk of Greek s-aorists) thus preserve a sigma restored by rarr analogy for other verbal stems The use of present vocalism for many vowel-stem verbs where other IE languages and Greek root aorists exhibit lengthened vowel grades strengthens the argument for analogical back-formation

Semantic distinctions capitalize on variations in aorist stem formation Where multiple aorist forms are possible sigmatic aorists display a greater degree of transitivity (see Bakker 1994) in general sigmatic morphology is preferred for transitives or factitives when verbal roots have intransive aorists (giacutegnomai egeacutenetolsquowas bornrsquo geiacutenato (gensato) lsquobegatrsquo oacutellumi ṓleto lsquoper-ishedrsquo ṓlesa lsquodestroyedrsquo and treacutepō traacutepe lsquoturned returnedrsquo eacutetrepse lsquoturned [it] overrsquo) Verbal roots whose original meanings were durative (the cat-egory of the present-imperfect) tend to form s-aorists

The Attic s-aorist is formed by adding a sigma to the verbal root (eg pauacuteō eacutepausa lsquoceasedrsquo) The active and middle are formed from the same stem using alpha-thematic secondary personal endings (-a -as -e -amen -ate -an -amēn -ō -ato -ametha -asthe -anto) Active and middle subjunctive forms take personal endings identi-cal to the present while the passive subjunctive has similar vowel-lengthened personal endings (-ō -ēis -ēi -ōmen -ēte -ōsi) (rarr Subjunctive (Mor-phology of)) The aorist rarr optative uses secondary personal endings following the ai thematic vocal-ization (in some persons we find the variant eia) The aorist passive optative is quite distinctive for the vowel combination -eiē- or -eicirc- The aorist singular active imperative in -son is distinctive

The passive stem is regularly used for s-aorists and root aorists alike by adding -ēn or -thēn to the verbal stem followed by active secondary endings (an innovation of unclear origin) Pas-sive stem formation with -ēn may have devel-oped from active athematic aorist ending with ē or stative stems with the same element The -thē- suffix appears most commonly with verbs that form a s-aorist

All aorist nonfinite forms are built on aorist stems (sigmatic or asigmatic) The active and

middle participles follow roughly the same prin-ciples as the present system (the nominative singular in -as is analogous to the perfect parti-ciple eg lelukṓs) The passive participle looks somewhat different but follows the same pattern (pautheiacutes pautheacutentos pautheicircsa pautheiacutesēs) The aorist active infinitive in -sai and passive infinitive in -ēnai are distinctive while the mid-dle is formed like the middle present (pauacuteesthai pauacutesasthai)

There are several stem variations for s-aorists Greek rarr contract verbs generally lengthen the root vowel to follow the paradigm of thematic s-aorists (timaacuteō etiacutemēsa lsquohonorrsquo phileacuteō ephiacutelēsa lsquoloversquo dēloacuteō edḗlōsa lsquoshowrsquo some contract verbs do not eg thēraacuteō ethḗrasa lsquohuntrsquo) Conso-nant final verbal roots undergo a number of sound changes labials assimilate to -ps (peacutempō eacutepempsa lsquosendrsquo graacutephō eacutegrapsa lsquoscratch writersquo) with dentals we have complete assimilation and then simplification (hubriacutezō huacutebrisa lsquowax wantonrsquo peiacutethō eacutepeisa lsquoconvincersquo) and velar roots assimilate to -x (often obscured by pres-ent morphology eg taacutettō eacutetaxa lsquoarrangersquo) Ver-bal roots that end in liquids and nasals often undergo rarr compensatory lengthening (angeacutellō ḗngeila lsquoanouncersquo meacutenō eacutemeina lsquostayedrsquo) S-aorists develop for some verbs with nasal suffix (daacutemnēmi edaacutemasa lsquosubduersquo)

3enspNon-sigmatic Aorists

Non-sigmatic second aorists (zero-grade or ablaut) fall into two rough categories root aor-ists (with some athematic forms) and thematic Strictly speaking root aorists use the e-grade of the stem while thematic aorists use the zero grade of the root Root aorists like root pres-ents are direct relics of PIE and tend to reflect earlier qualities of the verbal root (rarr Indo-European Linguistic Background) Athematic aorists are formed from the root class with-out vowel gradation (eacutebēn lt baiacutenō lsquoI gorsquo) eacutestēn lt hiacutestēmi lsquoto standrsquo) This latter type probably had a full grade vowel in the singular active and zero grade in other forms Some aorists look athematic but derive from PIE stative stems (emiacutegēn from meiacutegnumi (lsquoto mix minglersquo) emaacutenēn from maiacuteno-mai lsquoto rage go madrsquo) (rarr Stative (and MiddleMedium Verbs) Similar vowel alternation (from full grade to zero grade) appears in the Greek ka-aorists with full grade singulars and zero grade plurals (eacutethēka eacutethĕmen lsquoputrsquo eacutedōka eacutedŏmen

aorist formation 141

lsquogiversquo this alternation may have been shaped by analogy to the ka-perfect heacutestēka heacutestămen)

