26 



THE POPULAR EDUCATOR. 



LESSONS IN GREEK XXIII. 



THE VEEB GENERAL EXPLANATIONS THE SUBSTANTIVE 

 VEEB fi(j.i } I AM. 



IF we examine the proposition 6 <TTpaTi<ar-^s etrnv ayaBos, tlie 

 soldier is good, we shall see that it consists of three parts : 

 6 ffTpaTicaTrjs, the soldier, is what is termed the subject of the 

 proposition ; that is, it is that of which something is asserted or 

 declared. AyaBos, good, is the attribute, or that quality which 

 is asserted of the subject soldier. The word etrnv, is, which 

 connects the subject and attribute together (hence called the 

 copula), is the verb, so named because it is the principal word in 

 the proposition without a verb there could be no proposition : 

 its essential function is to affirm or declare something of the 

 subject; thus, here it affirms of 'Jie soldier that he is good. The 

 term predicate is applied by some grammarians to the attribute 

 alone, by others to the copula and attribute together, thus : 



Subject. Copula. Predicate. 



6 <TTpaTi(t>Ti)s fffnv ayaBos. 



Subject. 



Predicate. 



Verb. Attribute. 



6 ffrpartwrtjs KTTIV ayaBos. 



Very often the verb forms by itself the predicate of a pro- 

 position, and contains both the copula and the attribute ; that 

 is, the verb by itself makes the affirmation : thus \vca, I loose, 

 where loosing is predicated or affirmed of the subject I. Here 

 the subject is a pronoun, and as the personal pronoun is not 

 used in Greek, except for emphasis, since the person intended 

 is marked by the termination of the verb, the subject may be 

 involved in and expressed by the word itself, as \vu, I loose. 

 Accordingly, in Greek as in Latin, a verb may contain in itself 

 the subject, the copula, and the predicate ; in other words, it 

 may comprise both predicate and subject. 



VOICES. 



1. \vw, I loose, Active. 



2. At/Oytuu, I am loosed, Passive. 



3. \vofj.ai, I loose myself. Middle. 



Here we have a verb in three forms ; the first form is called 

 the active voice, the second form is called the passive voice, the 

 third form is called the middle voice. In the active voice, the 

 subject acts ; in the passive voice, the subject is acted 

 upon ; in the middle voice, the action comes back upon the 

 subject, that is, the subject is both acting and acted upon. It 

 is called middle because it stands in sense midway between 

 active and passive, partaking of the signification of both. 

 These varieties, it will be noticed, are varieties in both form 

 and meaning. Thus Auw, the active, differs in form from \vofj.ai, 

 the middle. It differs also in signification ; for while \vta sig- 

 nifies' I loose, Xvoftat signifies I loose myself. 



Verbs in the active voice are either transitive or intransitive : 

 they are called transitive when the action passes on to and acts 

 upon something which is called the object, as \vu TOV avQptairov, 

 I loose the man, where the object avBpanrov is acted upon by the 

 subject of \vw. In an intransitive verb the action does not pass 

 on to an object, as 6a\\u, I bloom. It is obvious that an in- 

 transitive verb can have no passive voice. Some intransitive 

 verbs, however, aca found with a middle voice, inasmuch as the 

 middle does not always denote an action done to oneself (like 

 rwirTo/j.ai, I strike myself), but also an action done for oneself, 

 as irapa(TKevaof*.ai Senrvov, I prepare a meal for myself; and it 

 is in this latter sense that some intransitive verbs may have a 

 middle voice e.g., verbs in -euco, as &ov\fvo, I am a counsellor; 

 8ov\tvo/j.at, I am a counsellor for myself, I deliberate. 



In relation to numbers 2 and 3, as given above, it may be 

 noticed that the English I loose myself and I am loosed are 

 very nearly related in meaning. If I loose myself, clearly I am 

 loosed. The chief difference between the two is, that in the 

 former the action is restricted to one person, namely, the sub- 

 ject ; while, in the latter, it extends to a second person the 

 person, that is, by whom the subject is wrought upon. The 

 difference, in consequence, is rather in the person than the act. 

