[B-Greek] DIKAIOS

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at ioa.com
Wed Oct 12 08:19:07 EDT 2005


On Oct 12, 2005, at 7:26 AM, TuNeCedeMalis67 at aol.com wrote:

>
> So the dipthong should be pronounced as a dipthong? Or just  
> accented like a
> dipthong?

Yes, a diphthong should be pronounced as a diphthong, and it IS a  
diphthong if the accent and/or breathing-mark is on the second of two  
contiguous vowels, If two contiguous vowels that normally constitute  
a diphthong are NOT a diphthong, there is usually a diaeresis (double  
dot) over the second of the two vowels.

> Are denominative adjectives supposed to retain the pronunciation of  
> the  root
> stem, or take on a new pronunciation based on the created dipthong?

I'm sorry if my use of the term "denominative" turned out to be  
confusing. I simply was trying to say something about how the  
adjective DIKAIOS is derived. "Denominative" adjectives and verbs are  
derived from nouns -- DIKAIOS and DIKAIOW from the noun DIKH.

> I think I'm hearing a LOT of people just adding an ending, onto the  
> noun
> root stem, rather than making it a new word with a dipthong. Is  
> either way
> "wrong"? Is either way "better" or the standard way of doing it? Is  
> there a
> general rule I should apply to situations like this involving  
> denominative
> adjectives?

First-year grammar books don't teach this stuff, but at some point  
serious students of Greek will do themselves a service to read  
carefully through Part III of Smyth's grammar, "Formation of Words"  
at http://tinyurl.com/7r88c -- assimilating what is presented in that  
section is an immense aid to vocabulary acquisition and understanding  
of the relationship between cognates based upon the same root. If  
this stuff isn't learned in the first year, it really OUGHT to be  
required learning in the second year.


> In a message dated 10/12/2005 6:24:42 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
> cwconrad at ioa.com writes:
>
> That the  syllable was a diphthong in classical Attic  is attested by
> the  circumflex
> over the iota in the marking of accents. On the other hand, in  terms
> of dervation,
> DIKAIOS is what's called a "denominative"  adjective derived from a
> noun DIKH
> ("right, justice") the older  (and non-Attic) form of which is DIKA;
> the adjective
> was formed  with the additive -I/OS-A-ON, and there may have been a  
> time
> when DIKAIOS  was a four-syllable word divided DI-KA-I-OS with an  
> acute
> accent on the A.  At any rate, in the classical period it was a
> diphthong AI  with
> circumflex marked on the second vowel of the diphthong, as is   
> standard.
>
>
>
> ---
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Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad2 at mac.com
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/




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