Thematic non-sigmatic aorists display the thematic vowel between verbal root and per-sonal ending (eg eicircdon lsquosawrsquo eacutephugon lsquofledrsquo eacutedrakon lsquowatchedrsquo) The second aorist then (eacuteli-pon from leiacutepō lsquoleaversquo) forms active and middle finite indicative forms using secondary endings with oe vowel alternation (these forms look like imperfects save the root change) Most second aorists are formed from verbal roots ending in consonants of these many use the short-vowel stem for the aorist Some additional changes include rarr syncope (peacutetomai eptoacutemēn lsquoflyrsquo) and ae alternation (treacutepō eacutetrapon deacuterkomai eacutedra-kon) Second aorist imperatives subjunctive and optatives use the same personal endings as the present tense in the active and middle second aorist active and middle participles are formed like present participles Finite oblique forms imperatives and participles of the second aorist then are identical to the present except for the verbal root All passive forms of root aorists are built on the aorist passive stem following the paradigm as s-aorists

The class of -mi-verbs with rarr reduplicated presents in most cases generate their forms like other root aorists with the exception of the ka-singulars of the indicative active (eg eacutethēka eacutethemen eacutedōka eacutedomen) The root aorist uses the shortened vowel stem Additional exceptions include the participles and infinitives which look like the present forms without the reduplicated root Further origins for second aorists include reduplication (ḗgagon lsquoledrsquo alalkeicircn lsquoward offthinsprsquo (infin) aacuterare lsquoraisedrsquo eacutepephne lsquoslaughteredrsquo heacutezeto lsquosatrsquo and eicircpon lsquosaidrsquo) and suppletion (eg pheacuterō ḗnenkon lsquocarryrsquo)

The balance of s-aorists and root aorists was unstable at the same time the unmarked semantic sphere of the aorist set the stage for obsolescence During the rarr Koine period the aorist and perfect merge (the breakdown began as early as Menander) as the perfect starts to function as a simple past tense (see Bubenik 1989) Yet in Modern Greek the two categories are still alive and to a large extent each main-tains its functional load

BibliographyBeckwith Miles 1994 ldquoGreek heucircron laryngeal loss and the

Greek reduplicated aoristrdquo Glotta 7224ndash30 Bubenik Vit 1989 Hellenistic and Roman Greece as a socio-

linguistic area Amsterdam

Chantraine Pierre 1973 Grammaire homeacuterique I Phoneacute-tique et morphologie Paris

Drinka Bridget 1995 The sigmatic aorist in Indo-European Washington DC

Hoffmann Karl 1967 Der Injunktiv im Veda Heidelberg Horrocks Geoffrey 2010 Greek a history of the language and

its speakers Second edition Chichester Malzahn Melanie 2004 ldquo33 51 or 42 On the ablaut of

the root aorist in Greek and Indo-Europeanrdquo Historical Linguistics 11750ndash75

Meillet Antoine 1908 ldquoSur lrsquoaoriste sigmatiquerdquo In Meacutelanges de linguistique offerts agrave M Ferdinand de Sau-ssure 81ndash106 Paris

Monro David B 2009 Homeric grammar Malden Palmer L R 1963 The interpretation of Mycenaean Greek

texts Oxford Sihler Andrew L 1995 New comparative grammar of Greek

and Latin Oxford ndash New York Smyth Herbert W 1984 Greek grammar Cambridge MA Szemereacutenyi Oswald J L 1987 ldquoThe origin of aspect in the

Indo-European languagesrdquo Glotta 651ndash18 mdashmdash Introduction to Indo-European linguistics Oxford Watkins Calvert 1962 Indo-European origins of the Celtic

verb Dublin

Joel Christensen

Aphaeresis

In Ancient Greek aphaeresis or prodelision refers to the rarr elision of a short word-initial a or e preceded by a long word-final vowel It occurs mainly in poetry (particularly drama) and archaic prose inscriptions Aphaeresis is rarer than rarr crasis or elision two other phenomena related to vowel contact across word boundaries (rarr Prosody)

Aphaeresis is usually triggered by a long vowel or diphthong in a proclitic word (rarr Clitics) nor-mally the definite article or the negative mḗ The elided vowel mostly belongs to a clitic (preposi-tions such as es lsquotorsquo) forms of the copula (estiacute lsquo(he) isrsquo eacutestō lsquolet (it) bersquo) preverbs in compound verbs (apoacute epiacute) or the rarr augment in the past tenses (e-) El mā rsquopeacutenpoi lsquo(if he) did not pro-nounce a sentencersquo toicirc rsquontaucircta ēgram(m)eacutenoi lsquo(in the penalty) written herersquo Arg mḕ rsquonpipaskeacutesthō lsquolet (him) not acquirersquo Ion ḕ rsquos Ermṓnossan lsquo(the road) which (leads) to Hermonossarsquo Lac toigrave rsquos aacutesista lsquothe closest (relatives)rsquo Selinous ḕ rsquopak-oustograven ḕ rsquophoratoacuten lsquoto be listened to or looked uponrsquo Locr ha rsquopiwoikiacutea lsquothe colonyrsquo Tiryns mḕ rsquoxsthōaacutesaijen lsquo(if they) did not pay the penaltyrsquo The following examples are taken from poetic texts khṓrei rsquos tḕn naucircn lsquorun to the shiprsquo (Aris-toph Lys 605) ḕ rsquopograve manteiacuteas lsquoor by some sort of divinationrsquo (Soph Trach 239) ei rsquopitaxoacutemestha

aorist formation 139

with the present aspectually (the aorist is atem-poral and non-iterative the present is progres-sive or iterative Apollonius Dyscolus however suggests that the aorist conveys completion) From the perspective of IE languages the aspec-tual distinction of the aorist has been claimed as a Greek development although probably incipi-ent in IE (see Sihler 1995442ff 510ndash511 Szemereacute-nyi 198716ndash17)

