Lesson 13: Nouns/The Third Declension
180. Third declension nouns in class 4. end in a liquid (λ, ρ), those in class 5. in a nasal (ν). The chief distinction between the two classes is the dative plural: the ν in nouns of class 5. is lost before the ending, -σι. Nouns in both classes are characterized by varying degrees of vowel gradation in the stem. Division into subgroups is based upon this feature:
Class 4. | Stems in λ, ρ |
4.a. | Stems showing strong grade only |
4.b. | Stems showing variation between strong/middle grades |
4.c. | Stems showing three grades |
Class 5. | Stems in ν |
5.a. | Stems showing strong grade only |
5.b. | Stems showing variation between strong/middle grades |
5.c. | Stems showing variation between strong/weak grades |
Nouns in these classes are not numerous, but those in 4.c. are of high frequency.
181. Class 4. Masculine and feminine nouns ending in a liquid.
182. Class 4.a. Liquid stems showing the strong grade only
S | P | |
N | σωτήρ | σωτῆρες |
G | σωτῆρος | σωτήρων |
D | σωτῆρι | σωτῆρσι(ν) |
A | σωτῆρα | σωτῆρας |
1820. Mnemonic hints:
1820.1 Except for the nom. sing., which has no ending, these nouns follow the pattern of τίς precisely.
1820.2 These nouns have the strong grade throughout: -ηρ, -ωρ.
↓ 1821. A full catalogue of 4.a. nouns may be found in Appendix II. There are a few nouns listed there which exhibit some peculiarity or other:
1821.1 Καῖσαρ, Καίσαρος, ὁ, Caesar, is, of course, a Latin word which has been adapted to this pattern in Greek; its only peculiarity is that its stem ends in -αρ rather than -ηρ or -ωρ.
1821.2 χείρ, χειρός, ἡ hand, a commonly occurring noun, is regular except for the dative plur. which is χερσί(ν): χείρ, χειρός, χεισί, χεῖρα; χεῖρες, χειρῶν, χερσί(ν), χεῖρας. Cf. αὐτόχειρ, -ος, ὁ or ἡ.
1821.3 μάρτυς, μάρτυρος, ὁ witness, forms a nom. sing, in -ς (the ρ disappears); the dat. plur. μάρτυσι(ν) follows the nom. sing, in dropping the ρ. The other forms are regular with -ρ-. Cf. πρωτόμαρτυς, -υρος, ὁ; ψευδόμαρτυς, -υρος, ὁ.
↑ 1821.4 ἅλς, ἁλὁς, ὁ, salt, is the only noun with stem in λ. In Attic it was declined: ἅλς, ἁλός, ἁλί, ἅλα; ἅλες, ἁλῶν, ἅλσι(ν), ἅλας (i.e. regularly), but this form is rare in hellenistic Greek (ἁλί Mk 9:49 v.l.; στήλη ἁλός, pillar of salt, 1 Clem. 11:2 [Gen 19:26]). A new form ἅλας, ἅλατος, τό, has been assimilated to stems in -τ- (§172).
1821.5 One neuter, πῦρ, πυρός, τό fire belongs to this class. It appears only in the sing, and is regular (nom. and acc. are identical): πῦρ, πυρός, πυρί, πῦρ.
183. Class 4.b. Liquid stems showing variation between strong/middle grades.
ἀστήρ, ἀστέρος, ὁ star | ἀλέκτωρ, ἀλέκτορος, ὁ cock | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
1830. Mnemonic hints:
1830.1 Except for the nom. sing., which has no ending, these nouns follow the pattern of τίς precisely.
1830.2 These nouns have the strong grade (-ηρ, -ωρ) in the nom. sing., and the middle grade (-ερ, -ορ) elsewhere.
A full catalogue of 4.b. nouns may be found in Appendix II.
184. Class 4.c. Liquid stems showing three grades
This is a small group, mostly relationship nouns, but several are of high frequency.
