[B-Greek] Re: 2nd aorsit of ERCHOMAI
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Wed Mar 31 10:57:27 EST 2004
At 10:37 AM -0500 3/31/04, Paul Evans wrote:
>B-GREEKERS,
>
>
>
>I am doing some elementary exercises in a Greek course. The study guide
>calls on me to parse the 2nd aorist of ERCHOMAI. The form given is
>ELQETE. Surely if ERCHOMAI is deponent (sorry Carl) it doesn't take
>active forms? What am I missing here? I know the answer is liable to
>be simple and I have missed something elementary, but right now I can't
>see the wood for the trees.
ELQETE must be 2nd pl. aor. active imperative.
The verb ERCOMAI (whether or not you continue to call it "deponent" in
deference to the heavy weight of tradition ;-) ) has only a present-tense
system (present and imperfect) based on the root ERC-; the other tenses are
SUPPLIED by what is a different root: ELEUQ/ELOUQ/EL(U)Q: the aorist is a
second-aorist HLQON (Homeric was HLUQON, but the U syncopated out long
ago); the future is ELEUSOMAI (ELEUQ-S-OMAI--it's middle because, like many
other verbs that have "active" forms in the present and aorist, the
intentionality of the future expresses itself in the subject-affected
middle voice: cf. BAINW/BHSOMAI, MANQANW/MAQHSOMAI); the perfect is ELHLUQA
(older ELHLOUQA--with "Attic reduplication" of the O-stem form of the root
ELOUQ-).
There are other verbs too that have "supplied" or "suppletive" forms in
different tenses from different roots: ESQIW with future FAGOMAI, aorist
EFAGON; FERW with future OISW, aorist HNEGKA--so that this verb is built on
three different roots; and there are others as well.
--
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/
More information about the B-Greek
mailing list