The Classical Greek aorist has finite indica-tive forms with an augment is productive in the same range of moods as the present (imperative subjunctive and optative) and exhibits a full complement of participle and infinitive forms Unlike the present aorist morphology distin-guishes between middle and passive forms For most regular verbs the aorist generates active and middle forms from the same stem while the passive forms are generated from a different stem From our earliest evidence Greek devel-oped two general morphological systems for the aorist sigmatic aorists and root aorists (or sec-ond aorists)

1enspHistorical Development

The path to this picture is not quite clear rarr Myce-naean Greek offers some evidence for aorist and perfect alternation as well as for the passive stem (see Palmer 196358 and 266) Early Greek evidence supports the gradual development of the s-aorist Largely Homeric evidence reveals multiple aorist morphologies and an opportu-nistic form selection with a high percentage of second aorists While Watkins (196252ndash60) has argued that the sigmatic aorist developed in the middle voice first in Homer the aorist is more productive in the active (see Drinka 1995) The older PIE sigmatic aorist is reflected in Homer in combination with roots that end in consonants In this category the sigma is lost during athematic formation For example eacutelexa (lsquoI saidrsquo) has the middle forms eleacutegmēn and eacutelekto ocircrsa (lsquoI incitedrsquo) has middle ocircrto and par-ticiple oacutermenos

Homeric forms also display overlapping morphologies from the perspective of Classical Greek Some sigmatic stems follow eo vocaliza-tion instead of alpha vocalization (eg eduacuteseto lsquoentered put onrsquo and ebḗseto lsquowent walkedrsquo instead of eduacutesato and ebḗsato) Homeric sigmatic aorists may also present double sigmas (convenient for metrical reasons eg eteacutelessa

lsquoI completedrsquo and ekoacutemissa lsquoI entertainedrsquo) Following Doric some Homeric dental conso-nant stems use -xa instead of -sa (eg hḗrpaxe lsquosnatched awayrsquo) Often Homeric verbs like Vedic and some Avestan have no augment in the aorist traditionally these verbs have been assumed to have injunctive or conjunctive force (see Hoffmann 1967)

Homer frequently exhibits second aorists where Attic has a sigmatic aorist as in peiacutethō lsquoconvincersquo (epiacutethonto vs Attic epeiacutesanto) there are also places in Homer where second aor-ists coexist with s-aorists (eg diacuteon lsquothey fearedrsquo and ediacuteesan) Unlike Attic Greek some Homeric aorists seem to form directly from nouns as in goacuteon (lsquothey mournedrsquo not goaacuteō) and theacutermeto (lsquowas heated became warmrsquo) Additional varia-tions include verbs with middle athematic aor-ists alongside active thematic forms (eacutektato and eacutektanon lsquokilledrsquo cf Chantraine 1973381ndash383) thematic aorists with different vowel grades (eg lsquoto gather assemblersquo ḗgreto eacutegreto ageacuteronto ēgeacuteresthai) and lengthened vowels for metrical needs (genoacutemenos geinoacutemenos from giacutegnomai lsquobecomersquo)

The chaotic distribution of forms in Homer regularizes somewhat in the Classical period Foremost the rarr augment probably hailing from a PIE particle for lsquopast tense eventiversquo becomes a regular feature in aorist indicative forms The lsquotemporal augmentrsquo (initial vowel lengthening) is unique to Greek Confusion and the loss of the digamma causes some Attic verbs to augment to ē instead of an e (bouacutelomai ēbouloacutemēn lsquoto want wishrsquo) others that have undergone word initial sound changes augment to ei (eacutekhō eīkhon lsquohaversquo) Compound verbs augment between prefix and the verbal root (eg apopeacutempō apeacutepempsa lsquoto send awayrsquo) Vowel initial roots lengthen where possible (id- eicircdon lsquosawrsquo)

2enspSigmatic Aorists

The sigmatic aorist a late and largely second-ary formation becomes standard in the Clas-sical period Productive in late IE the s-aorist merged with the perfect in many languages (eg Latin and Celtic) remaining independent only in Greek and Indic (Sanskrit seems to innovate many sa-aorists separately) Signs of secondari-ness ndash apart from the relatively few IE cognates that share s-aorist morphology ndash include the use of present vocalism by Greek s-aorists and the

140 aorist formation

greater frequency of s-aorists in later forming verbs (rarr Ablaut) Since the PIE s-aorist was ath-ematic personal endings were added directly to the sigmatic root (as observed by Meillet 1908) The loss of the intervocalic sigma in Greek would have obscured the s-aorist for many verbal stems Verbal roots ending in consonants (the bulk of Greek s-aorists) thus preserve a sigma restored by rarr analogy for other verbal stems The use of present vocalism for many vowel-stem verbs where other IE languages and Greek root aorists exhibit lengthened vowel grades strengthens the argument for analogical back-formation