πατήρ, πατρός, ὁ father | μήτηρ, μητρός, ἡ mother | ||||
S | P | S | P | ||
N | πατήρ | πατέρες | μήτηρ | μητέρες | |
G | πατρός | πατέρων | μητρός | μητέρων | |
D | πατρί | πατράσι(ν) | μητρί | μητράσι(ν) | |
A | πατέρα | πατέρας | μητέρα | μητέρας |
θυγάτηρ, θυγατρός, ἡ daughter | |||
S | P | ||
N | θυγάτηρ | θυγατέρες | |
G | θυγατρός | θυγατέρων | |
D | θυγατρί | θυγατράσι(ν) | |
A | θυγατέρα | θυγατέρας |
1840. Mnemonic hints:
1840.1 The pattern is identical for all three nouns (and γαστήρ, γαστρός, ἡ belly).
1840.2 The strong grade appears only in the nom. sing.; there is no ending.
1840.3 The weak grade (-τρ-) appears in the gen. and dat. sing., and dat. plur.; the middle grade (-τερ-) elsewhere.
1840.4 The endings are regular, i.e. like τίς.
1841. Note: The dat. plur. shows the weak grade (-τρ-). When ρ comes between two consonants, it becomes vocalic, i.e. develops a vowel, in order to assist pronunciation (§913). Vocalic or sonant ρ is written ρ̬. The dat. plur. developed thus: πατρ̬σι > πατράσι.
185. Another noun showing vowel gradation is ἀνήρ, ἀνδρός, ὁ man, husband.
S | P | |
N | ἀνήρ | ἄνδρες |
G | ἀνδρός | ἀνδρῶν |
D | ἀνδρί | ἀνδράσι(ν) |
A | ἄνδρα | ἄνδρας |
186. Class 5. Masculine and feminine nouns ending in ν
187. Class 5.a. Stems in ν showing the strong grade only
αἰών, αἰῶνος, ὁ age | Ἕλλην, Ἕλληνος, ὁ Greek | ||||
S | P | S | P | ||
N | αἰών | αἰῶνες | Ἕλλην | Ἕλληνες | |
G | αἰῶνος | αἰώνων | Ἕλληνος | Ἑλλήνων | |
D | αἰῶνι | αἰῶσι(ν) | Ἕλληνι | Ἕλλησι(ν) | |
A | αἰῶνα | αἰῶνας | Ἕλληνα | Ἕλληνας |
Note: The ν disappears in the dat. plur. without leaving any apparent trace (See Smyth §250 N.).
↓ 1870. Most nouns in 5. a. are in -ων, -ωνος (only two in -ην, -ηνος). A few stems in -ιν and -αν follow the same pattern:
1870.1 ὠδίν, ὠδίνος, ἡ, birth-pain: ὠδίν (Attic nom. ὠδίς), ὠδίνος, ὠδῖνα, ὠδῖνες, ὠδίνων, ὠδῖσι(ν), ὠδῖνας.
1870.2 μεγιστάν, μεγιστᾶνος, ὁ great man: μεγιστᾶνες, μεγιστάνων, μεγιστᾶσι(ν), μεγιστάνας (plur. only).
1870.3 μέλαν, μέλανος, τό ink: μέλαν, μέλανος, μέλανι, μέλαν (sing, only; neuter: nom. and acc. alike), though a neuter, belongs to this class.
Like the foregoing but with nom. sing, in -ς:
1870.4 ἀκτίς, ἀκτῖνος, ἡ ray, beam (of the sun)
1870.5 ῥίς, ῥινός, ἡ nose; plur. nostrils (Papias 3*: ῥίνας): Attic — LXX — ῥίς, ῥινός, ῥινί, ῥῖνα, ῥῖνες, ῥινῶν, ῥισί(ν), ῥῖνας.
1870.6 Σαλμίς, Σαλαμῖνος, ἡ, Salamis: Acts 13:5 Σαλαμίνι, v. l. -ινῃ (B1-D §57).
