AND BYZANTINE GREEK. 37 



(k) Its perfect participle passive has no augment whatever ; as uyaTrr}H£vo<;, jpafifievo';, 



aKOvpiacTfievo'i, Kajxaiixevo'i. 



(1) With the exception of el/xat (the middle of elfii), to he, it has no verbs in /xt. 



3. Meaning. As a general rule, the modern meanings do not belong to the ancient 

 language, although they are for the most part regularly developed from it. Thus, 

 the modem ■>] dyeXaSa, cow, presupposes rj dyeXd'i, belonging to a herd, formed from dyeXr], 

 herd, after the analogy of (pop/Sd? from ^op^ri. 



It may be observed here, that the ancient diminutives have, in modern Greek, taken 

 the- place of their primitives. Thus, the ancient ttmBIov, little child, has become -n-aiScv 

 or iraiBl, child, hoi/, which in ancient Greek is Trat?. 



4. Syntax. In general, the modern language, in its syntax, is analytic, not synthetic; 

 of course, essentially different from the ancient. T^hus, the relations, which in ancient 

 Greek are denoted by the genitive and dative, are, in modern Greek, generally ex- 

 pressed by the accusative with prepositions. Further, all the modern prepositions take 

 the accusative ; as ^Avo tw tottov /xa<!, From our place or country. 



5. Phraseology. In this also the modern language is widely different from the 

 ancient. 



6. Accent. In general, the modern accent coincides with the ancient ; as dv6pw7ro<;, 

 d^i.o<i, ttotL But it must be observed here that, as quantity is not recognized in modern 

 Greek, a proparoxytone may end in a syllable which in ancient Greek would be 

 regarded as long ; as 6 MTroTcrap?;?, tov MTroTo-apr] : ■>) rja-vxv^ V a^ia.} toO a^iov. 



Further, in modern Greek, the circumflex is not distinguished from the acute ; as 



TO TTpdyixd fiov, pronoUUCed Toirpajixafiov, 



7. Rhythm. The modern rhythm depends not on quantity, as in ancient Greek, but 

 on accent, as m English, and other modern languages. When therefore ancient Greek 

 poetry is read after the modern method, it does not differ from prose, except when the 

 word-accent comes at regular intervals, w^hich is not often the case. The ancient 

 rhythm, then, may be said to be entirely lost. 



8. History. The reader of the preceding pages must have observed that, although 

 the Greek language passed through a number of stages, it never lost its consciousness ; 

 that is, it was never disintegrated. Which being admitted, modern Greek may be 

 regarded as a continuation of ancient Greek. 



9. Orthography. In this respect, modern Greek may be said to be identical with 

 ancient Greek. And we must add that this identity is the source to which many of 

 the erroneous views relative to the modern language are to be traced. 