Semantic distinctions capitalize on variations in aorist stem formation Where multiple aorist forms are possible sigmatic aorists display a greater degree of transitivity (see Bakker 1994) in general sigmatic morphology is preferred for transitives or factitives when verbal roots have intransive aorists (giacutegnomai egeacutenetolsquowas bornrsquo geiacutenato (gensato) lsquobegatrsquo oacutellumi ṓleto lsquoper-ishedrsquo ṓlesa lsquodestroyedrsquo and treacutepō traacutepe lsquoturned returnedrsquo eacutetrepse lsquoturned [it] overrsquo) Verbal roots whose original meanings were durative (the cat-egory of the present-imperfect) tend to form s-aorists

The Attic s-aorist is formed by adding a sigma to the verbal root (eg pauacuteō eacutepausa lsquoceasedrsquo) The active and middle are formed from the same stem using alpha-thematic secondary personal endings (-a -as -e -amen -ate -an -amēn -ō -ato -ametha -asthe -anto) Active and middle subjunctive forms take personal endings identi-cal to the present while the passive subjunctive has similar vowel-lengthened personal endings (-ō -ēis -ēi -ōmen -ēte -ōsi) (rarr Subjunctive (Mor-phology of)) The aorist rarr optative uses secondary personal endings following the ai thematic vocal-ization (in some persons we find the variant eia) The aorist passive optative is quite distinctive for the vowel combination -eiē- or -eicirc- The aorist singular active imperative in -son is distinctive

The passive stem is regularly used for s-aorists and root aorists alike by adding -ēn or -thēn to the verbal stem followed by active secondary endings (an innovation of unclear origin) Pas-sive stem formation with -ēn may have devel-oped from active athematic aorist ending with ē or stative stems with the same element The -thē- suffix appears most commonly with verbs that form a s-aorist

All aorist nonfinite forms are built on aorist stems (sigmatic or asigmatic) The active and

middle participles follow roughly the same prin-ciples as the present system (the nominative singular in -as is analogous to the perfect parti-ciple eg lelukṓs) The passive participle looks somewhat different but follows the same pattern (pautheiacutes pautheacutentos pautheicircsa pautheiacutesēs) The aorist active infinitive in -sai and passive infinitive in -ēnai are distinctive while the mid-dle is formed like the middle present (pauacuteesthai pauacutesasthai)

There are several stem variations for s-aorists Greek rarr contract verbs generally lengthen the root vowel to follow the paradigm of thematic s-aorists (timaacuteō etiacutemēsa lsquohonorrsquo phileacuteō ephiacutelēsa lsquoloversquo dēloacuteō edḗlōsa lsquoshowrsquo some contract verbs do not eg thēraacuteō ethḗrasa lsquohuntrsquo) Conso-nant final verbal roots undergo a number of sound changes labials assimilate to -ps (peacutempō eacutepempsa lsquosendrsquo graacutephō eacutegrapsa lsquoscratch writersquo) with dentals we have complete assimilation and then simplification (hubriacutezō huacutebrisa lsquowax wantonrsquo peiacutethō eacutepeisa lsquoconvincersquo) and velar roots assimilate to -x (often obscured by pres-ent morphology eg taacutettō eacutetaxa lsquoarrangersquo) Ver-bal roots that end in liquids and nasals often undergo rarr compensatory lengthening (angeacutellō ḗngeila lsquoanouncersquo meacutenō eacutemeina lsquostayedrsquo) S-aorists develop for some verbs with nasal suffix (daacutemnēmi edaacutemasa lsquosubduersquo)

3enspNon-sigmatic Aorists

Non-sigmatic second aorists (zero-grade or ablaut) fall into two rough categories root aor-ists (with some athematic forms) and thematic Strictly speaking root aorists use the e-grade of the stem while thematic aorists use the zero grade of the root Root aorists like root pres-ents are direct relics of PIE and tend to reflect earlier qualities of the verbal root (rarr Indo-European Linguistic Background) Athematic aorists are formed from the root class with-out vowel gradation (eacutebēn lt baiacutenō lsquoI gorsquo) eacutestēn lt hiacutestēmi lsquoto standrsquo) This latter type probably had a full grade vowel in the singular active and zero grade in other forms Some aorists look athematic but derive from PIE stative stems (emiacutegēn from meiacutegnumi (lsquoto mix minglersquo) emaacutenēn from maiacuteno-mai lsquoto rage go madrsquo) (rarr Stative (and MiddleMedium Verbs) Similar vowel alternation (from full grade to zero grade) appears in the Greek ka-aorists with full grade singulars and zero grade plurals (eacutethēka eacutethĕmen lsquoputrsquo eacutedōka eacutedŏmen

aorist formation 141

lsquogiversquo this alternation may have been shaped by analogy to the ka-perfect heacutestēka heacutestămen)

Thematic non-sigmatic aorists display the thematic vowel between verbal root and per-sonal ending (eg eicircdon lsquosawrsquo eacutephugon lsquofledrsquo eacutedrakon lsquowatchedrsquo) The second aorist then (eacuteli-pon from leiacutepō lsquoleaversquo) forms active and middle finite indicative forms using secondary endings with oe vowel alternation (these forms look like imperfects save the root change) Most second aorists are formed from verbal roots ending in consonants of these many use the short-vowel stem for the aorist Some additional changes include rarr syncope (peacutetomai eptoacutemēn lsquoflyrsquo) and ae alternation (treacutepō eacutetrapon deacuterkomai eacutedra-kon) Second aorist imperatives subjunctive and optatives use the same personal endings as the present tense in the active and middle second aorist active and middle participles are formed like present participles Finite oblique forms imperatives and participles of the second aorist then are identical to the present except for the verbal root All passive forms of root aorists are built on the aorist passive stem following the paradigm as s-aorists

