Grammatical terms and information from BBG
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| gamma nasal | when γ is followed by a velar or ξ - pronounced like a "n" | |
| rough breathing | ῾ - placed over the first vowel and adds an "h" sound. Every word that begins with a rho or upsilon takes a rough breathing | |
| smooth breathing | ᾽ - placed over the first vowel and is not pronounced. | |
| improper diphthong | made up of a vowel and an iota subscript (normally under the last letter in a word), which is not pronounced. | |
| diphthong | two vowels pronounced as a single sound. The second vowel is always an iota or upsilon. | |
| diaeresis | ¨ - a diacritical mark placed over the second vowel when two vowels that normally form a diphthong are to be pronounced separately. | |
| elision | a phenomenon where the final vowel of a word ending w/ a vowel drops out because it is followed by a word that begins w/ a vowel. | |
| acute | ´ - an accent that occurs on any of the last three syllables and marks an higher pitch | |
| grave | ` - an accent that replaces the acute when the acute occurs on the final syllable of a word that is not followed by a punctuation mark. It marks a lower pitch. | |
| circumflex | ˆ - an accent that occurs on one of the last two syllables over a long vowel and marks a fluctuating pitch. | |
| declension | a pattern of inflection | |
| case ending | the suffix added to the end of a word to indicate the case of a word | |
| stem | the part of a word that remains after you take the case ending off a noun | |
| first declension | the inflectional pattern of nouns that have a stem ending in an alpha or eta (primarily feminine) | |
| second declension | the inflectional pattern of nouns that have a stem ending in an omicron (mostly masculine or neuter) | |
| third declension | the inflectional pattern of words that end in a consonant | |
| indeclinable words | words such as personal names and foreign loan-words that cannot be declined and therefore never change | |
| nominative case | indicates the subject of the sentence | |
| accusative case | indicates the direct object of the verb | |
| lexical form | the form of a word found in the lexicon (the nominative singular) | |
| postpositive | a word that cannot be the first word in a Greek sentence or clause, even though in your translation it is the first word (e.g. δὲ) | |
| adverbial accusative | the accusative case modifying a verb as an adverb | |
| genitive of possession | indicates possession by the head noun | |
| head noun | the word that is modified by a genitive | |
| indirect object | someone or something that is affected by the action of a transitive verb (typically as a recipient), but is not the primary object | |
| ablaut | when vowels change their length by either shortening or lengthening | |
| proclitic | a word that loses its accent to the following word | |
| enclitic | a word that loses its accent to the preceding word | |
| alternate first declension pattern (alpha-eta shift) | inflectional pattern wherein first declension words with a stem ending in alpha form the genitive and dative with an eta instead. This happens in all cases, except when the preceding letter is ε, ι, or ρ | |
| genitive of description | word in the genitive describes the head noun | |
| genitive of apposition | word in the genitive is equal in meaning to the head noun | |
| genitive of separation | word in the genitive indicates something that is separate from the head nun or verb ("from...") | |
| subjective genitive | word that functions as the subject of the verbal idea implicit in e head noun ("produced by") | |
| objective genitive | word that functions as the direct object of the verbal idea implicit in the head noun ("received by") | |
| plenary genitive | word that functions as a combination of the subjective and objective genitives | |
| genitive of relationship | indicates a familial relationship between a word and its head noun | |
| dative case proper | indicates the indirect object ("to"), including the object of interest (advantage/disadvantage; "for") or the object of reference/respect ("with respect to") | |
| partitive genitive | indicates that a word is a part of a larger unit (the head noun) | |
| locative dative | indicates location "in" sphere, time, or "with" association | |
| instrumental dative | indicates the manner or means "by" which something is done | |
| predicate nominative | when the verb "to be" is used to predicate (tell you) something about the subject rather than receiving the action of the verb, so that it is in the subjective, rather than objective, case | |
| personal ending | suffix added to the stem of a verb to indicate person and number | |
| movable ν (nu) | a nu occurring at the end of a word that ends with a vowel when the following word begins a vowel (to avoid pronouncing successive vowels) | |
| attributive adjective | an adj that attributes a quality to the word it is modifying; agrees w/ head term in case, # & gender; the article precedes the adj | |
| substantival adjective | an adj that functions as if it were a noun; its case is determined by its function; the article precedes the adj and there is noun to modify | |
| predicate adjective | an adj that asserts something about the subject w/ the stated or implied use of "to be"; the adj is anarthrous but the noun is articular | |
| anarthrous | when the article is omitted | |
| articular | when the article is included | |
| neuter plural nouns | usu take a singular verb to indicate that it is a collective whole | |
| allomorphs | alternative forms of the same word | |
