Quantitative metathesis (or transfer of quantity)
[ Smyth, ''Greek Grammar'']
paragraph 34
on CCEL
The Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) is a digital library that provides free electronic copies of Christian scripture and literature texts.
Description
CCEL is a volunteer-based project founded and directed by Harry Plantinga, a pro ...
: transfer of quantity is a specific form of ''
metathesis'' or ''transposition'' (a
sound change) involving ''quantity'' or
vowel length
In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived length of a vowel sound: the corresponding physical measurement is duration. In some languages vowel length is an important phonemic factor, meaning vowel length can change the meaning of the word, ...
. By this process, two
vowel
A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (leng ...
s near each other – one long, one short – switch their lengths, so that the long one becomes short, and the short one becomes long.
In theory, the definition includes both
:long-short → short-long
and
:short-long → long-short,
but
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...
, which the term was originally created to describe, displays only the former, since the process is part of long-vowel shortening.
Ancient Greek
In the
Attic and
Ionic dialects of Ancient Greek, ''ēo'' and ''ēa'' often exchange length, becoming ''eō'' and ''eā''.
This quantitative metathesis is more accurately described as one form of long-vowel shortening. Usually if quantitative metathesis affects a word, other kinds of shortening do as well, in the forms where quantitative metathesis cannot occur:
* ''ēwo'' → ''eō'' (quantitative metathesis)
* ''ēōs'' → ''eōs'' (shortening of long diphthong before consonant)
* ''ēi'' → ''ei'' (analogical shortening)
In general, the vowels affected by this shortening were separated by the
Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo- ...
semivocalic versions of ''u'' or ''i'', usually
deleted in later Greek: ''w'' (written
ϝ or υ̯ ) or ''y'' (written ι̯ ).
First declension
The
Homeric
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
form of the genitive singular in the masculine
first declension The first declension is a category of declension that consists of mostly feminine nouns in Ancient Greek and Latin with the defining feature of a long ''ā'' (analysed as either a part of the stem or a case-ending). In Greek grammar, it is also call ...
sometimes undergoes quantitative metathesis:
*Πηλεΐδης ''Pēleḯdēs'' (
patronym from Πηλεύς ''Pēleús'': "
Peleus
In Greek mythology, Peleus (; Ancient Greek: Πηλεύς ''Pēleus'') was a hero, king of Phthia, husband of Thetis and the father of their son Achilles. This myth was already known to the hearers of Homer in the late 8th century BC.
Biogra ...
-son",
Achilles
In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus ( grc-gre, Ἀχιλλεύς) was a hero of the Trojan War, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, and the central character of Homer's '' Iliad''. He was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Pele ...
)
:Πηλεΐδᾱο ''Pēleḯdāo'' → *Πηλεΐδηο ''*Pēleḯdēo'' → Πηλεΐδεω ''Pēleḯdeō'' (genitive singular; alternate form Πηληϊάδεω ''Pēlēïádeō'' in the first line of the
Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the '' Odys ...
)
The Attic genitive singular Πηλεΐδ-ου ''Pēleḯd-ou'' uses a copy of the
second-declension ending, which came from the same original form as the ending ''-oio'' (used in Homer) — ''o-syo'',
thematic vowel
In Indo-European studies, a thematic vowel or theme vowel is the vowel or from ablaut placed before the ending of a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) word. Nouns, adjectives, and verbs in the Indo-European languages with this vowel are thematic, and tho ...
''o'' and case-ending ''-syo''). The Homeric form comes from the same case ending, with the first-declension pseudo-thematic vowel ''ā''.
Second declension
Nouns in a small subclass of the
second declension The second declension is a category of nouns in Latin and Greek with similar case formation. In particular, these nouns are thematic, with an original ''o'' in most of their forms. In Classical Latin, the short ''o'' of the nominative and accusativ ...
(known as the "
Attic declension
The Attic declension is a group of second-declension nouns and adjectives in the Attic dialect of Ancient Greek, all of whose endings have long vowels. In contrast, normal second-declension nouns have some short vowels and some long vowels. This ...
") lengthen the ''o, oi'' of the ending to ''ō, ōi''. Sometimes this is quantitative metathesis:
[Smyth]
paragraph 238 c
transfer of quantity and shortening in "Attic declension" forms
:Ionic ληός ''lēós'' (from λᾱϝός ''lāwós'') → Attic λεώς ''leṓs'' "people"
:ληοί ''lēoí'' → λεῴ ''leōí'' (nominative plural)
But sometimes, when a long vowel occurs in the ending, ''ē'' is shortened to ''e'' without an accompanying lengthening of the vowel in the ending (but ''ou'' changes to ''ō'' to follow the other forms):
[Smyth]
shortening of long vowel before another long vowel
:ληοῦ ''lēoú'' → λεώ ''leṓ'' (genitive singular)
:ληῷ ''lēōî'' → λεῴ ''leōí'' (dative singular)
Third declension
Some
third-declension noun
A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for:
* Living creatures (including people, alive, ...
s had, in
Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo- ...