The class of -mi-verbs with rarr reduplicated presents in most cases generate their forms like other root aorists with the exception of the ka-singulars of the indicative active (eg eacutethēka eacutethemen eacutedōka eacutedomen) The root aorist uses the shortened vowel stem Additional exceptions include the participles and infinitives which look like the present forms without the reduplicated root Further origins for second aorists include reduplication (ḗgagon lsquoledrsquo alalkeicircn lsquoward offthinsprsquo (infin) aacuterare lsquoraisedrsquo eacutepephne lsquoslaughteredrsquo heacutezeto lsquosatrsquo and eicircpon lsquosaidrsquo) and suppletion (eg pheacuterō ḗnenkon lsquocarryrsquo)

The balance of s-aorists and root aorists was unstable at the same time the unmarked semantic sphere of the aorist set the stage for obsolescence During the rarr Koine period the aorist and perfect merge (the breakdown began as early as Menander) as the perfect starts to function as a simple past tense (see Bubenik 1989) Yet in Modern Greek the two categories are still alive and to a large extent each main-tains its functional load

BibliographyBeckwith Miles 1994 ldquoGreek heucircron laryngeal loss and the

Greek reduplicated aoristrdquo Glotta 7224ndash30 Bubenik Vit 1989 Hellenistic and Roman Greece as a socio-

linguistic area Amsterdam

Chantraine Pierre 1973 Grammaire homeacuterique I Phoneacute-tique et morphologie Paris

Drinka Bridget 1995 The sigmatic aorist in Indo-European Washington DC

Hoffmann Karl 1967 Der Injunktiv im Veda Heidelberg Horrocks Geoffrey 2010 Greek a history of the language and

its speakers Second edition Chichester Malzahn Melanie 2004 ldquo33 51 or 42 On the ablaut of

the root aorist in Greek and Indo-Europeanrdquo Historical Linguistics 11750ndash75

Meillet Antoine 1908 ldquoSur lrsquoaoriste sigmatiquerdquo In Meacutelanges de linguistique offerts agrave M Ferdinand de Sau-ssure 81ndash106 Paris

Monro David B 2009 Homeric grammar Malden Palmer L R 1963 The interpretation of Mycenaean Greek

texts Oxford Sihler Andrew L 1995 New comparative grammar of Greek

and Latin Oxford ndash New York Smyth Herbert W 1984 Greek grammar Cambridge MA Szemereacutenyi Oswald J L 1987 ldquoThe origin of aspect in the

Indo-European languagesrdquo Glotta 651ndash18 mdashmdash Introduction to Indo-European linguistics Oxford Watkins Calvert 1962 Indo-European origins of the Celtic

verb Dublin

Joel Christensen

Aphaeresis

In Ancient Greek aphaeresis or prodelision refers to the rarr elision of a short word-initial a or e preceded by a long word-final vowel It occurs mainly in poetry (particularly drama) and archaic prose inscriptions Aphaeresis is rarer than rarr crasis or elision two other phenomena related to vowel contact across word boundaries (rarr Prosody)

Aphaeresis is usually triggered by a long vowel or diphthong in a proclitic word (rarr Clitics) nor-mally the definite article or the negative mḗ The elided vowel mostly belongs to a clitic (preposi-tions such as es lsquotorsquo) forms of the copula (estiacute lsquo(he) isrsquo eacutestō lsquolet (it) bersquo) preverbs in compound verbs (apoacute epiacute) or the rarr augment in the past tenses (e-) El mā rsquopeacutenpoi lsquo(if he) did not pro-nounce a sentencersquo toicirc rsquontaucircta ēgram(m)eacutenoi lsquo(in the penalty) written herersquo Arg mḕ rsquonpipaskeacutesthō lsquolet (him) not acquirersquo Ion ḕ rsquos Ermṓnossan lsquo(the road) which (leads) to Hermonossarsquo Lac toigrave rsquos aacutesista lsquothe closest (relatives)rsquo Selinous ḕ rsquopak-oustograven ḕ rsquophoratoacuten lsquoto be listened to or looked uponrsquo Locr ha rsquopiwoikiacutea lsquothe colonyrsquo Tiryns mḕ rsquoxsthōaacutesaijen lsquo(if they) did not pay the penaltyrsquo The following examples are taken from poetic texts khṓrei rsquos tḕn naucircn lsquorun to the shiprsquo (Aris-toph Lys 605) ḕ rsquopograve manteiacuteas lsquoor by some sort of divinationrsquo (Soph Trach 239) ei rsquopitaxoacutemestha

140 aorist formation

greater frequency of s-aorists in later forming verbs (rarr Ablaut) Since the PIE s-aorist was ath-ematic personal endings were added directly to the sigmatic root (as observed by Meillet 1908) The loss of the intervocalic sigma in Greek would have obscured the s-aorist for many verbal stems Verbal roots ending in consonants (the bulk of Greek s-aorists) thus preserve a sigma restored by rarr analogy for other verbal stems The use of present vocalism for many vowel-stem verbs where other IE languages and Greek root aorists exhibit lengthened vowel grades strengthens the argument for analogical back-formation

