Download optative by a marker –ι- (or –ιη- in a few athematic forms and in A opt

optative by a marker –ι- (or –ιη- in a few athematic forms and in A du opt sg of contracted
verbs), imperative by absence of marker, infinitive by absence of marker and participle bij
a marker –ντ- for Active (declined with 1st-declension case endings >F & 3rd-decl. >M &
Ne) and –μεν(ος) (declined as normal adjectives of the 2nd-1st declensions) for
MediumPassive. [Properly speaking, infinitive and participle are not moods at all, but for
convenience sake are sometimes shoved into that category. The best characterization for
them would be “nominal forms of the verb”, as they have nominal functions - see
infinitive (p 60-61) and participle (p 62-63)].
A close study (recommended!) of the endings will reveal that some forms are identical.
Take, for example, (thematic) A pa-ind 1st sg and 3rd pl. Both end in –ον. The reader of a
text will have to decide for him- or herself which of the two is meant. Οther examples: in
the Ao II A opt 3rd sg, A inf and Md imp 2nd sg: all three end in –σαι. Act ptc > M+Νe pl G
(in –(ο)ντων) and A imp 3rd pl are the same, only, imp 3rd persons being rare, whereas G.
forms of ptc. are frequent, the decision is mostly simple: ptc.
Being confronted with a (putative) Greek verb form and with the necessity of eliciting a
meaning from it, one must reckon with the absence or presence (of one and one only), of
the following:
augm. rdpl.
stem phase marker
(them vowel)
mood marker
infinitive ending
participle marker
pers ending
case ending
Of augment, reduplication and stem enough has been said on the pages about them. On
phase markers all the necessary information is contained in the synopsis.
There are four moods and therefore four mood markers: zero for the indicative, ω/η for
the subjunctive, ι/ιη for the optative, and zero for the imperative; these have been
incorporated with the personal endings in the synopsis. The infinitive endings are easy to
find in the synopsis. Participle markers: -ντ- for Active and also Passive aorist [A ptc >F
originally had a -j- sound immediately following the -ντ-; the combination -ντ-jdeveloped into -σ- with lengthening of the preceding vowel], -ότ- for Active perfect
>M+Ne, -υι- for Active perfect >F; -μεν- with a 1st or 2nd declension case ending for MdP.
The personal endings and case endings need not be enumerated here: see the synopsis.
Of course some of these elements are mutually exclusive: only a past-indicative can ever
be augmented (except for certain perfect forms) etc.
Above, I used the term “putative” verb form: reading a Greek text one is not assisted as to
the kind of word one has met. There are numerous causes for getting mixed up: some of
the nominal endings are not distinguishable from verbal endings; even the indeclinable
words may sometimes look like verb forms. The more that is contained in your own
personal retrieval system (also called memory), the better off you are. What about a few
examples? Taking at random a text I find:
συνετίθετο. First try: look in your lexicon; no go, but there are so many words beginning
in συν- that this must be a special kind of word, which it is: a preposition frequently
composed with verbs. So we have a compound of συν- with a verb form –ετίθετο. The
ending is only compatible with a pa-ind (it can’t be an opt, as there is no –ι- before the
ending); if it is a pa-ind, then the form must contain an augment: the initial –ε-. Your next
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