Hi! I noticed when looking at the Wiktionary entry of λείπω, in the aorist passive form, the verb stem retains the same letters it has in the present tense. ἐλείφθην, etc. I looked back in my textbook when the passive voice was introduced and couldn’t find anything about why that is. Could someone please explain if this is universal and why it might be?
A second question involves the verb λύω. I noticed the upsilon becomes short in the aorist passive. Is this a universal feature of this voice/tense, or something unique to only certain verbs?
Sorry if these are basic questions, but as I mentioned, my textbook doesn’t seem to address them. Thank you in advance.
The aorist passive stem of λείπω is formed by adding the suffix -θη- to the present stem λειπ-, with assimilation of π to aspirate φ, as well as augment in the indicative and personal endings -ν, -ς, etc. This is the most common way to form the aorist passive in Greek. Some verbs, however, add the suffix -η-, without θ, to a stem that is not necessarily identical to the present stem. In many cases, these forms are not really passive: they are intransitive. Unfortunately, you just have to learn the aorist “passive” forms of verbs by rote memorization, though, again, the majority of verbs form their aorist passives by adding the suffix -θη-, with assimilation of the preceding consonant where required by Greek phonetics.
With regard to λύω, the alternation between ῡ in the present, future and aorist active and ῠ in the perfect and aorist passive is a peculiarity of this verb.
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