Semantic distinctions capitalize on variations in aorist stem formation Where multiple aorist forms are possible sigmatic aorists display a greater degree of transitivity (see Bakker 1994) in general sigmatic morphology is preferred for transitives or factitives when verbal roots have intransive aorists (giacutegnomai egeacutenetolsquowas bornrsquo geiacutenato (gensato) lsquobegatrsquo oacutellumi ṓleto lsquoper-ishedrsquo ṓlesa lsquodestroyedrsquo and treacutepō traacutepe lsquoturned returnedrsquo eacutetrepse lsquoturned [it] overrsquo) Verbal roots whose original meanings were durative (the cat-egory of the present-imperfect) tend to form s-aorists

The Attic s-aorist is formed by adding a sigma to the verbal root (eg pauacuteō eacutepausa lsquoceasedrsquo) The active and middle are formed from the same stem using alpha-thematic secondary personal endings (-a -as -e -amen -ate -an -amēn -ō -ato -ametha -asthe -anto) Active and middle subjunctive forms take personal endings identi-cal to the present while the passive subjunctive has similar vowel-lengthened personal endings (-ō -ēis -ēi -ōmen -ēte -ōsi) (rarr Subjunctive (Mor-phology of)) The aorist rarr optative uses secondary personal endings following the ai thematic vocal-ization (in some persons we find the variant eia) The aorist passive optative is quite distinctive for the vowel combination -eiē- or -eicirc- The aorist singular active imperative in -son is distinctive

The passive stem is regularly used for s-aorists and root aorists alike by adding -ēn or -thēn to the verbal stem followed by active secondary endings (an innovation of unclear origin) Pas-sive stem formation with -ēn may have devel-oped from active athematic aorist ending with ē or stative stems with the same element The -thē- suffix appears most commonly with verbs that form a s-aorist

All aorist nonfinite forms are built on aorist stems (sigmatic or asigmatic) The active and

middle participles follow roughly the same prin-ciples as the present system (the nominative singular in -as is analogous to the perfect parti-ciple eg lelukṓs) The passive participle looks somewhat different but follows the same pattern (pautheiacutes pautheacutentos pautheicircsa pautheiacutesēs) The aorist active infinitive in -sai and passive infinitive in -ēnai are distinctive while the mid-dle is formed like the middle present (pauacuteesthai pauacutesasthai)

There are several stem variations for s-aorists Greek rarr contract verbs generally lengthen the root vowel to follow the paradigm of thematic s-aorists (timaacuteō etiacutemēsa lsquohonorrsquo phileacuteō ephiacutelēsa lsquoloversquo dēloacuteō edḗlōsa lsquoshowrsquo some contract verbs do not eg thēraacuteō ethḗrasa lsquohuntrsquo) Conso-nant final verbal roots undergo a number of sound changes labials assimilate to -ps (peacutempō eacutepempsa lsquosendrsquo graacutephō eacutegrapsa lsquoscratch writersquo) with dentals we have complete assimilation and then simplification (hubriacutezō huacutebrisa lsquowax wantonrsquo peiacutethō eacutepeisa lsquoconvincersquo) and velar roots assimilate to -x (often obscured by pres-ent morphology eg taacutettō eacutetaxa lsquoarrangersquo) Ver-bal roots that end in liquids and nasals often undergo rarr compensatory lengthening (angeacutellō ḗngeila lsquoanouncersquo meacutenō eacutemeina lsquostayedrsquo) S-aorists develop for some verbs with nasal suffix (daacutemnēmi edaacutemasa lsquosubduersquo)

3enspNon-sigmatic Aorists

Non-sigmatic second aorists (zero-grade or ablaut) fall into two rough categories root aor-ists (with some athematic forms) and thematic Strictly speaking root aorists use the e-grade of the stem while thematic aorists use the zero grade of the root Root aorists like root pres-ents are direct relics of PIE and tend to reflect earlier qualities of the verbal root (rarr Indo-European Linguistic Background) Athematic aorists are formed from the root class with-out vowel gradation (eacutebēn lt baiacutenō lsquoI gorsquo) eacutestēn lt hiacutestēmi lsquoto standrsquo) This latter type probably had a full grade vowel in the singular active and zero grade in other forms Some aorists look athematic but derive from PIE stative stems (emiacutegēn from meiacutegnumi (lsquoto mix minglersquo) emaacutenēn from maiacuteno-mai lsquoto rage go madrsquo) (rarr Stative (and MiddleMedium Verbs) Similar vowel alternation (from full grade to zero grade) appears in the Greek ka-aorists with full grade singulars and zero grade plurals (eacutethēka eacutethĕmen lsquoputrsquo eacutedōka eacutedŏmen

aorist formation 141

lsquogiversquo this alternation may have been shaped by analogy to the ka-perfect heacutestēka heacutestămen)

