accents in MOUSA

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John
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accents in MOUSA

Post by John »

Why is the circumflex accent used in the nom pl of the first declension feminine noun MOUSA (Muse), e.g.,
Mousai with circumflex over the penultimate dipthong -ou, and then the acute accent is used in the dat pl, e.g., Mousais with acute over the penultimate dipthong? Does -ai count as short, but -ais count as long?

annis
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Re: accents in MOUSA

Post by annis »

John wrote:Does -ai count as short, but -ais count as long?
Yes. Final -αι, the first declension nominative plural counts as short when you determine the accent. The same is true of final -οι, the second declension nominative plural.

Final -αι in verbs is often short for accent, too. The exception is the optative mood, which you'll not see until quite a few more lessons have passed. :)

And welcome to Textkit.
William S. Annis — http://www.aoidoi.org/http://www.scholiastae.org/
τίς πατέρ' αἰνήσει εἰ μὴ κακοδαίμονες υἱοί;

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