Module 29

δείκνυμι and φημί

The Verb

In Greek and in English verbs have the same definitions and functions. Verbs are words that represent actions (throw) and states of being (be or exist). They differ in the same fundamental way that Greek nouns differ from their English counterparts: they use endings to create meaning in a way that English does not. The Greek verb (ῥῆμα) in its finite form has an ending that indicates what person and number the subject is. The Greek infinitive has an ending that indicates that it is unmarked for person and number.

The μι-Verbs δείκνυμι and φημί

Though not as numerous as ω-verbs, μι-verbs occur frequently. μι-verbs conjugate differently from ω-verbs in some tenses, typically the present, imperfect, aorist, and sometimes the perfect. In conjugating these verb forms, learn which stem to combine with which ending. The stem is the base of the word to which the ending is joined. Once you have the correct stem and ending, combine them to create the correct form. You may memorize the stems and endings or you may learn how to combine stems and endings so that you can recognize the forms as you encounter them.

Present and Imperfect Tense Stems

Use the long vowel grade stem for the singular (I, you, he, she, it) and the short vowel grade for the plural (we, you, they). Note that the stems differ even within the same tense, mood, and voice.

Present and Imperfect Tense Endings

Add to the correct tense stem.

The Conjugation of δείκνυμι

The principal parts are these:

δείκνῡμι δείξω ἔδειξα δέδειχα δέδειγμαι ἐδείχθην

Remember that to conjugate correctly, you need to combine the correct stem with the correct endings.

Present Indicative Active of δείκνῡμι

Singular: long vowel grade, δεικνῡ-, + primary active endings. Plural: short vowel grade, δεικνυ-, + primary active endings.

Present Infinitive Active of δείκνῡμι

1. Note that infinitives with the ending -ναι are ALWAYS accented on the penult. Thus, its accent is persistent. Remember that final -αι and -οι count as short for purposes of accentuation except in the optative, a mood learned in Part II of the 21st-Century series.

Present Indicative Middle of δείκνῡμι

Short vowel grade of the stem, δεικνυ-, + primary middle and passive endings.

Present Infinitive Middle of δείκνῡμι

Short vowel grade of the stem, δεικνυ-, + -σθαι.

1. Remember that final -αι and -οι count as short for purposes of accentuation except in the optative, a mood learned in Part II of the 21st-Century series.

Present Indicative Passive of δείκνῡμι

Short vowel grade of the stem, δεικνυ-, + primary middle and passive endings.

Present Infinitive Passive of δείκνῡμι

Short vowel grade of the stem, δεικνυ-, + -σθαι.

1. Remember that final -αι and -οι count as short for purposes of accentuation except in the optative, a mood learned in Part II of the 21st-Century series.

Imperfect Indicative Active of δείκνῡμι

Singular: long vowel grade, δεικνῡ-, + past indicative augment and secondary active endings. Plural: short vowel grade, δεικνυ-, + past indicative augment and secondary active endings.

Imperfect Indicative Middle of δείκνῡμι

Short vowel grade stem, δεικνυ-, + past indicative augment and secondary middle and passive endings.

Imperfect Indicative Passive of δείκνῡμι

Short vowel grade stem, δεικνυ-, + past indicative augment and secondary middle and passive endings.

The Conjugation of φημί

The principal parts are these:

φημί φήσω ἔφησα ------ ------ ------

φημί does not have a middle or a passive voice. It has active forms in the present, imperfect, future, and aorist. It uses μι-verb endings for the present and imperfect and ω-verb endings for the future and first aorist.

Remember that to conjugate correctly, you need to combine the correct stem with the correct endings.

Present Indicative Active of φημί

Singular: long vowel grade, φη-, + primary active endings. Plural: short vowel grade, φα-, + primary active endings.

Present Infinitive Active of φημί

Short vowel grade, φα-, + -ναι.

1. Note that infinitives with the ending -ναι are ALWAYS accented on the penult. Thus its accent is persistent. Remember that final -αι and -οι count as short for purposes of accentuation except in the optative, a mood learned in Part II of the 21st-Century series.

Imperfect Indicative Active of φημί

Singular: long vowel grade, φη-, + past indicative augment and secondary active endings. Plural: short vowel grade, φα-, + past indicative augment and secondary active endings.

Practice Translating μι-Verbs. Translate the below sentences, adapted from a variety of ancient Greek writers. To come to an accurate understanding of the sentences, use your knowledge of endings and their functions. If you forget an ending or function, remember to use the Case and Function Chart in Appendix I and the Adjective, Adverb, Noun, and Pronoun Chart in Appendix VIII to assist you. After you finish translating each sentence, check your understanding with the answer in the Answer Key. After you have read through all of the sentences once, read them again at least two more times. In each subsequent reading your understanding improves.