| stop | a consonant whose sound is formed by slowing down or completely stopping the flow of air through the mouth | |
| labial | π, β, φ are formed by using the lips to impede the air flow momentarily | |
| velar | κ, γ, χ are formed by pushing up the middle of the tongue against the soft part of the roof of the mouth | |
| dental | τ, δ, θ are formed by clicking the tongue against the back of the teeth | |
| emphatic form of personal pronouns | accented forms of personal pronouns in oblique (ie. not nominative) cases | |
| crasis | when a word is formed by combining two words | |
| attraction | a phenomenon where the relative pronoun that would normally be accusative takes the same case as its antecedent (usu. genitive or dative) when it is in immediate proximity to the antecedent | |
| tense | the form of the verb | |
| completed aspect | views an event as a completed whole | |
| punctiliar aspect | describes an action as occurring in a single point in time | |
| continuous aspect | describes an action as an ongoing process | |
| voice | refers to the active, middle, or passive relationship between the subject and the verb | |
| mood | refers to the relationship between the verb and reality | |
| indicative mood | describes something that *is* (statements or questions) | |
| undefined aspect | describes an action as a simple event without commenting on whether it's a process or not | |
| time | describes the "when" of the verb | |
| punctiliar present | present tense that describes immediate, instantaneous action | |
| progressive present | present tense that describes ongoing action, even though in real time the action does not last very long | |
| iterative present | present tense that denotes repeated action | |
| habitual present | present tense that denotes actions occurring regularly but not necessarily at the same time | |
| gnomic present | present tense that expresses a timeless fact (e.g. God *loves* a cheerful giver) | |
| historical present | present tense that dramatizes an action that occurs in the past | |
| futuristic present | present tense that describes a future event | |
| digamma | 'F' a letter in the Greek alphabet that dropped out of use before the Koine period. It was mostly replaced by the upsilon. Its presence in verbal roots explains the absence of regular contractions or compensatory lengthening | |
| verbal root | the most basic form of a verb | |
| tense stem | the basic form of a verb in a certain tense without the augment or tense formative | |
| liquid | consonants in whose pronunciation air flows around the tongue (λ, ρ) or the sound goes through the noise (μ, ν) | |
| liquid futures | the future tense formative of verbs ending in liquids is εσ rather than a simple σ | |
| ιζω/αζω verbs | present tense stems of verbs that end in ιζω/αζω are generally formed from roots that actually end in a dental | |
| ασσω verbs | present tense stems of verbs that end in ασσω are generally formed from roots that actually end in a velar | |
| double consonant verbs | present tense stems that end in a double consonant are often from roots with a single consonant | |
| iota added verbs | some verbal roots add an iota to form the present tense stem | |
| (ι)σκ added verbs | some verbal roots add (ι)σκ to form the present tense stem | |
| compound verb | verb made up of a preposition and a verb. The compound verb always follows the tense forms of the simple verb. | |
| augment | a prefix to the verb indicating past time. If the stem begins w/ a consonant, the augment is an epsilon. If the stem begins w/ a single vowel, the vowel lengthens. If the stem begins w/ a diphthong, either the first vowel lengthens or the diphthong is not changed. | |
| primary tenses | tenses that do not use the augment | |
| secondary tenses | tenses that do use the augment | |
| telic aorist | (or cumulative aorist) "the ball *hit* him" | |
| constative aorist | (or durative aorist) "the ball *flew*" | |
| inceptive aorist | (or ingressive aorist) "he *let fly* the ball" | |
| imperfect tense | describes a continuous action that usu. occurs in the past | |
| aorist tense | describes undefined action that usu. occurs in the past | |
| gnomic aorist | expresses timeless truth w/o reference to time, usu. tr. as present | |
| proleptic aorist | describes an action that will take place in the future and stresses the certainty that it will occur | |
| indirect middle | the middle voice in which the subject does the action of the verb to the direct object, but the participation of the subject is emphasized (self-interest) | |
| reflexive (direct) middle | the middle voice in which the subject does the action of the verb and also receives the action | |
| deponent middle | the middle voice that has the same meaning as the active | |
| extensive (consummative) perfect | perfect tense that emphasizes the fact that the action was completed | |
| intensive perfect | the perfect tense that emphasizes the resulting state of the action and is generally tr. w/ the English present | |
| present participle | participle that describes a continuous action and is formed from the present stem of a verb | |
| aorist participle | participle that describes an action w/o commenting on the nature of the action (undefined) and is formed from the aorist stem of a verb | |
| perfect participle | participle that describes a completed action w/ present effects and is formed from the perfect stem of a verb | |
| participle of time | participle that describes an action occurring before (after), or at the same time as (while), the action of the main verb. | |
| participle of manner | participle that indicates the manner in which the action of the finite verb occurs | |
