[B-Greek] you command

Carl Conrad cwconrad2 at mac.com
Thu Jan 7 08:40:23 EST 2010


On Jan 7, 2010, at 5:18 AM, Carl Conrad wrote:

> On Jan 6, 2010, at 8:24 PM, Herb Picoski wrote:
>> Hello and Happy New Year,
>> 
>> I have a question that I am unable to answer myself, regarding the usage of this verb "command" in Psalm 119:4.
>> σὺ ἐνετείλω τὰς ἐντολάς σου φυλάξασθαι σφόδρα 
>> 
>> SU ENETEILW TAS ENTOLAS SOU FULAXASQAI SFODRA
>> 
>> Is ENETEILW 1st aor. mid, active ind. 2nd pers. sing?
> 
> Yes.

Oops -- yes to all of the above EXCEPT: it's middle, NOT active.

> 
>> If so, why does it end with _LW, instead of _SW?
> 
> You should also have asked where the -I- before the -LW came from.
> In fact, verbs with stems in M, N, L, and R (μ, ν, λ, ρ) all regularly combine with the aorist marker -S- and lengthen the preceding vowel to a diphthong. These four consonants or semi-consonants are called "liquids" and vowels that have liquid stems are termed "liquid verbs."
> 
> ENTELLW has aorist stem ENTELS(A); the -S- evanesces after the L and the preceding -E- is lengthened into the "spurious" diphthong EI, with the result that the verb stem becomes ENTEIL(A).
> Similar are HGGEILA aor. 1 sg. of AGGELLW, DIEFQEIRA, aor. 1 sg. of DIAFQEIRW.
> Similar too is EGHMA, aor. 1 sg. of GAMEW; in this instance the putative form was EGAMSA, the -S- evanesced, and the A lengthened -- but long alpha in Attic-Ionic dialect changes to H, so that the aorist stem of this verb becomes GHM(A).
> 
> You'll find a good discussion of these verbs in Smyth §544 "Liquid Verbs" -- scroll down the page at:
> 
> http://artflx.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.9:4:18.perseusmonographs
> = http://tinyurl.com/ylj7njx
> 
>> Are there exceptions to the rules for tense endings?
> 
> There are some standard types; you have to learn the principal parts of verbs that do not conform to the reasonably simple pattern of verbs such as LUW or PAIDEUW. 
> 
>> This is not my first dumb question. Feel free to answer.
>> 
>> Herb the Student
> 
> It's not a dumb question. Learning the ins and outs of Greek verbs is the lion's share of learning the mechanics of ancient Greek.
> 
> Carl W. Conrad
> Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
> 
> 
> 
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