second person plural pronoun

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arkadi
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second person plural pronoun

Post by arkadi »

Could it be used to address a singular person (like English "you")?
If so, did it have the connotation of politeness/respect (like German "Sie")?
Thanks in advance.
Arkadi

annis
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Post by annis »

Nope. A single individual was always σύ. The 2nd plural was only for more than one person.
William S. Annis — http://www.aoidoi.org/http://www.scholiastae.org/
τίς πατέρ' αἰνήσει εἰ μὴ κακοδαίμονες υἱοί;

arkadi
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Thanks!

Post by arkadi »

A somewhat related question meanwhile came up.
Plato, _Symposion_, 174 a3--"hoi So^krate^".
Why "hoi" here? Is it Attic (as dative)?

Paul
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Re: Thanks!

Post by Paul »

arkadi wrote:A somewhat related question meanwhile came up.
Plato, _Symposion_, 174 a3--"hoi So^krate^".
Why "hoi" here? Is it Attic (as dative)?
Hi,

It's the dative singular of the 3rd personal pronoun.

[size=150]σωκράτη[/size] is, I think, an accusative. If we take it as the subject of the infinitive, then [size=150]οἱ[/size] means 'with him', i.e., "For he said Socrates to meet with him...'

Cordially,

Paul

arkadi
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Post by arkadi »

"him"=the speaker?
Oh, I see... I was misled by translations, which all have: "He said that he met with Socrates..." (vel sim.).
Thanks a lot.
Arkadi

Thucydides
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Post by Thucydides »

While we're on the accuasative of Socrates, is there any good reason that Demosthenes and Socrates have an eta in the accusative but Pericles an (uncontracted) alpha and epsilon? All I can think of is possibly the force of a digamma hanging around in Periklewos and preventing contraction.

annis
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Post by annis »

Thucydides wrote:While we're on the accuasative of Socrates, is there any good reason that Demosthenes and Socrates have an eta in the accusative but Pericles an (uncontracted) alpha and epsilon? All I can think of is possibly the force of a digamma hanging around in Periklewos and preventing contraction.
Is the name a compound of περί "exceeding" and κλέος "fame, repute"? That would bring digamma in.
William S. Annis — http://www.aoidoi.org/http://www.scholiastae.org/
τίς πατέρ' αἰνήσει εἰ μὴ κακοδαίμονες υἱοί;

Thucydides
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Post by Thucydides »

Yeah that's what I was thinking.

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