Sample Presentation on Word Formation Abstract Feminine Nouns Ending - PDF document

Sample Presentation on Word Formation Abstract Feminine Nouns Ending in – sunh . A. Introduction and semantic value: According to Buck and Petersen, these noun formations are “best connected with the neuter abstracts in Skt. -tvana .” 1 The majority of these nouns are derived from words ending in -- wn , though some come from other stems as noted below. They are prominent in poetry, but Buck and Petersen suggest that prose avoids “such as were not derived from on -stems.” 2 Semantically, these are abstract nouns which derive from secondary stems, but “have a tendency to a dynamic meaning and so to approach the verbal abstracts in their uses, but without the verbal associations of the latter.” 3 Smyth notes that these abstract nouns express the quality of the nouns/adjectives from which they derive; hence, they are similar in meaning to our English words ending in -ness, -hood. 4 Palmer says that these nouns were productive in expressing personal qualities and enriched the moral/philosophical vocabulary of Ionic prose. 5 B. Morphological prolegomena 1. According to both Pietersma and Smyth, these nouns are properly the feminine no~ . 6 Chantraine 7 indicates that form of the adjective ending in the formative suffix - suv this adjective formation was not productive; however, its importance lies in having given rise to the noun formations with which we are dealing. The accent is paroxytone (acute on the penult). 2. Declension pattern: These feminine nouns follow the first declension. 1 Carl Buck and Walter Peterson, A Reverse Index of Greek Nouns and Adjectives . (Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1984), 289. 2 Ibid., 289. 3 Ibid. 4 H. W. Smyth, Greek Grammar , rev.G. M. Messing (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1920, 1956), 231. See §840.b. 5 L. R. Palmer, The Greek Language (Boston: Faber and Faber, 1980), 251. 6 Albert Pietersma, “Handout #12,” Handouts on the Greek Language [on-line]; accessed 12 October 2001; available from http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~pietersm/ index.htm; Internet. See also Smyth, Greek Grammar , 231, §840.b.3.(b). 7 P. Chantraine, La formation des noms en Grec ancien (Paris: E. Champion, 1933), 210.

sing. plural nom. aJ gi wsuv nh aJ gi wsuv nai gen. aJ gi wsuv nh~ aJ gi wsunw` n dat. aJ gi wsuv nh/ aJ gi wsuv nai ~ acc. aJ gi wsuv nhn aJ gi wsuv na~ C. Formation: The suffix - suv nh is always preceded by -o-. The following is a categorization of the various ways these nouns were formed. 1. From the stems of nouns or adjectives ending in - wn , - on . - wn becomes - o suv nh . aj cr hm -o-suv nh (want of money) < adj. aj cr hv m wn, -on (poor, needy) swf r -o-suv nh (soundness of mind, discretion, prudence) < adj. swv f r wn, - on (of sound mind, discreet, prudent) t ekt -o-suv nh (carpentry) < noun oJ t ev kt wn (carpenter, worker in wood) ej l ehm -o-suv nh (pity, mercy) < adj ej l ehv m wn,-on (pitiful, merciful) 2. From the stems of masculine nouns ending in – o~ . Drop - o~ and add – osuv nh . i J pp-o-suv nh (horsemanship) < oJ i { ppo~ (horse) doul -o-suv nh (slavery) < adj. doul ov suno~ (enslaved) > oJ dou` l o~ (slave) 3. From the stem of neuter nouns ending in - o~ . Drop - o~ and add - osuv nh . r bo~ (alarm, terror, awe, reverence) 8 t ar b-o-suv nh (fright) < t ov t av 4. From the stems of neuter nouns ending in - on . Drop - on and add - osuv nh . t ox-o-suv nh (bowmanship, archery) < t ov t ov xon (bow) 5. From the stems of masculine first declension nouns ending in - h~ . Drop - h~ and add -o suv nh . kl ept -o-suv nh (thievery) < oJ kl ev pt h~ (thief). 8 LSJ says that these two nouns are identical in meaning (1758).

6. From the stems of masculine adjectives ending in -uv ~ . Drop -uv v ~ and add - osuv nh. br i q-o-suv nh (heaviness) < br i quv ~, -ei ` a, -uv (heavy) 7. From the stem of feminine noun ending in - t i ~, -si ~ . Here, - i ~ > -osuv nh m ant -o-suv nh (art of divination) < oJ m av nt i ~ (prophet, presager) D. Interesting forms: 1. Instance of contraction where we see -w- instead of -o- preceding -suv nh . i J er -w-suv nh (Att., priesthood) < * i J er hüo-suv nh < i J er euv ~ (priest) And by analogy, according to Buck and Petersen (but BDF explains this as lengthening of -o- following short vowel 9 to avoid succession of short vowels): aJ gi wsuv nh (LXX, NT, holiness, sanctity) < a{ gi o~ (sacred, holy) aj gaqwsuv nh (NT, goodness) < aj gaqov ~ (good) 2. Built from the stem of the adj. m ev ga~ , which in the nom./acc. masc. and neut. has an altered stem and follows the third declension. It has the normal stem in the fem. and the other masc./neut. forms and follows the first and second declensions respectively (cf. Brooks and Winbery, §132). m egal -w-suv nh (greatness, majesty) < m ev ga~ (< root * m egal o , big, great) 9 F. W. Blass and A. Debrunner, A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature , ed. and trans. R. W. Funk, 9 th -10 th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1961), 60. Cf. Moulton-Howard §145, 358.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Blass, F. W., and A. Debrunner. A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 9 th -10 th ed. Edited and translated by R. W. Funk. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1961. Brooks, James A., and Carlton L. Winbery. A Morphology of New Testament Greek: A Review and Reference Grammar . Lanham: University Press of America, 1994. Buck, Carl D., and Walter Petersen. A Reverse Index of Greek Nouns and Adjectives . Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1984. Chantraine, P. La formation des noms en Grec ancien . Paris: E. Champion, 1933. Moulton, J. H., and W. F. Howard. A Grammar of New Testament Greek , vol. II. Accidence and Word-Formation. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1979. Palmer, L. R. The Greek Language . Boston: Faber and Faber, 1980. Pietersma, Albert. “Handout #12.” Handouts on the Greek Language [on-line]. Accessed 12 October 2001. Available from http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/ ~pietersm/index.htm; Internet. Robertson, A. T. A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research . 4th ed. Nashville: Broadman Press, 1934, 1971. Smyth, H. W. Greek Grammar . Revised by G. M. Messing. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1920, 1956. Wright, Joseph. Comparative Grammar of the Greek Language . London: Oxford University Press, 1912.