Question concerning accentuation in contract verbs

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Nathan Nadeau
Posts: 3
Joined: April 26th, 2021, 11:15 am

Question concerning accentuation in contract verbs

Post by Nathan Nadeau »

Hi all,

I created an account to ask this question, as I have been trying to figure it out; it concerns contract verb accentuation in the imperfect.

In multiple sources, it is clarified that if the accent of a contract verb is not on the contracting syllables, it's unaffected by contact rules (which is straightforward and simple). However, what I can't figure out is why on present forms where the accent is on a contracting syllable (like ἐρωτάω) it is not so on the imperfect: ἐρώτων, BUT it is in the first and second person plural of the imperfect.

I cannot figure out why the accent of the present stem is different in the imperfect (aside from the first and second person plural), even while in some of those instances (e.g. the first and second person singular) contraction is occurring; this does not seem to be discussed anywhere explicitly. Is this a pattern in the imperfect?

For example,
present active indicative ἐρωτάω

ἐρωτῶ
ἐρωτᾷς
ἐρωτᾷ

ἐρωτῶμεν
ἐρωτᾶτε
ἐρωτῶσι

but the imperfect is:
ἠρώτων
ἠρώτας
ἠρώτα

ἠρωτῶμεν
ἠρωτᾶτε
ἠρώτων

If it is a pattern in the imperfect (looks to be so from what I've looked up), does the following rule apply?

in imperfect present active contract verbs, the accent immediately precedes the contract syllable in all forms except the first and second-person plural (where normal contract rules are followed).
Thus: ἠρώτων, ἠρώτας, ἠρώτα, ἠρωτῶμεν, ἠρωτᾶτε, ἠρώτων (s.v. from ἐρωτάω)
Note: the irregular forms still have a contracted syllable, even while they do not accentuate it.

Would love some help/feedback; what's going on in the imperfect??
Nathan
Nathan Nadeau
Posts: 3
Joined: April 26th, 2021, 11:15 am

Re: Question concerning accentuation in contract verbs

Post by Nathan Nadeau »

By the way, here's what I've concluded:

1. Contract verbs: contracted syllables are accented if either contracting syllable was accented pre-contraction.

i: if contract accent is on the penult or antepenult, it follows general rules.

ii: if contract accent is on the ultima, it will always be circumflex

iii: in every other case the accent is on the syllable that the uncontracted form would have it on

iiia: e.g. of iii; in imperfect present active contract verbs, the accent immediately precedes the contract syllable in all forms except the first and second-person plural (where normal contract rules are followed).

Thus: ἠρώτων, ἠρώτας, ἠρώτα, ἠρωτῶμεν, ἠρωτᾶτε, ἠρώτων (from ἐρωτῶ)
Compare morph.: pres. act. sg. ἐρωτάω > ἐρωτῶ; impf. act. sg. ἠρώταον > ἠρώτων

My challenge is/was, it wasn't clear to me why the imperfect has a different accentuation. I guess it just does. There are similar accent changes in the imperative of contract verbs.
Stephen Carlson
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Joined: May 11th, 2011, 10:51 am
Location: Melbourne
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Re: Question concerning accentuation in contract verbs

Post by Stephen Carlson »

Nathan Nadeau wrote: April 26th, 2021, 8:59 pm Compare morph.: pres. act. sg. ἐρωτάω > ἐρωτῶ; impf. act. sg. ἠρώταον > ἠρώτων

My challenge is/was, it wasn't clear to me why the imperfect has a different accentuation. I guess it just does. There are similar accent changes in the imperative of contract verbs.
The accentuation of the verb was fixed before contraction began to be applied (you can still see them in Herodotus), and the contraction did not affect the accent. The thing you have to know is that the accent on the (indicative) verb is recessive, that is, on the antepenult if the ultima is short, and on the penult if the ultima is long.

So the present ἐρωταω, the accent must be on the penult since the ultima is long, or ἐρωτάω, which contracts to ἐρωτῶ.
But the ultima in the imperfect ἠρωταον is short, so the accent goes on the antepenult, or ἠρώταον, which contracts to ἠρώτων.

In other words, the imperfect as a different accent because its secondary verb endings are short, while the primary verb endings of the present are long (excepting the first and second persons plural). This difference in the length of the verb endings affects the recessive accentuation.
Stephen C. Carlson, Ph.D.
Melbourne, Australia
Nathan Nadeau
Posts: 3
Joined: April 26th, 2021, 11:15 am

Re: Question concerning accentuation in contract verbs

Post by Nathan Nadeau »

Stephen,

Thanks for that clear explanation. I was just overthinking (and overlooking) apparently a rather simple morphological observation. This is very helpful

Heinrich von Siebenthal has a chart in his Ancient Greek Grammar on uncontracted conjugation of contract verbs, which was helpful to clarify to me as well.

Nathan
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