Ok, I'm stuck. The accenting rules of Homeric Greek are stumping me. I read this web page http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~ancgreek/ ... ation.html
but I still can't figure out how to accent simple words like [size=150]νοῦσος[/size] through the various paradigms. Can someome illustrate the exact reasoning behind the accenting of that particular word with all of its cases?
If I get good enough and detailed responses, I'm willing to collate all of them, with examples and excersizes, and make a pdf out of it.
Thanks.
Word accents
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Hi,
Following the paradigm for νοῦσος as presented in Pharr 679, and remembering that substantives try to keep the accent in the same syllable:
Singular:
N - word is accented on the penult. Penult is long AND ultima is short -> accent is circumflex.
G - ultima is long -> accent must be acute
D - same rule as G
A - same rule as N
V - same rule as N
Dual:
N.A.V - same rule as G
G.D. - accent on antepenult (allowed only if ultima is short) must be acute
Plural:
N.V. - the oi diphthong in ultima is considered short for determining accent. Hence same rule as N singular
G - same rule as G singular
D - same rule as G.D. dual for νούσοισι or, for νούσοις, same rule as G singular
A - same rule as G singular
If your question really boils down to "why does the nominative singular take a circumflex rather than an acute?", that's harder. There is no requirement that an accented long penult followed by a short ultima must take a circumflex.
But, if you learn the form in the dictionary along with its accent, you can usually figure out how the accent changes as the word inflects.
Cordially,
Paul
Following the paradigm for νοῦσος as presented in Pharr 679, and remembering that substantives try to keep the accent in the same syllable:
Singular:
N - word is accented on the penult. Penult is long AND ultima is short -> accent is circumflex.
G - ultima is long -> accent must be acute
D - same rule as G
A - same rule as N
V - same rule as N
Dual:
N.A.V - same rule as G
G.D. - accent on antepenult (allowed only if ultima is short) must be acute
Plural:
N.V. - the oi diphthong in ultima is considered short for determining accent. Hence same rule as N singular
G - same rule as G singular
D - same rule as G.D. dual for νούσοισι or, for νούσοις, same rule as G singular
A - same rule as G singular
If your question really boils down to "why does the nominative singular take a circumflex rather than an acute?", that's harder. There is no requirement that an accented long penult followed by a short ultima must take a circumflex.
But, if you learn the form in the dictionary along with its accent, you can usually figure out how the accent changes as the word inflects.
Cordially,
Paul