Pharr 610

[danbek]

Hi,

I'm having trouble understanding section 610.9, as well as the "Note" in 610 in Pharr.

610.9 states:

τ + ι (when τ is final, or medial followed by another vowel) usually = σι: πλούσιος (πλοῦτος).

My questions:

1. I don't understand how πλούσιος (πλοῦτος) is an example of this. I can see that with this rule the dat. sing of πλοῦτος would be πλούσι, but what case/number is πλούσιος supposed to be?
2. What is meant by the "medial followed by another vowel" in the parentheses? Is the claim that (β, δ, γ) + *any* vowel "usually = σι"?

The "NOTE:" states:

ντ before final ι becomes νς; the ν is then dropped, and the preceding vowel lengthened by compensation, 601, 613.

My questions:

But 693 gives the dat. sing. of γέρων as γέροντι, where the rule would imply γέρουσι (γέροντι -> γέρονσι -> γέροσι -> γέρουσι). Is this just a case where this rule doesn't apply? Or am I misunderstanding the rule?

[Hylander]

πλοῦτος is a noun meaning "wealth." The root is πλουτ-. -ιος is a suffix added to the root to mean "wealthy man." πλουτ+ιος > πλούσιος. πλούσιος is a different word from πλοῦτος, not an inflected form of πλοῦτος.

What is meant by the "medial followed by another vowel" in the parentheses?

When τι occurs in the middle of a word and is followed by a vowel, τι > σι, as in πλουτ+ιος > πλούσιος.

The dative singular of the consonant (3rd) declension does not follow the "rule" that "ντ before final ι becomes νς; the ν is then dropped, and the preceding vowel lengthened by compensation," but the dative plural, where the declensional suffix is -σι, follows the rule that before --σι, "ν is dropped, and the preceding vowel lengthened by compensation."

[Timothée]

-νς > -ς with Ersatzdehnung on the preceding vowel occurs also without a following -ι. Notable examples are τόνς, τάνς, attested inscriptionally.

[Hylander]

Ersatzdehnung = compensatory lengthening

[danbek]

Thank you both, that helps clarify!

[mwh]

You were quite right to be puzzled, since the rule as it stands is unintelligible and the note is contradicted by γέροντι, as you saw. This is no way to learn morphology.