Lesson 10: Nouns/The Third Declension
III. Third Declension: Stems in a Consonant or Consonantal ι, υ
150. Nouns of the third declension end in a consonant or in consonantal ι, υ (§§905, 932, 933). There are two basic patterns, one for masculine and feminine nouns, and one for neuters. Variation on the two basic patterns is due largely to phonetic changes occasioned by the juxtaposition of certain consonants, the restriction imposed upon final consonants (only certain consonants can stand at the end of a word), and vowel gradation in certain stems. The third declension in Greek is comparable to the third and fourth declensions in Latin.
↑ Third declension nouns ending in ι̯ and υ̯ are, of course, affected.
151. As the article serves as the model for first and second declension nouns, τίς, τί who? which? what? (interrogative pronoun) serves as the model for the third declension. The full declension must be committed carefully to memory.
Singular | ||
masc.-fem. | neuter | |
N | τίς | τί |
G | τίνος | τίνος |
D | τίνι | τίνι |
A | τίνα | τί |
Plural | ||
N | τίνες | τίνα |
G | τίνων | τίνων |
D | τίσι(ν) | τίσι(ν) |
A | τίνας | τίνα |
1510. Mnemonic hints:
1510.1 The stem of τίς, τί is τιν- (τι-). Τιν- appears in all forms except a) masc.-fem. nom. sing., dat. plur. of both genders (ν is dropped before -σι, §929.7), and b) neuter nom. and acc. sing. (ν may stand here, but the original stem may have been τι-).
1510.2 The middle cases (gen., dat.):
a) | gen. and dat. singular endings are identical for both genders, i.e. -ος in gen., -ι in dat. | |
b) | gen. and dat. plural endings are identical for both genders, i.e. -ων in gen., -σι in dat. |
1510.3 The gen. plur. in -ων is like the gen. plur. of first and second declension nouns and the article.
1510.4 Neuter:
a) | the nom. and acc. sing. are always identical; the nom. and acc. plur. likewise (cf. second declension neuters). | |
b) | the nom. and acc. sing. have no ending; the nom. and acc. plur. end in -a, as do neuters of the second declension and the neuter article. |
1510.5 The ν given in parenthesis in the dat. plur. forms is called ν-movable. Such a ν is regularly added to any word ending in -σι when the next word begins with a vowel, but it may be added to such words when the next word begins with a consonant.
152. Confusion may arise at the following points:
152.1 The gen. sing. of both patterns (-ος) looks like the nom. sing. of masc.-fem. nouns of the second declension (also in -ος e.g. ὁ λόγος).
152.2 The masc.-fem. acc. sing. in -α looks like the neuter nom. and acc. plur. in -α and the corresponding forms of second declension neuters, as well as the nom. sing. of nouns in -α in the first declension (e.g. ἡ ἡμέρα).
1520. Endings which have been utilized at more than one point may be summarized as follows:
1520.1 -ος
a) | masc.-fem. nom. sing., second declension | |
b) | masc.-fem., neut. gen. sing., third declension |
1520.2 -α
a) | fem. nom. sing., first declension | |
b) | neuter nom. and acc. plur., second declension | |
c) | neuter nom. and acc. plur., third declension | |
d) | masc.-fem. acc. sing., third declension |
1520.3 -ων gen. plur. in all declension patterns.
1520.4 -ας :
a) | masc. nom. sing., first declension (§132.3) | |
b) | fem. gen. sing., first declension (§132.1) | |
c) | masc.-fem. acc. plur., first declension | |
d) | masc.-fem. acc. plur., third declension |
153. The indefinite pronoun τὶς, τὶ someone, something, any one, anything is declined exactly like τίς, τί except for accent. Τίς, τί is always written with acute accent in texts to distinguish it from τὶς, τὶ which is an enclitic (i.e. pronounced with the preceding word and accented accordingly, §074).
154. On the basis of the model, τίς, τί one expects the following endings in third declension nouns:
Singular | Plural | ||||
masc.-fem | neuter | masc.-fem | neuter | ||
N | -ς | — | -ες | -α | |
G | -ος | -ος | -ων | -ων | |
D | -ι | -ι | -σι(ν) | -σι(ν) | |
A | -α | — | -ας | -α |
1540. Irregularities. Aside from certain phonetic changes (§155), the endings of neuter nouns remain constant. The masculine-feminine pattern, however, has three important variations that must be noted.
1540.1 The masc.-fem. nom. sing. usually has -ς, but nouns ending in ν, ρ, (σ,) or οντ have no ending in the nom. sing. (like the neuters), with the consequence that a short final stem vowel is lengthened in compensation, e.g. ποιμήν (ὁ) shepherd, gen. τοῦ ποιμένος, stem ποιμεν- (ε is lengthened to η).
