Definite article

Here you can discuss all things Ancient Greek. Use this board to ask questions about grammar, discuss learning strategies, get help with a difficult passage of Greek, and more.
Post Reply
Amadeus
Textkit Zealot
Posts: 764
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2005 10:40 pm
Location: In a van down by the river

Definite article

Post by Amadeus »

Just a quick question: does anyone know what the Greeks call(ed) the definite article? I've read that it used to be a pronoun at first, so that would be an ἀντωνυμία. But what about the "definite article" as such? I've searched the Internet and Diogenes, but no luck.

Thanks!
Lisa: Relax?! I can't relax! Nor can I yield, relent, or... Only two synonyms? Oh my God! I'm losing my perspicacity! Aaaaa!

Homer: Well it's always in the last place you look.

annis
Textkit Zealot
Posts: 3399
Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2003 4:55 pm
Location: Madison, WI, USA
Contact:

Re: Definite article

Post by annis »


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

Amadeus
Textkit Zealot
Posts: 764
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2005 10:40 pm
Location: In a van down by the river

Post by Amadeus »

Many thanks, Annis! :D

I'm guessing the signification has been taken from the Latin articulus, which also means joint?

χαῖ?ε!
Lisa: Relax?! I can't relax! Nor can I yield, relent, or... Only two synonyms? Oh my God! I'm losing my perspicacity! Aaaaa!

Homer: Well it's always in the last place you look.

annis
Textkit Zealot
Posts: 3399
Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2003 4:55 pm
Location: Madison, WI, USA
Contact:

Post by annis »

Amadeus wrote:I'm guessing the signification has been taken from the Latin articulus, which also means joint?
The Latins followed the Greeks in grammatical terminology, not the other way 'round.
William S. Annis — http://www.aoidoi.org/http://www.scholiastae.org/
τίς πατέρ' αἰνήσει εἰ μὴ κακοδαίμονες υἱοί;

Amadeus
Textkit Zealot
Posts: 764
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2005 10:40 pm
Location: In a van down by the river

Post by Amadeus »

Oh! :P I always thought the Greek grammarians had borrowed their terminology from the Latin grammarians. Thanks for correcting me on that. You learn something new everyday! :lol:
Lisa: Relax?! I can't relax! Nor can I yield, relent, or... Only two synonyms? Oh my God! I'm losing my perspicacity! Aaaaa!

Homer: Well it's always in the last place you look.

User avatar
calvinist
Textkit Enthusiast
Posts: 474
Joined: Fri Apr 29, 2005 7:24 pm
Location: San Diego, CA

Post by calvinist »

Amadeus wrote:Oh! :P I always thought the Greek grammarians had borrowed their terminology from the Latin grammarians. Thanks for correcting me on that. You learn something new everyday! :lol:
The Romans borrowed a lot of things from the Greeks.

Amadeus
Textkit Zealot
Posts: 764
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2005 10:40 pm
Location: In a van down by the river

Post by Amadeus »

calvinist wrote:The Romans borrowed a lot of things from the Greeks.
Yes, I know. The most obvious example is their mythology. I just always thought that when it came to Grammar the Romans had come up with completely new notions. But, again, now I know better. :P
Lisa: Relax?! I can't relax! Nor can I yield, relent, or... Only two synonyms? Oh my God! I'm losing my perspicacity! Aaaaa!

Homer: Well it's always in the last place you look.

modus.irrealis
Textkit Zealot
Posts: 1093
Joined: Mon Apr 10, 2006 6:08 am
Location: Toronto

Post by modus.irrealis »

Well, the Romans probably came up with ablativus ;).

Swth\r
Textkit Fan
Posts: 276
Joined: Thu Jan 17, 2008 6:51 pm
Location: Greece

Post by Swth\r »

modus.irrealis wrote:Well, the Romans probably came up with ablativus ;).
And with supinum, gerundium and gerundivum. 8)

annis
Textkit Zealot
Posts: 3399
Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2003 4:55 pm
Location: Madison, WI, USA
Contact:

Post by annis »

modus.irrealis wrote:Well, the Romans probably came up with ablativus.
And yet the Greek term is clearly of the same formation: ἀπενεκτική (πτῶσις). ;)

This is from Dickey's Ancient Greek Scholarship: A Guide to Finding, Reading and Understanding the Scholia, Commentaries, Lexica and Grammatical Treatises, from Their Beginnings to the Byzantine Period (nice to know Classicists keep alive the tradition of absurdly long book titles).
William S. Annis — http://www.aoidoi.org/http://www.scholiastae.org/
τίς πατέρ' αἰνήσει εἰ μὴ κακοδαίμονες υἱοί;

modus.irrealis
Textkit Zealot
Posts: 1093
Joined: Mon Apr 10, 2006 6:08 am
Location: Toronto

Post by modus.irrealis »

Was ἀφαι?ετική also used for ablative?

Post Reply