Contracting Verbs

1
Contracting Verbs
Consider the following four verbs
a)kou/w
non-contracting
a)gapaw
alpha-contract
epsilon-contract
poie/w
staurow
omicron-contract
2
Personal Endings
Active
Person/Number
Mid./Pass.
-mai
(-mi)
1st singular
I
(-si)
-sai
2nd singular
you
-tai
(-ti)
3rd singular
he/she/it
-meqa
-men
1st plural
we
-sqe
-te
2nd plural
you
-ntai
(-nsi)
3rd plural
they
3
Development of Active Endings

• Greek verbs in the present tense consist of
• a base blep ( see)
• an ending -men (indicates we)
• a thematic vowel, which connects the base with
  the ending
• omicron (o) in front of mu (m) or nu (n)
• epsilon (e) in front of everything else

4
Development of Active Endings

• In the Present Active the pattern of
• basethematic vowelending
• is sometimes obscured
• 1st and 2nd plural are transparent
• blepomen ble/pomen
• blepete ble/pete

5
Development of Active Endings

• In the 3rd Person plural a change occurs
• Ending nsi Thematic vowel o
• onsi came to be pronounced in a way that
  resembled ousi
• blep o nsi ble/pousi

6
Development of Active Endings

• The singular is more obscure
• 1st Person -w instead of omi ble/pw
• 2nd Person -eij instead of esi ble/peij
• 3rd Person -ei instead of eti ble/pei

7
Development of Passive Endings

• Greek verbs in the present tense consist of
• a base blep ( see)
• an ending -meqa (indicates we)
• a thematic vowel, which connects the base with
  the ending
• omicron (o) in front of mu (m) or nu (n)
• epsilon (e) in front of everything else

8
Development of Passive Endings

• The Present Passive pattern is
• basethematic vowelending
• 1st Singular blepomai ble/pomai
• 3rd Singular blepetai ble/petai
• 1st Plural blepomeqa blepomeqa
• 2nd Plural blepesqe ble/pesqe
• 3rd Plural blepontai ble/pontai

9
Development of Passive Endings

• In the 2nd Person singular a change occurs
• Ending sai Thematic vowel e
• ble/pesai
• sigma between vowels disappeared
• ble/pesai becomes ble/peai
• Then a contraction occurs
• ble/peai becomes ble/ph

10
Contracting Verbs
Consider the following four verbs
a)kou/w
non-contracting
a)gapaw
alpha-contract
epsilon-contract
poie/w
staurow
omicron-contract
11
Non-Contract SINGULAR
Active
Middle/Passive
Voice Person
a)kou/w
a)kou/omai
First
a)kou/eij
a)kou/h
Second
a)kou/ei
a)kou/etai
Third
12
PLURAL
Active
Middle/Passive
Voice Person
a)kou/omen
a)kouomeqa
First
a)kou/ete
a)kou/esqe
Second
a)kou/ousi
a)kou/ontai
Third
13
In contracting verbs the final vowel of the base
CONTRACTS with the thematic vowel or with an
already contracted vowel.
a w w
e w w
o w w
a ei a
e ei ei
o ei oi
a o w
e o ou
a h a
e ou ou
o ou ou
a ou w
e h h
o h oi
a e a
e e ei
o e ou
o o ou
1st Pers. Sing. Pres. Act.
2nd Pers. Sing. Pres. Act.
3rd Pers. Sing. Pres. Act.
1st Pers. Plur. Pres. Act.
2nd Pers. Plur. Pres. Act.
3rd Pers. Plur. Pres. Act.
1st Pers. Sing. Pres. Mid./Pass.
2nd Pers. Sing. Pres. Mid./Pass.
3rd Pers. Sing. Pres. Mid./Pass.
1st Pers. Plur. Pres. Mid./Pass.
2nd Pers. Plur. Pres. Mid./Pass.
3rd Pers. Plur. Pres. Mid./Pass.
tima w timw
poie/ w poiw
dhlo w dhlw
tima eij timaj
poie/ eij poieij
dhlo eij dhloij
tima ei tima
poie/ ei poiei
dhlo ei dhloi
tima omen timwmen
poie/ omen poioumen
dhlo omen dhloumen
tima ete timate
poie/ ete poieite
dhlo ete dhloute
tima ousi timwsi
poie/ ousi poiousi
dhlo ousi dhlousi
tima omai timwmai
poie/ omai poioumai
dhlo omai dhloumai
tima h tima
poie/ h poih
dhlo h dhloi
tima etai timatai
poie/ etai poieitai
dhlo etai dhloutai
tima omeqa timwmeqa
poie/ omeqa poiou/meqa
dhlo omeqa dhlou/meqa
tima esqe timasqe
poie/ esqe poieisqe
dhlo esqe dhlousqe
tima ontai timwntai
poie/ ontai poiountai
dhlo ontai dhlountai
14
Present Active of a)gapaw
Singular
Plural
Number Person
a)gapw
a)gapwmen
First
a)gapaj
a)gapate
Second
a)gapa
a)gapwsi
Third
15
Present Middle/Passive of timaw
Singular
Plural
Number Person
timwmai
timwmeqa
First
tima
timasqe
Second
timatai
timwntai
Third
16
Present Active of eu0loge/w
Singular
Plural
Number Person
eu0logw
eu0logoumen
First
eu0logeij
eu0logeite
Second
eu0logei
eu0logousi
Third
17
Present Middle/Passive of zhte/w
Singular
Plural
Number Person
zhtoumai
zhtou/meqa
First
zhth
zhteisqe
Second
zhteitai
zhtountai
Third
18
Present Active of staurow
Singular
Plural
Number Person
staurw
First
stauroumen
stauroij
stauroite
Second
stauroi
staurousi
Third
19
Present Middle/Passive of dhlow
Singular
Plural
Number Person
dhloumai
dhlou/meqa
First
dhloi
dhloisqe
Second
dhloutai
dhlountai
Third
20
Future and Aorist
The contract vowel lengthens before the endings
are added.
alpha becomes eta a/h
epsilon becomes eta e/h
omicron becomes omega o/w
21
a)gapaw
Future Active and Middle
a)gaph/sw
Aorist Active and Middle
h0gaphsa
Aorist and Future Passive
h0gaph/qhn
22
eu0xariste/w
Future Active and Middle
eu0xaristh/sw
Aorist Active and Middle
eu0xari/sthsa
Aorist and Future Passive
eu0xaristh/qhn
23
staurow
Future Active and Middle
staurwsw
Aorist Active and Middle
e0stau/rwsa
Aorist and Future Passive
e0staurwqhn