1540.2 The masc.-fem. acc. sing. usually ends in -α, but nouns ending in ι or υ may have ν instead, e.g. πόλις (ἡ) city, acc. τὴν πόλιν. Some stems ending in dentals preceded by ι also have ν, e.g. χάρις (ἡ) grace, acc. τὴν χάριν (but τὴν χάριτα also occurs), stem χαριτ-.
1540.3 The masc.-fem. acc. plur. usually ends in -ας, but in some cases the acc. plur. is borrowed from the nom. (i.e., -ες), with the result that nom. and acc. plur. are identical, e.g. βασιλεῖς (οἱ) kings, acc. pi. τοὺς βασιλεῖς (εῖς by contraction.
1541. The table given in §154 therefore requires modification at three points:
Singular | Plural | ||||
masc.-fem. | neuter | masc.-fem. | neuter | ||
N | -ς or — | — | -ες | -α | |
G | -ος | -ος | -ων | -ων | |
D | -ι | -ι | -σι(ν) | -σι(ν) | |
A | -α or -ν | — | -ας or -ες | -α |
Irregularities may be expected in masc.-fem. nouns in the nom. sing., acc. sing. and plur.
155. Phonetic changes. Certain phonetic changes occur in third declension nouns as the result of the juxtaposition of certain consonants and vowels, and the restrictions imposed upon final consonants.
155.1 In the masc.-fem. nom. sing. (-ς) and in the dat. plur. (all genders) (-σι), the juxtaposition of σ with certain consonants produces changes (consonants with σ, s. §§927, 929.7-9, 930).
155.2 Since only the consonants ν, ρ and σ (ξ, ψ, which are consonants with σ) can stand at the end of a word (§923), other final consonants are sometimes lost where there is no ending (neuter nom. and acc. sing., and occasionally masc.-fem. nom. sing.).
155.3 Intervocalic σ (i.e. occurring between vowels) is usually lost, and the vowels thus brought together contract (§930.2).
155.4 Certain nominal stems in the third declension show vowel gradation (§912).
1550. There are other explicable and inexplicable irregularities which will be noted. The large majority of third declension nouns, however, are readily identifiable on the basis of the model, τίς, τί (§151) and the additional options noted in §1541 for the masc.-fem. pattern. In the presentation of the third declension, all nouns represented in Bauer that do not conform to the pattern in question in every particular will be noted: §§ 160-203 are thus not only a schematic presentation of the third declension, but also a catalogue of deviations (cf. Appendix II).
156. Organization of the third declension. Two factors are utilized in the organization of third declension nouns: 1) the two basic patterns, masculine-feminine and neuter (§§150f.), and 2) the consonant with which the stem ends, since any phonetic changes are determined by the final stem consonant. On the basis of these two factors, the third declension is organized into seven classes, with subclasses in each case. The differences, especially among subclasses, are often minimal and may rest on a single point. The detailed analysis has the virtue of calling attention to every particular, but it should not be allowed to obscure the essential conformity of all third declension nouns to two patterns, the masculine-feminine and the neuter.
The classes and subclasses are as follows (cf. Appendix II):
1. | Masculine and feminine nouns ending in a stop (mute) |
a. those ending in a labial (π, β, φ) | |
b. those ending in a palatal (κ, γ, χ) | |
c. those ending in a dental (τ, δ, θ) | |
2. | Masculine nouns in -ντ- |
a. those with no ending in the nom. sing. | |
b. those with -ς in the nom. sing. | |
3. | Neuter nouns in -τ- |
a. neuters ending in -μα | |
b. other neuters belonging to this class (irregular nom.sing.) | |
4. | Masculine and feminine nouns ending in a liquid (λ, ρ) |
a. stems showing no vowel gradation | |
b. stems showing variation between strong and middle grades | |
c. stems showing three grades | |
5. | Masculine and feminine nouns ending in -ν- (nasal) |
a. stems showing no vowel gradation | |
b. stems showing variation between strong and middle grades | |
c. stems showing variation between strong and weak grades | |
6. | Nouns with stems in -σ-, (-εσ-, -οσ-, -ασ-) |
a. neuters: -ος, -ους | |
b. masculines: -ης, ους (all proper names) | |
c. stems in -οσ-, -ασ- | |
7. | Masculine and feminine nouns ending in consonantal -ι- and -υ- (also -ευ-, -αυ-, -ου-) |
a. stems in -υ- | |
b. stems in -ι-/-ε- | |
c. stems in -ευ-/-ε- | |
d. stems in -ου-/-ο- |
157. As in the case of the article (§124), it is important to master the declension of τίς, τί. Master again means instant recognition in context. The most effective practice is scanning a Greek text for examples, at first verbally citing gender, number, case (with options), and then passing as quickly as possible to silent recognition.
1570. Word list. τίς, τί who? which? what? (interrogative pronoun) τὶς, τὶ someone, something, any one, anything (indefinite pronoun)