Greek Accent Rules

Introduction: 1. Greek accent rules can be reduced to a few simple guides.

2. Most is based on whether the last syllable is long or short.

I. Syllabification: the number of syllables = the number of vowels or dipthongs

ultima = the last syllable (a[nqrwpo~)

penult = the next to the last syllable (a[nqrwpo~)

antepenult = the third from the end (a[nqrwpo~)

II. When is a syllable long?

1. contains a long vowel

2. contains a dipthong except when oi, ai are the last letters of the word.

III. General Accent Rules

A. Acute (´)

1. Can stand on a long or short syllable and on either of the last 3 syllables.

2. An acute accent on the antepenult moves to the penult when the ultima is long. a[nqrwpo~ ajnqrwvpo~

3. An accute on the penult changes to a circumflex when the ultima is short. plouvtou plou`to~

B. Circumflex ` :

1. The circumflex can only be on a long syllable.

2. The cicumflex can only be on the penult or ultima.

3. A circumflex on the penult changes to an acute when the last syllable is long. plou`to~ plouvtou

4. Circumflex stands on a long penult before a short ultima. lu`e

C. Grave (`):

1. An acute accent on the ultima changes to a grave when it is followed by another word with no intervening punctuation. to; dw`ron

Verb Accents

THE RULE: The verb accent is recessive. It will stand on the antepenult (or the penult in a two syllable word) unless a rule forces it to change.

1. Is the last syllable long?

pisteuvw pisteuvomai ejpivsteuon ejpisteuovmhn

pisteuvei~ pisteuvh/ ejpivsteue~ ejpisteuvou

pisteuvei pisteuvetai ejpivsteue ejpisteuveto

pisteuvomen pisteuovmeqa ejpisteuvomen ejpisteuovmeqa

pisteuvete pisteuvesqe ejpisteuvete ejpisteuvesqe

pisteuvousin pisteuvontai ejpivsteuon ejpisteuvonto

Noun Accents

THE RULE: Noun accents are persistent. They stay where they are on the nominative, unless the general rules force a change.

1. Must know the nominative accent form.

2. Must know the declension.

2nd Declension Rules.

1. Follow the same general accent rules except that an acute accent on the ultima changes to a circumflex in the genitive and dative cases (note karpov~)

a[ggelo~ lovgo~ dou`lo~ karpov~

ajggevlou lovgou douvÊlou karpou`

agggevlw/ lovgw/ douvÊlw/ karpw`/

a[ggelon lovgon dou`lon karpovn

a[ggeloi lovgoi dou`loi karpoiv

ajggevlwn lovgwn doÊuvlwn karpw`n

ajggevloi~ lovgoi~ douvÊloi~ karpoi`~

ajggevlou~ lovgou~ douvÊlou~ karpouv~

Ist Declension Rules:

Follow the same general accent rules except (1) an acute on the ultima changes to a circumflex in the dative and genitive and (2) the genitive plural always has a circumflex on the ultima.

divkh divkai

divkh~ dikw`n

divkh/ divkai~

divkhn divka~

ajrethv ajretaiv

ajreth`~ ajretw`n

ajreth/` ajretai`~

ajrethvn ajretva~

Some Words About Enclitics

What is an enclitic? These are unemphatic words, which tend to be short words, that do not retain their accent, but either lose it or throw it onto the preceding word. Examples of enclitics are the fors of “to be” eijmiv and the idefinite pronoun “someone” ti~

Enclitic Accent Rules

1. The enclitic will throw its accent onto the preceding word if there is room for the extra accent on the preceding word. There is room if the preceding word has an acute on the antepenult or a circumflex on the penult.

a[vnqrwpov~ eijmi.

dw`rovn eij.

2. If there is not room for the accent on the preceding word, a two syllable enclitic keeps its accent, but a one syllable enclitic is not accented at all.

divkh ejstivn divkh ti~

3. A word with the accent on it ultima does not change to a grave before an enclitic. oJdov~ ti~

4. If there are a number of enclitics in a row, the last one is not accented.

ei[ pouv tiv~ tina i[doi ejcqrovn.