| participle of means | participle that indicates the means by which the action of the finite verb occurs | |
| participle of cause | participle that indicates the cause or reason or ground of the action of the finite verb | |
| participle of condition | participle that indicates a condition that must be fulfilled if the action of the finite verb is is to be accomplished | |
| participle of concession | participle that indicates that the action of the finite verb is true despite the action of the participle | |
| participle of purpose | participle that indicates the purpose of the finite verb (oft. tr. as an infinitive) | |
| participle of result | participle that indicates the result of the finite verb | |
| participle of concession | participle that indicates that the action of the finite verb is true despite the action of the participle | |
| participle of purpose | participle that indicates the purpose of the finite verb (oft. tr. as an infinitive) | |
| participle of result | participle that indicates the result of the finite verb | |
| participle of time | participle that describes an action occurring before (after), or at the same time as (while), the action of the main verb. | |
| participle of manner | participle that indicates the manner in which the action of the finite verb occurs | |
| participle of means | participle that indicates the means by which the action of the finite verb occurs | |
| participle of cause | participle that indicates the cause or reason or ground of the action of the finite verb | |
| participle of condition | participle that indicates a condition that must be fulfilled if the action of the finite verb is is to be accomplished | |
| participle of concession | participle that indicates that the action of the finite verb is true despite the action of the participle | |
| participle of purpose | participle that indicates the purpose of the finite verb (oft. tr. as an infinitive) | |
| participle of result | participle that indicates the result of the finite verb | |
| adverbial participle | participle that agrees with a noun or pronoun in the sentence, but whose action is directed toward the verb. It often uses the key words "while" (present), or "after" (aorist); always anarthrous | |
| adjectival participle | participle that modifies a noun or pronoun, or functions like a noun; usually articular | |
| genitive absolute | a participial construction in which a participle and noun/pronoun in the genitive are not grammatically connected to any word in the rest of the sentence; the participle is always anarthrous | |
| periphrastic construction | a syntactical construction which consists of a form of εἰμί and a participle, and is used in place of a finite verbal form | |
| subjunctive mood | expresses probability, possibility, exhortation, or an axiomatic concept | |
| protasis | the "if" clause of a conditional statement | |
| apodosis | the "then" clause of a conditional statement | |
| future more probable | a (3rd class) future conditional statement that says if something might happen, then something specific in the future will definitely happen (ἐἀν + subjunctive, negated by μή) | |
| present general | a (3rd class) conditional statement that says if something might happen, then some general axiom happens (present tense) (ἐἀν + subjunctive, negated by μή) | |
| hortatory subjunctive | first person subjunctive used as an exhortation, "Let's" | |
| deliberative subjunctive | indicates that the answer to the question posed is uncertain | |
| aspiration | when followed by a θ, "π, β" become φ, "κ,γ" become χ, and "τ,δ,θ" become σ | |
| reduplication | characteristic of the perfect. If the verb begins w/ a single consonant, that consonant is reduplicated and separated by an epsilon. If the verb begins with a vowel, diphthong, or two consonants, the vowel is lengthened (some diphthongs don't lengthen). | |
| infinitive | indeclinable verbal noun (neuter singular); sometimes a word in the accusative acts as the "subject" of the infinitive (ἔξεστιν & παραγγέλλω take the dative) | |
| articular infinitive | when the infinitive, usually preceded by the definite article, functions as a substantive | |
| complementary infinitive | an infinitive that completes the meaning of a finite verb whose meaning is incomplete | |
| present imperative | command with continuous aspect | |
| aorist imperative | command with undefined aspect | |
| athematic conjugation | conjugation that does not use a thematic vowel (μι conjugation) | |
| kappa aorists | aorists that use κα as their tense formative (most of the μι verbs) | |
| condition of fact | a (1st class) conditional statement that says if something is true (and assuming that this is so), such and such will occur (εἰ + indicative; negated by οὐ) | |
| contrary to fact | a (2nd class) conditional statement that says if something is true--even though it is not--then such and such would occur (εἰ + indicative past tense; negated by μή) | |
| optative mood | indicates "wish" | |
| fourth class condition | protais: εἰ + optative; apodosis: ἄν + optative | |
| anaphoric article | refers back to the previous reference | |
| deictic article | points out someone/thing present and is often best translated as a demonstrative | |
| article par excellence | identifies a substantive as "in a class by itself" | |
| monadic article | identifies a substantive as unique, one-of-a-kind | |
| transitive verb | verb that carries the force of its action over to an object (i.e. it requires a direct object) | |
| intransitive verb | verb that does not carry its action over to an object (i.e. there is no direct object) |
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