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Quantitative metathesis (or transfer of quantity)
Smyth Smyth is an early variant of the common surname Smith commonly found in Ireland.Citation: Bardsley, 1901 Shown below are notable people who share the surname "Smyth". Notable people sharing the Smyth surname Listed here are people who share the ...
, ''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. By this process, two vowels 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, 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 An attic (sometimes referred to as a ''loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building; an attic may also be called a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because attics fill the space between the ceiling of the ...
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 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 sometimes undergoes quantitative metathesis: *Πηλεΐδης ''Pēleḯdēs'' (
patronym A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, al ...
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. Bi ...
-son", Achilles) :Πηλεΐδᾱο ''Pēleḯdāo'' → *Πηλεΐδηο ''*Pēleḯdēo'' → Πηλεΐδεω ''Pēleḯdeō'' (genitive singular; alternate form Πηληϊάδεω ''Pēlēïádeō'' in the first line of the Iliad) 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 accusati ...
(known as the " Attic declension") 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 nouns had, in Proto-Indo-European, 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 A diphthong ( ; , ), also known as a gliding vowel, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of the speech ...
(''-eus'', ''-aus''). Stems with ''ē'' underwent shortening in Classical Attic-Ionic, but early forms with long ē are preserved in Homer to maintain the original meter. 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 An attic (sometimes referred to as a ''loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building; an attic may also be called a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because attics fill the space between the ceiling of the ...
- 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 ''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 ...
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