1. ὁ πόλεμος καὶ δυστυχία τὰς ὀργὰς τῶν βροτῶν τὰς αὐτὰς ταῖς συντυχίαις καθιστᾶσιν.
2. ἡ γῆ μέλαινα πίνει· πίνει δένδρεα δ’ αὖ γῆν· ὁ δ’ ἥλιος θάλατταν; τὸν δ’ ἥλιον σελήνη. ἡ φύσις καὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ τῶν πάντων πίνειν. τί, ὦ ἑταῖροι, οὐ καλὸν καί μοι πίνειν (Anakreontic, anonymous poems written in the Anakreontic meter);
3. ὅσῳ πέλας τὰ Μοίρας, μᾶλλον πρέπει τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τερπνὰ παίζειν· καὶ γὰρ ἡ Μοίρα ὡς τάχιστα τὰς τέρψεις τοῦ βίου δίδωσι καὶ λαμβάνει.
4. Μοίρα δεσπότῃ ἔδωκε τὸ σῶμα Ζωσίμης, ψύχην ἀγαθῆς, καὶ νῦν θανάτῳ, ἣ πρὶν ἦν μόνῳ τῷ σώματι δούλη, καὶ τῷ σώματι εὗρεν ἐλευθερίην (Damaskios).
5. παρ’ αὐτῷ Ζηνὶ πίμπλημι ἀμβροσίης ὅταν τὰ ὄμματα βλέπω ἧς ἐράω.
6. ἐπεὶ ἀστέρας ἀναβλέπεις, Ἀστήρ, οὐρανός εἰμι καὶ πολλοῖς ὄμμασιν εἰς σὲ καταβλέπω.
7. οὔτε γὰρ ἐλπίδ’ ἔχομεν γηράσαι οὔτε θανεῖν ὅτε ἐσμὲν ὑγιείας καλῆς· ἀλλὰ χρόνος βιότου θνητοῖς ὀλίγος.
8. πῶς δ’ ὑγιείαν ἔδοτε αὐτοῖς, ὡς πάντες ὧν ψαύετε θνῄσκουσιν;
9. αἰνίζειν μὲν ἄριστον· ὁ δὲ ψόγος ἔχθους ἀρχή· ἀλλὰ κακῶς εἰπεῖν Ἀττικὴν δίδωσί μοι τέρψιν.
10. πάντα θεοῖς ἀνέθεσαν Ὅμηρός θ’ Ἡσίοδός τε· κλέπτειν, μοιχεύειν τε καὶ ἀλλήλους ἀπατεύειν.

Adverbs and Verbs

Adjectives, Nouns, Pronouns

1. The asterisk indicates the top 250 most frequently occurring vocabulary, which you are to memorize.

Practice Translating. Translate the sentences below, which have been adapted from Lucian’s The Lover of Lies (Φιλοψευδής). Remember the meanings and functions of the cases presented in Module 7. Use your memory to identify endings and their functions. If you forget an ending or a function, consult the Adjective, Adverb, Noun, and Pronoun Chart in Appendix VIII and the Case and Function Chart in Appendix I. Check your understanding with the translations in the Answer Key, making sure that you understand why each word translates as it does. Now go back and read each sentence two or three times, noticing with each rereading how much better your understanding of the sentence becomes. Make this a habit and you will improve quickly.

Εὐκράτης: κατὰ μικρὸν δὲ φιλοφρονούμενος οὐ πολὺ ἑταῖρος αὐτῷ καὶ συνήθης ἐγενόμην ὥστε πάντων ἐκοίνωσε μοι τῶν ἀπορρήτων. καὶ τέλος ἔπεισε με τοὺς μὲν οἰκέτας πάντας ἐν τῇ Μέμφιδι καταλιπεῖν, αὐτὸν δὲ μόνον ἀκολουθεῖν μετ’ αὐτοῦ· μὴ γὰρ ἀπορήσειν ἡμᾶς ὅτι οἱ πολλοὶ ἡμῖν διακονήσονται. καὶ τὸ μετὰ τοῦτο οὕτω διήγομεν. ἐπεὶ ἤλθομεν εἴς τι καταγώγιον, ἔλαβεν ὁ ἀνὴρ ἢ τὸν μοχλὸν τῆς θύρας ἢ τὸ κόρηθρον ἢ καὶ τὸ ὕπερον καὶ τοῦτο περέβαλεν ἱματίοις. ἔπειτα ἐπιλέγει τινα ἐπῳδὴν καὶ τοῦτο ἐποίει βαδίζειν. δοκέει τοῖς ἄλλοις ἅπασιν ἄνθρωπος εἶναι. τὸ δὲ ἀπέρχεται ὕδωρ τε ἐμπίπλησι καὶ ἐσκεύαζε καὶ πάντα δεξιῶς ὑπηρέτεε καὶ διηκονέετο ἡμῖν. καὶ εἶτα ἐπεὶ ἅλις ἔχει τῆς διακονίας, ὁ δὲ Παγκράτης ἄλλην ἐπῳδὴν ἐπιλέγων αὖθις κόρηθρον τὸ κόρηθρον ἢ ὕπερον τὸ ὕπερον ἐποίεε. τοῦτο ἐγὼ πάνυ ἐσπούδαζον ἐκμανθάνειν παρ’ αὐτοῦ ἀλλὰ οὐκ εἶχον. ἐβάσκαινε γάρ, καίτοι πρὸς τὰ ἄλλα προχειρότατος ὤν. μιᾷ δέ ποτε ἡμέρᾳ λαθών—ἐν σκοτεινῷ ὑφίστημι—ἐπήκουσα τῆς ἐπῳδῆς· ἦν δὲ τρισύλλαβος σχεδόν. καὶ ὁ μὲν ἐντέλλει τῷ ὑπέρῳ ταῦτα ἃ δεῖ ποιεῖν καὶ ᾤχετο εἰς τὴν ἀγοράν.