Thematic non-sigmatic aorists display the thematic vowel between verbal root and per-sonal ending (eg eicircdon lsquosawrsquo eacutephugon lsquofledrsquo eacutedrakon lsquowatchedrsquo) The second aorist then (eacuteli-pon from leiacutepō lsquoleaversquo) forms active and middle finite indicative forms using secondary endings with oe vowel alternation (these forms look like imperfects save the root change) Most second aorists are formed from verbal roots ending in consonants of these many use the short-vowel stem for the aorist Some additional changes include rarr syncope (peacutetomai eptoacutemēn lsquoflyrsquo) and ae alternation (treacutepō eacutetrapon deacuterkomai eacutedra-kon) Second aorist imperatives subjunctive and optatives use the same personal endings as the present tense in the active and middle second aorist active and middle participles are formed like present participles Finite oblique forms imperatives and participles of the second aorist then are identical to the present except for the verbal root All passive forms of root aorists are built on the aorist passive stem following the paradigm as s-aorists

The class of -mi-verbs with rarr reduplicated presents in most cases generate their forms like other root aorists with the exception of the ka-singulars of the indicative active (eg eacutethēka eacutethemen eacutedōka eacutedomen) The root aorist uses the shortened vowel stem Additional exceptions include the participles and infinitives which look like the present forms without the reduplicated root Further origins for second aorists include reduplication (ḗgagon lsquoledrsquo alalkeicircn lsquoward offthinsprsquo (infin) aacuterare lsquoraisedrsquo eacutepephne lsquoslaughteredrsquo heacutezeto lsquosatrsquo and eicircpon lsquosaidrsquo) and suppletion (eg pheacuterō ḗnenkon lsquocarryrsquo)

The balance of s-aorists and root aorists was unstable at the same time the unmarked semantic sphere of the aorist set the stage for obsolescence During the rarr Koine period the aorist and perfect merge (the breakdown began as early as Menander) as the perfect starts to function as a simple past tense (see Bubenik 1989) Yet in Modern Greek the two categories are still alive and to a large extent each main-tains its functional load

BibliographyBeckwith Miles 1994 ldquoGreek heucircron laryngeal loss and the

Greek reduplicated aoristrdquo Glotta 7224ndash30 Bubenik Vit 1989 Hellenistic and Roman Greece as a socio-

linguistic area Amsterdam

Chantraine Pierre 1973 Grammaire homeacuterique I Phoneacute-tique et morphologie Paris

Drinka Bridget 1995 The sigmatic aorist in Indo-European Washington DC

Hoffmann Karl 1967 Der Injunktiv im Veda Heidelberg Horrocks Geoffrey 2010 Greek a history of the language and

its speakers Second edition Chichester Malzahn Melanie 2004 ldquo33 51 or 42 On the ablaut of

the root aorist in Greek and Indo-Europeanrdquo Historical Linguistics 11750ndash75

Meillet Antoine 1908 ldquoSur lrsquoaoriste sigmatiquerdquo In Meacutelanges de linguistique offerts agrave M Ferdinand de Sau-ssure 81ndash106 Paris

Monro David B 2009 Homeric grammar Malden Palmer L R 1963 The interpretation of Mycenaean Greek

texts Oxford Sihler Andrew L 1995 New comparative grammar of Greek

and Latin Oxford ndash New York Smyth Herbert W 1984 Greek grammar Cambridge MA Szemereacutenyi Oswald J L 1987 ldquoThe origin of aspect in the

Indo-European languagesrdquo Glotta 651ndash18 mdashmdash Introduction to Indo-European linguistics Oxford Watkins Calvert 1962 Indo-European origins of the Celtic

verb Dublin

Joel Christensen

Aphaeresis

In Ancient Greek aphaeresis or prodelision refers to the rarr elision of a short word-initial a or e preceded by a long word-final vowel It occurs mainly in poetry (particularly drama) and archaic prose inscriptions Aphaeresis is rarer than rarr crasis or elision two other phenomena related to vowel contact across word boundaries (rarr Prosody)

Aphaeresis is usually triggered by a long vowel or diphthong in a proclitic word (rarr Clitics) nor-mally the definite article or the negative mḗ The elided vowel mostly belongs to a clitic (preposi-tions such as es lsquotorsquo) forms of the copula (estiacute lsquo(he) isrsquo eacutestō lsquolet (it) bersquo) preverbs in compound verbs (apoacute epiacute) or the rarr augment in the past tenses (e-) El mā rsquopeacutenpoi lsquo(if he) did not pro-nounce a sentencersquo toicirc rsquontaucircta ēgram(m)eacutenoi lsquo(in the penalty) written herersquo Arg mḕ rsquonpipaskeacutesthō lsquolet (him) not acquirersquo Ion ḕ rsquos Ermṓnossan lsquo(the road) which (leads) to Hermonossarsquo Lac toigrave rsquos aacutesista lsquothe closest (relatives)rsquo Selinous ḕ rsquopak-oustograven ḕ rsquophoratoacuten lsquoto be listened to or looked uponrsquo Locr ha rsquopiwoikiacutea lsquothe colonyrsquo Tiryns mḕ rsquoxsthōaacutesaijen lsquo(if they) did not pay the penaltyrsquo The following examples are taken from poetic texts khṓrei rsquos tḕn naucircn lsquorun to the shiprsquo (Aris-toph Lys 605) ḕ rsquopograve manteiacuteas lsquoor by some sort of divinationrsquo (Soph Trach 239) ei rsquopitaxoacutemestha

aorist formation 141

lsquogiversquo this alternation may have been shaped by analogy to the ka-perfect heacutestēka heacutestămen)