↑ A complete catalogue of 5.a. nouns may be found in Appendix II.
188. Class 5.b. Stems in ν showing variation between the strong/middle grades.
εἰκών, εἰκόνος, ἡ image; form |
S | P | |
N | εἰκών | εἰκόνες |
G | εἰκόνος | εἰκόνων |
D | εἰκόνι | εἰκόσι(ν) |
A | εἰκόνα | εἰκόνας |
ποιμήν, ποιμένες, ὁ shepherd |
S | P | |
N | ποιμήν | ποιμένος |
G | ποιμένος | ποιμένων |
D | ποιμένι | ποιμέσι(ν) |
A | ποιμένα | ποιμένας |
1880. Notes:
1880.1 The strong grade (-ων, -ην) appears in the nom. sing., the middle grade (-ον, -εν) elsewhere.
1880.2 The ν disappears in the dat. plur. without leaving any apparent trace (see Smyth §250 N.).
A complete catalogue of 5.b. nouns may be found in Appendix II.
189. Class 5.c. Stems in ν showing variation between strong/weak grades.
κύων, κυνός, ὁ dog |
S | P | |
N | κύων | κυνός |
G | κυνός | κυῶν |
D | κυνί | κυσί(ν) |
A | κύνα | κύνας |
1890. Notes:
1890.1 The strong grade (-ων) appears in the nom. sing., the weak grade (-ν) elsewhere.
1890.2 The ν disappears in the dat. plur. as in nouns of classes 5.a. and 5.b.
↓ 1890.3 The only other noun of this type is ἀρήν, ἀρνός, ὁ lamb: ἀρήν (rare nom. sing.), ἀρνός, ἀρνί, ἄρνα, ἄρνες, ἀρνῶν, ἀρνάσι(ν), ἄρνας. Only ἄρνας is found in literature represented in Bauer (Lk 10:3, Barn 2:5). ἀμνός, -οῦ, ὁ, ἀρνίον, -ου, τό, and πρόβατον, -ου, τό (all second declension), sheep, lamb, are more common than ἀρήν.
190. Summary of classes 4. and 5.
190.1 The nouns in these classes are masculine or feminine
exceptions: | πῦρ, πυρός, τό fire | (§1821.5) | |
μέλαν, μελάνος, τό ink | (§1870.3) |
190.2 The nom. sing, regularly has no ending
exceptions: | μάρτυς, μάρτυρος, ὁ witness | (§1821.3) | |
ἅλς, ἁλός, ὁ salt | (§1821.4) | ||
ἀκτίς, ἀκτῖνος, ἡ ray, beam | (§1870.4) | ||
ῥίς, ῥινός, ἡ nose | (§1870.5) | ||
Σαλαμίς, Σαλαμῖνος, ἡ Salamis | (§1870.6) |
190.3 The dat. plur.:
a) | Nouns in 4.c. develop an α following ρ (vocalic ρ): -ρασι(ν); |
b) | Nouns in 5 (all subgroups) lose ν before -σι without leaving any apparent trace. |
190.4 Vowel gradation:
a) Nouns in 4.a. and 5.a. show no vowel gradation, the strong grade appearing throughout; |
b) Nouns in 4.b. and 5.b. show variation between the strong grade in the nom. sing., and the middle grade elsewhere; |
c) Nouns in 4.c. show three grades, except ἀνήρ, ἀνδρός, ὁ man, which shows only strong and weak grades; the latter is thus comparable to the two nouns in 5.c. |
1900. Notes:
1900.1 For vowel gradation in the stem cf. ἀλώπηξ, ἀλώπεκος, ἡ fox, (§1621.3) and the nouns in III.2.a. (§§165ff.).
1900.2 The nom. sing, of 5.a. and 5.b. nouns in -ων will be identical with the nom. sing, of nouns of 2.a., but the stems will be different elsewhere, and the dat. plur. of the latter will be -ουσι(ν) rather than -ωσι(ν) or -οσι(ν).