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The irregularity in the declension and accentuation (51, c. 6) of γυνή is explained by an hyperthesis of . (104, 110, (6)), as the following comparison will show:

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In these nouns the dental characteristic is always omitted before the nominative -s (above, 92), and when r precedes the characteristic it is combined with the s, as in the guttural declension: ἡ λαμπάς, “ the lamp,” for λαμπάδες; ὁ, ἡ παῖς, “ the child,” for παῖδες; ἡ ἐλπίς, “ the hope,” for ἐλπίδες; ἡ χάρις, " the grace," for χάριτος; ἡ δαίς, “ the feast,” for δαίτες; ἡ κλείς, “ the key," for κλείδας; ἡ χλαμύς, “ the cloak, for χλαμύδας; ὁ, ἡ ὄρνις, “ the bird,” for ὄρνιθος; ἡ κόρυς, “ the helmet,” for κόρυθ-ς; ὁ ἄναξ, “ the king,” for ἄνακτος; ἡ νύξ, " the night,” for νύκτας; ἡ ἕλμινς, “ the worm, for ἕλμινθ-ς; ἡ δάμαρ, “the wife,” for δάμαρτος; ὁ λέων, “ the lion,” for λέοντος; ὁ γίγας, “ the giant," for γίγαντος; ὁ πούς, “ the foot,” for πόδες; ὁ ὁδούς, “ the tooth,” for ὀδόντες ; ὁ πλακόεις, “ the fat cake,” for πλακόεντος, contracted into πλακοῦς for πλακοῦντας (210); ὁ μύκης, “ the mushroom,” for μύκητες; ἡ λευκότης, “ the whiteness,” for λευκότητες; ὁ γέλως, " the laughter,” for γέλωτος; ἡ Πάρνης, “ a mountain in Attica,” for Πάρνηθος; ἡ Τίρυνς, “ the city Tiryns,” for Τίρυνθ-ς.

σε

σε

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It will be observed, from a comparison of the examples, that dental nouns which have or u before the characteristic 8, 0, T, that is, nouns in -s, gen. -idos, -100s, -TOs, and in -vs, gen. -vdos, -vos, and which are not oxytone in the nominative singular, not only have the usual accusative in -a after the characteristic, but also drop the characteristic, and retain the proper case-ending -v in the accusative singular. Thus epis, "strife," makes in the accusative both ἔριδα and ἔριν, ὄρνις, “ a bird,” both ὄρνιθα and ὄρνιν, χάρις, "grace," "favour," "charm," both xápira and xápw, кópvs, “a χάριτα κόρυς, helmet," both xóрvea and кóрvv. But oxytone nouns have only κόρυθα κόρυν. the form in -a, like λaμπáda, given above, èxπída, xλaμúda, &c. The simple woús has only the accusative móda, but its compounds admit both forms; thus from πολύπους we have both πολύποδα and TOλÚTOVV. A special exception is furnished by λeîs, “a key,” which makes both κλείδα and κλείν.

The syncope of the characteristic 7, which is indicated in the dat. and acc. sing. of yéλws, takes place also in ó xpos, "the skin," which has dat. xpwτi and xp, and ó idpós, “the sweat," which has dat. and acc. ἱδρῶτι, ἱδρῷ, ἱδρῶτα, ἱδρῶ.

II. Neuter Nouns.

181 Neuter nouns with a dental characteristic either (a) drop it altogether, as in τὸ σῶμα, “ the body,” for σώματ, gen. σώματος, in Tò μé, "the honey," for μéer, and in the solitary neuter noun μέλι, in -η, τὸ κάρη, “the head,” for κάρητ or κρατ-, gen. κάρητος: or (B) change it into -s, as in Tò Tépas, "the wonder," for répaт, gen. TépаT-os. (a) If the characteristic is -T-, both letters are dropt, as in Tò yaλa, "the milk," for yáλакт, gen. yáλакт-os. (a) If the characteristic is -T-, the v is retained, and the 7 alone is dropt, as in Tò Tâv, "the whole," for Távт, gen. Tavтós. (a) If the first πάντ, παντός.

T

syllable of the form has the diphthong -ov, the -v is transferred to the last syllable, where it takes the place of the -ar-, as in tò yóvʊ, "the knee," for yoûvaт, gen. yoúvaт-os or yóvatos. And (a) if the last syllable of the form contains the combination of p with another consonant, this liquid is transferred to the end, where it takes the place of the 7, with or without a lengthening of the final vowel in the nominative; it is omitted in the other cases, which retain merely a short a, as in yóvatos, &c. The following are examples of this form: τὸ ἦπαρ, “the liver,” for ἧπρατ, gen. ἥπα-τος: τὸ σκώρ, “the dung, gen. σκατός : τὸ ὕδωρ, “the water,” for ὕδρατ (cf. ίδρως), gen. ὕδατος. But ἡ δάμαρ, “ the wife,” for δάμαρτος, has dauapr-os in the gen., &c. δάμαρτοs

-s

When is substituted for 7 in the nominative, it may be dropt in the other cases, which are formed rather with reference to this secondary, than to the primary form. In some nouns (8) we have both sets of inflexions, as in Tò képas, "the horn," for képaт = KÉPEVT, gen. κέρατοs and κέρατος, contracted into κέρως, as for κέρα-σ-os (see 107); or without contraction, as in Tò dópu, "the spear-shaft," gen. δόρατοs and δορός, dat. δόρατι and δορί or δόρει, nom., acc., and voc. pl. dópm: in others (B) we have only the secondary set of inflexions, as in Tò σéλas, "the light,” gen. σéλa-os. (y) Unless the syllable which is terminated by the characteristic T is λa or pa (119), the connecting vowel is o in the nominative, and e in the other cases; the characteristic is s in the nominative, and is invariably dropt in the other cases, which suffer contraction also in Attic Greek; thus we have Tò Teixos, "the wall," gen. Teixeos, τὸ τεῖχος, τείχους.

182 The following are examples of all the varieties of Neuter nouns with an original dental suffix.

Singular. α

В

Ν.Α.V. σῶμα

τέρα-ς

γάλα

G.

α

πάντ

γόνυ- ἧπαρσώματος τέρα-τ-ος γάλακτος παν-τ-ός γόνα-τ-ος ήπατος

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D.

σώμα-τ-ι τέρα-τοι γάλα-κτι παντοί γόνα-τ-ι ἥπα-το κέρα-τι

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Ν.Α.V. σώματα τέρατα γάλα-κτ-α πάντα γόνα-τ-α πα-τα κέρα-τ-α

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G. σωμάτων τερά-τ-ων γαλά-κτων πάντων γονά-τ-ων ήπά-τ-ων κερά-τ-ων

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D. Dual.

σώμα-σι τέρα-σι γάλα-ξι πάσι Ν.Α.V. σώμα- τέρα

γόνα-σι πα-σι

κέρα-σι

σέλα-σι

τείχεσι

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G.D.

σωμά-τ-ον τερά-τ-ον γαλά-κτ-οιν πάντοιν γονά-τ-οιν ἡπά-τ-ον κερά-τ-οιν

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