Thematic non-sigmatic aorists display the thematic vowel between verbal root and per-sonal ending (eg eicircdon lsquosawrsquo eacutephugon lsquofledrsquo eacutedrakon lsquowatchedrsquo) The second aorist then (eacuteli-pon from leiacutepō lsquoleaversquo) forms active and middle finite indicative forms using secondary endings with oe vowel alternation (these forms look like imperfects save the root change) Most second aorists are formed from verbal roots ending in consonants of these many use the short-vowel stem for the aorist Some additional changes include rarr syncope (peacutetomai eptoacutemēn lsquoflyrsquo) and ae alternation (treacutepō eacutetrapon deacuterkomai eacutedra-kon) Second aorist imperatives subjunctive and optatives use the same personal endings as the present tense in the active and middle second aorist active and middle participles are formed like present participles Finite oblique forms imperatives and participles of the second aorist then are identical to the present except for the verbal root All passive forms of root aorists are built on the aorist passive stem following the paradigm as s-aorists

The class of -mi-verbs with rarr reduplicated presents in most cases generate their forms like other root aorists with the exception of the ka-singulars of the indicative active (eg eacutethēka eacutethemen eacutedōka eacutedomen) The root aorist uses the shortened vowel stem Additional exceptions include the participles and infinitives which look like the present forms without the reduplicated root Further origins for second aorists include reduplication (ḗgagon lsquoledrsquo alalkeicircn lsquoward offthinsprsquo (infin) aacuterare lsquoraisedrsquo eacutepephne lsquoslaughteredrsquo heacutezeto lsquosatrsquo and eicircpon lsquosaidrsquo) and suppletion (eg pheacuterō ḗnenkon lsquocarryrsquo)

The balance of s-aorists and root aorists was unstable at the same time the unmarked semantic sphere of the aorist set the stage for obsolescence During the rarr Koine period the aorist and perfect merge (the breakdown began as early as Menander) as the perfect starts to function as a simple past tense (see Bubenik 1989) Yet in Modern Greek the two categories are still alive and to a large extent each main-tains its functional load

BibliographyBeckwith Miles 1994 ldquoGreek heucircron laryngeal loss and the

Greek reduplicated aoristrdquo Glotta 7224ndash30 Bubenik Vit 1989 Hellenistic and Roman Greece as a socio-

linguistic area Amsterdam

Chantraine Pierre 1973 Grammaire homeacuterique I Phoneacute-tique et morphologie Paris

Drinka Bridget 1995 The sigmatic aorist in Indo-European Washington DC

Hoffmann Karl 1967 Der Injunktiv im Veda Heidelberg Horrocks Geoffrey 2010 Greek a history of the language and

its speakers Second edition Chichester Malzahn Melanie 2004 ldquo33 51 or 42 On the ablaut of

the root aorist in Greek and Indo-Europeanrdquo Historical Linguistics 11750ndash75

Meillet Antoine 1908 ldquoSur lrsquoaoriste sigmatiquerdquo In Meacutelanges de linguistique offerts agrave M Ferdinand de Sau-ssure 81ndash106 Paris

Monro David B 2009 Homeric grammar Malden Palmer L R 1963 The interpretation of Mycenaean Greek

texts Oxford Sihler Andrew L 1995 New comparative grammar of Greek

and Latin Oxford ndash New York Smyth Herbert W 1984 Greek grammar Cambridge MA Szemereacutenyi Oswald J L 1987 ldquoThe origin of aspect in the

Indo-European languagesrdquo Glotta 651ndash18 mdashmdash Introduction to Indo-European linguistics Oxford Watkins Calvert 1962 Indo-European origins of the Celtic

verb Dublin

Joel Christensen

Aphaeresis

In Ancient Greek aphaeresis or prodelision refers to the rarr elision of a short word-initial a or e preceded by a long word-final vowel It occurs mainly in poetry (particularly drama) and archaic prose inscriptions Aphaeresis is rarer than rarr crasis or elision two other phenomena related to vowel contact across word boundaries (rarr Prosody)

Aphaeresis is usually triggered by a long vowel or diphthong in a proclitic word (rarr Clitics) nor-mally the definite article or the negative mḗ The elided vowel mostly belongs to a clitic (preposi-tions such as es lsquotorsquo) forms of the copula (estiacute lsquo(he) isrsquo eacutestō lsquolet (it) bersquo) preverbs in compound verbs (apoacute epiacute) or the rarr augment in the past tenses (e-) El mā rsquopeacutenpoi lsquo(if he) did not pro-nounce a sentencersquo toicirc rsquontaucircta ēgram(m)eacutenoi lsquo(in the penalty) written herersquo Arg mḕ rsquonpipaskeacutesthō lsquolet (him) not acquirersquo Ion ḕ rsquos Ermṓnossan lsquo(the road) which (leads) to Hermonossarsquo Lac toigrave rsquos aacutesista lsquothe closest (relatives)rsquo Selinous ḕ rsquopak-oustograven ḕ rsquophoratoacuten lsquoto be listened to or looked uponrsquo Locr ha rsquopiwoikiacutea lsquothe colonyrsquo Tiryns mḕ rsquoxsthōaacutesaijen lsquo(if they) did not pay the penaltyrsquo The following examples are taken from poetic texts khṓrei rsquos tḕn naucircn lsquorun to the shiprsquo (Aris-toph Lys 605) ḕ rsquopograve manteiacuteas lsquoor by some sort of divinationrsquo (Soph Trach 239) ei rsquopitaxoacutemestha