, stems in ''-u'' or ''-i'' in
zero-grade, ''-ew'' or ''-ey'' in short e-grade, and ''-ēw'' or ''-ēy'' in long ''ē''-grade.
[Smyth]
paragraph 270
stem variation of i, u-stems[Smyth]
stem variation of au, eu, ou-stems Others had ''-āw'' with no variation in ablaut grade, which changed in some forms to ''ēw'', by the Attic-Ionic ''ā'' → ''ē'' shift.
In many cases, the ''w'' or ''j'' was deleted, but sometimes it is preserved as the last element of a
diphthong (''-eus'', ''-aus'').
Stems with ''ē'' underwent shortening in Classical Attic-Ionic, but early forms with long ē are preserved in
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
to maintain the original
meter
The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its pref ...
. Some forms exemplify the quantitative-metathesis type of shortening:
*βασιλεύς ''basileús'' (shortened from *βασιλήϝς ''*basilḗws'')
[Smyth]
paragraph 40
shortening of long vowel before u, i, nasals, liquid + a consonant "king"
:
Homeric
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
(early
Attic-
Ionic) βασιλῆος ''basilêos'' (from βασιλῆϝος ''basilêwos'')
→ Classical Attic βασιλέως ''basiléōs'' (genitive singular)
:βασιλῆα ''basilêa'' → βασιλέᾱ ''basiléā'' (accusative singular)
:βασιλῆας ''basilêas'' → βασιλέᾱς ''basiléās'' (accusative plural)
*Attic ναῦς ''naûs'' "ship" (from *νᾱῦς ''*nāûs'' by shortening of ''ā'':
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''nāv-is'')
:νηός ''nēós'' (from *νᾱϝός ''*nāwós'') → νεώς ''neṓs)'' (genitive singular)
*πόλις ''pólis'' "city"
:πόληος ''pólēos'' (from *πόληι̯ος ''*pólēyos'') → πόλεως ''póleōs'' (genitive singular)
*ἄστυ ''ástu'' "town"
: *ἄστηος ''*ástēos'' (from *ϝάστηϝος ''*wástēwos'') → ἄστεως ''ásteōs'' (genitive singular)
The accent of the genitive singular of the last two words violates the
rules of accentuation. Normally the long vowel of the last syllable would force the accent forward to the second-to-last syllable, giving *πολέως ''*poléōs'' and *ἀστέως ''*astéōs'', but instead the accent remains where it was before shortening.
[Smyth]
paragraph 271
accent of genitive singular and plural of some i, u-stems[Smyth]
exceptions to rules for antepenult accent
Other forms of these nouns shorten ''ē'' to ''e'', but because the vowel of the ending is long, no quantitative metathesis occurs:
:*βασιλήων ''*basilḗōn'' → βασιλέων ''basiléōn'' (genitive plural)
Some forms shorten ''ē'' to ''e'' before ''i'' according to the
analogue of the other forms, but without lengthening the ''i'':
:Homeric βασιλῆi ''basilêi'' → Attic βασιλεῖ ''basileî'' (dative singular)
Other forms involve no shortening, since they come from a short
''e''-grade form of the stem.
The accent of the genitive plural is sometimes irregular because it follows the analogue of the genitive singular:
: *πολέι̯-ων ''poléy-ōn'' → πόλεων ''póleōn'' (genitive plural — re-accented after genitive singular)
: *ϝαστέϝ-ων ''
*wastéw-ōn'' → ἄστεων ''ásteōn'' (also re-accented)
Participle
The perfect participle of the verb θνῄσκω ''thnēískō'' "die" undergoes vowel shortening, and quantitative metathesis in the
oblique
Oblique may refer to:
* an alternative name for the character usually called a slash (punctuation) ( / )
*Oblique angle, in geometry
*Oblique triangle, in geometry
* Oblique lattice, in geometry
* Oblique leaf base, a characteristic shape of the b ...
forms:
* *τεθνηϝώτς ''tethnēwṓts''
[Smyth]
paragraph 301 c
masculine/neuter endings for perfect active participle → τεθνεώς ''tethneṓs'' "dead" (masculine nominative singular:
perfect with
stative
According to some linguistics theories, a stative verb is a verb that describes a state of being, in contrast to a dynamic verb, which describes an action. The difference can be categorized by saying that stative verbs describe situations that are ...
meaning)
: *τεθνηϝότος ''*tethnēwótos'' → τεθνεῶτος ''tethneôtos'' (masculine/neuter genitive singular)
See also
*
Metathesis (linguistics)
Metathesis (; from Greek , from "I put in a different order"; Latin: ''transpositio'') is the transposition of sounds or syllables in a word or of words in a sentence. Most commonly, it refers to the interchange of two or more contiguous segm ...
*
Ancient Greek nouns: Vowel-stems
References
{{reflist
Phonology
Historical linguistics
Vowel shifts
Ancient Greek
Greek grammar