[B-Greek] Question about tense stems and what they are.

Steven Lo Vullo slovullo at mac.com
Fri Sep 17 12:41:54 EDT 2004


On Sep 17, 2004, at 9:21 AM, Mitch Larramore wrote:

> I think an oversimplified answer is probably best at
> this time (and as far as I can take it). The ROOT of a
> verb is generally that part of the verb that carries
> its MEANING. The STEM is that part (maybe better to
> say "form") of a verb that is used for a particular
> TENSE (Present, Aorist, Perfect, etc). So, LU- is the
> FORM of the ROOT LU- used in the Present TENSE (notice
> they look exactly the same), while LELU is the FORM of
> the ROOT LU- used in the Perfect TENSE (ROOT and STEM
> look different).

Hi Mitch:

The LE- is actually reduplication, in which the initial consonant is 
duplicated in the formation of the perfect and pluperfect tenses. The 
following section from Stevens' grammar may interest you and Jimmy:

The final component of the Greek verb is the lexical, the information 
found in a Greek dictionary. For this, we must understand roots, verb 
stems, and tense stems.

Root. In the hierarchy of word formation, including verbs, the first 
level is the root . This is the base for all related word forms. The 
second level is the stem , in which the root forms a trunk for creating 
related nouns, adjectives, and verbs through noun stems, adjective 
stems, and verb stems. "Cognates" are word forms related to the same 
root, whether noun, adjective, verb, etc.

Verb Stem. A verb stem  is that particular form in which a word root 
manifests itself as a verb. Verb stems communicate the fundamental 
"action," the verb ("know," "teach," "have," "receive," "send"). To 
illustrate, the word root GNO- can grow into the noun cognate GNWSIS 
("knowledge"), the adjective cognate GNWSTOS ("known"), and the verb 
cognate GINWSKW ("I know").

Tense stems.  The third level of hierarchy is for verbs, because verbs 
have the additional job of forming separate tenses. The third level, 
then, is a verb stem’s several different tense stems.  A tense stem  is 
a limb coming off the trunk of a verb stem that through formatives 
(prefixes, suffixes, infixes) creates a distinct verb tense. One verb 
stem can have up to six different tense stems. How will one know this 
basic verb stem?

Omega Form. The -W form of a verb is the typical lexical form of 
thematic verbs. For quite a number of verbs, dropping the -W from this 
lexical form provides the basic verb stem.  This basic stem is the 
building block of conjugations. The verb LUW is a good example. 
However, this procedure is not applicable to all verbs.

Hidden Verb Stems. Dropping the -W from the lexical form of a verb does 
not always  provide the verb stem. The lexical entry is the present 
tense of the verb. Yet, the present tense is one of the most irregular 
forming tenses in the entire Greek verb system! The verb stem often is 
modified  in forming the present tense stem. As a result, the present 
tense spelling represents the present tense stem, not the spelling of 
the original verb stem.  We call these "hidden" verb stems, a 
descriptive term, simply because they are not immediately obvious in 
the verb’s first lexical entry.

For example, the verb stem of BAPTIZW is BAPTID-, not  BAPTIZ-. The 
verb stem of KHRUSSW is KHRUK-, not  KHRUSS-. The verb stem of GINWSKW 
is GNO-. How will you know? Vocabulary will indicate hidden stems. 
Also, such stems are pointed out in your lexicons, because the lexicon 
will give the formations in other tenses, indicating the present tense 
stem is not the verb stem. These "hidden" verb stems are important, so 
note them carefully to be able to specify conjugations correctly.


In summary, then, for some verbs, the verb stem does  give the present 
tense stem. So LUW has the verb stem LU-, which also is the present 
tense stem. This is because LUW belongs to a large class of verbs that 
does not modify the verb stem to create the present stem. However, for 
other verbs, the verb stem does not  give the present tense stem. So 
GINWSKW has the verb stem GNO-, which is modified significantly in 
generating the present stem.

Hope this helps, guys.
============

Steven Lo Vullo
Madison, WI



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