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ἀρῶ - you wish to see iota?

Posted: May 25th, 2015, 2:42 pm
by Jonathan Robie
Looking at the form ἀρῶ, I'm reminded of the Star wars line "you wish to see iota?"

Why does this future form of αἴρω lose the ι?

Re: ἀρῶ - you wish to see iota?

Posted: May 25th, 2015, 3:36 pm
by Thomas Dolhanty
Jonathan Robie wrote:Looking at the form ἀρῶ, I'm reminded of the Star wars line "you wish to see iota?"
I don't know where the iota went, but I surely do like your segue!! :D
Jonathan Robie wrote:Why does this future form of αἴρω lose the ι?
Of course, Mounce and others would word the question differently, as in, "Why does the iota appear in the present?" That is, it is the present tense stem that is irregular, not the future tense stem. (The most common forms are the most irregular.) Mounce (pg 175, note 9, 3rd edition) explains the iota in the present as "metathesis" between the iota and rho - which to me is not really an explanation.

Lots of verbs, of course, have irregular present tense stems.

Re: ἀρῶ - you wish to see iota?

Posted: May 26th, 2015, 6:52 am
by cwconrad
Thomas Dolhanty wrote:
Jonathan Robie wrote:Why does this future form of αἴρω lose the ι?
Of course, Mounce and others would word the question differently, as in, "Why does the iota appear in the present?" That is, it is the present tense stem that is irregular, not the future tense stem. (The most common forms are the most irregular.) Mounce (pg 175, note 9, 3rd edition) explains the iota in the present as "metathesis" between the iota and rho - which to me is not really an explanation.

Lots of verbs, of course, have irregular present tense stems.
In terms of the differences between tense-stems in irregular verbs, this observation is correct. The present stem is often compounded with infixes that interact with verb-roots phonologically in ways that may seem strange in terms of the resultant spellings, but the process whereby these spellings/pronunciations are produced are regular and predictable. If one wants to understand these processes, it's worth one's while to read carefully through Smyth's pages on phonology and on the several classes of present-tense stems. Metathesis is the mot juste in this instance. The verb root is αρ ("raise, lift), the very common present-tense stem with liquid and nasal roots (λρμν) is consonantal you (ι); ἀρ-ι-ω becomes ἀρyω, which, after metathesis, becomes αἴρω. Similarly the root βα (step, stride) combines with the formative infix -νι· βα-νι-ω and becomes βανyω, metathesis takes place and βανyω becomes βαίνω. In the future and aorist, however, the verb root βα lengthens to βη and we get future βήσομαι and aorists ἔβησα and ἑβην.

Re: ἀρῶ - you wish to see iota?

Posted: June 26th, 2015, 5:48 am
by Girgis Boshra
The Greek verbs which its roots ends in a semivowel letter (λ,μ,ν,ρ) have a different stem in both present and aorist, like μένω becomes: "ἐμεινα" in aorist and "μενῶ" in future. some of this changes like (λλ > λ, αι > α, ει > ε)