 Accordingly, the form remains the same, being in both cases 

 \vo/.iai. In other words, \vofj.ai may have a reflex (or middle) 

 import, as I loose myself, or a passive import, as I am loosed. 

 Strictly speaking, there is but one form in the present tense. 

 Grammarians differ as to the name which they give to that 



form, some calling it middle, others a passive voice. Very few, 

 if any verbs, are known to possess all the tenses of the three 

 voices, as they might be formed analogically. What forms 

 really exist will appear as we proceed. 



TENSES. 



The tense is that modification of the verb which indicates the 

 time of the action, whether, past, present, or future. 



The tenses are divided into two classes, principal and historic. 



i. Principal Tenses. 



1. Present, \voa, I loose. 



2. Future, \vffo>, I shall loose. 



3. Perfect, \t\uKa, I have loosed. 



ii. Historic Tenses. 



1. Imperfect, t\vov, I was loosing, I loosed. 



2. Aorist, e\vcra, I loosed. 



3. Pluperfect, eA.eA.uKeu>, I had loosed. 



Each of the historic tenses is formed from its corresponding 

 principal, thus : 



AeAi/a. 

 \e\vKtiv. 



The exact manner of their formation will be explained by and 

 by. At present observe that an action may be considered as now 

 proceeding, hence the present tense ; as proceeding in past time, 

 hence the imperfect tense ; as proceeding in time to come, 

 hence the future tense ; as actually done in past time, hence 

 the aorist tense ; as having proceeded in past time, hence the 

 perfect tense ; and as having proceeded previously to some 

 other past act, hence the pluperfect tense. Accordingly the 

 present tense properly signifies, as in Ato>, I am loosening ; and 

 the passive, \vo/j.at, I am being loosened. Mark, also, that the 

 imperfect denotes both an act going on in the past, and a 

 continual and repeated act. The aorist, as the word signifies; 

 denotes an action as simply past, without any exact limitation 

 and so is called the indefinite (such is the meaning of the term) 

 tense, or the tense of historical narrative. The perfect denotes 

 a past act which, in itself or in its consequences, comes down to 

 or near the present time. The pluperfect denotes an act done 

 and past, when another past act was proceeding, or was com- 

 pleted. There are some double form of tenses, as : 



Perfect active, 1st. rervcpa, ~ 



rervira, 



T n es > > <o>, 



' (_ Historical, e\vov, ' e\v<ra, 



2nd. 



Pluperfect active, 1st. 

 2nd. 



I have struck. 



Aorist active, 

 Aorist middle, 

 Aorist passive, 

 Future passive, 



1st. 

 2nd. 

 1st. 

 2nd. 

 1st. 

 2nd. 

 1st. 

 2nd. 



eTVTTOf, 



rvTrr)ffOfj.ai, 



I had struck. 

 I struck. 

 I struck myself. 

 I was struck. 

 I shall be struck. 



A third future, or perfect passive future, is also found, as : 

 Third future passive, rerv^/ofj-at, I shall have been struck. 



Only few verbs have both the first and second forms . most 

 verbs form their tenses according to either the first or the 

 second forms. Pure verbs, or verbs having a vowel before the 

 final o, have only the first forms, and the student must not fall 

 into the error of supposing that all these forms of TVTTTW are in 

 actual use ; they are simply the forms the tenses would assume 

 according to the ordinary rules. The second perfect is some- 

 times erroneously called a perfect middle. 



MOODS. 



Mood is a grammatical term employed to point out the 

 manner of an action. If I describe an act as simply taking 

 place, I use 



(1.) TJie Indicative, as Xvia, I loose, 



so called because it merely indicates or declares the act ; this 

 is the mood of independence and reality. 



If I describe an act as dependent on some other act, aa 

 dependent on a conjunction or a verb, I employ 



(2.) The Subjunctive, as Avw, 1 may loosen, 

 This is the mood of dependence, or of conception? so called 

 because it implies dependence on another act expressed or 