Adverbs and Verbs

Adjectives, Nouns, Pronouns

1. The asterisk indicates the top 250 most frequently occurring vocabulary, which you are to memorize.

Practice Parsing Greek Sentences. Parse each word of the sentences found below. For nouns and pronouns, give their case and function. For verbs, give their person, number, tense, mood, and voice. For adverbs and conjunctions, identify them. For prepositional phrases, give the preposition and the preposition’s object. For adjectives, tell what noun they agree with in gender, number, and case.

ἓν δὲ βέλτιστον, ὃς κακὰ ἐμὲ ἐποίησε, τοῦτον δέννοις ἀντιδοῦναι κακοῖς.

ἔπειτα ἐπιλέγει τινα ἐπῳδὴν καὶ τοῦτο ἐποίεε βαδίζειν.

Check your answers with those in the Answer Key.

Eukleides (Euclid) of Alexandria (Εὐκλείδης c. 300 BCE). Born in Alexandria, Eukleides developed a conceptual system of geometry from a small set of axioms. His book, Elements, has been used to teach geometry up until 150 or so years ago. In Elements, Euclid discusses number theory, the connection between perfect numbers and Mersenne primes, the infinity of prime numbers, the uniqueness of prime factorization, and an algorithm for finding a common divisor of two numbers. Until recently Euclid’s geometry was the only geometry possible. As of the 19th century, mathematicans have discovered other geometries collectively referred to as non-Euclidean. Euclid and the non-Euclidean geometrical systems that followed are examples of discontinuities that created ways of knowing that were novel.

Herms and Phalloi

Fig. 4 Herm of Hermes from Pergamon. Copy of a herm attributed to the sculptor Alkamenes. Photograph by Kharmacher, 2020, Wikimedia, CC BY-SA, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20.12_Herme_Alkamenes.png

Fig. 5 A Roman gold phallic pendant, found in Essex. Photographed by Laura Pooley, Colchester Museums, 2006. The Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) is a voluntary programme run by the United Kingdom government to record the increasing numbers of small finds of archaeological interest found by members of the public. The scheme started in 1997 and now covers most of England and Wales. Finds are published at https://finds.org.uk. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_Roman_gold_phallic_pendant_(FindID_144640-334389).jpg

Considered apotropaic (having the ability to ward off evil), the phallus appears on herms and as a pendant attached to chains and worn around the neck of children.

Module 29 Top 250 Vocabulary to be Memorized. Like learning the alphabet and endings, memorizing vocabulary is essential to acquiring language. The better you memorize the top 250 most frequently occurring vocabulary words the greater mastery of the language you will have.

Adjectives

ἑκάτερος, ἑκατέρᾱ, ἑκάτερον each

κοινός, κοινή, κοινόν shared, common; ἐκ τοῦ κοινοῦ shared in common; (n.) τὸ κοινόν the state

οἷος, οἵᾱ, οἷον such, such a kind; οἷός τέ εἰμι I am able, I am of such a kind to + inf.; οἷον or οἷα how, like, as, because

ὅλος, ὅλη, ὅλον whole, entire

Verbs

κρατέω, κρατήσω, ἐκράτησα, ------, ------, ἐκρατήθην be strong, powerful, rule + gen.

μανθάνω, μαθήσομαι, ἔμαθον, μεμάθηκα, ------, ------ learn; learn to, learn how to + inf.; understand

ὁμολογέω, ὁμολογήσω, ὡμολόγησα, ὡμολόγηκα, ὡμολόγημαι, ὡμολογήθην speak together; agree; admit