Let’so go straight to the third lesson of this Chapter.
In this lesson, we are talking about nouns, again!
Let’s check the overview table again. (At this point I need to remind you that there is a group missing from this table with some nouns that exist only in MG. We will learn these later in the course).
Today we are learning the male nouns of Group M1. You can see that they really do resemble a lot with the AG 1st Declension.
| Declension AG | Examples | Declension MG | Endings | Examples |
| 1st Decl. | ὁ ταμί-αςοἱ ταμί-αι | M1 | -ας-ες | ο ταμίαςοι ταμίες |
| ὁ μαθητ-ήςοἱ μαθητ-αί | | -ης-ες | ο μαθητήςοι μαθητές |
| 2nd Decl. | ὁ ἄνθρωπ-οςοἱ ἄνθρωπ-οι | M2 | -ος-οι | ο άνθρωποςοι άνθρωποι |
| 3rd Decl. | ὁ γραμματ-εύςοἱ γραμματ-εῖς | M3 | -έας-είς | ο γραμματέαςοι γραμματείς |
This Group has two possible endings, in -ας and in -ης.
Let’s start from the masculines in -ας. Let’s first see the declension in AG, since you already know it.
| Ancient Greek |
| Singular | Plural |
| Nominative | ὁ ταμίας | οἱ ταμίαι |
| Genitive | τοῦ ταμίου | τῶν ταμιῶν |
| Dative | τῷ ταμίᾳ | τοῖς ταμίαις |
| Accusative | τὸν ταμίαν | τοὺς ταμίας |
| Vocative | (ὦ) ταμία | (ὦ) ταμίαι |
Now let’s see the MG declension.
| Modern Greek |
| Singular | Plural |
| Nominative | ο ταμίας | οι ταμίες |
| Genitive | του ταμία | των ταμιών |
| Dative | | – |
| Accusative | τον ταμία | τους ταμίες |
| Vocative | ταμία | ταμίες |
Can you spot any similarities?
Now let’s check the masculines in -ης.
| Ancient Greek |
| Singular | Plural |
| Nominative | ὁ μαθητής | οἱ μαθηταί |
| Genitive | τοῦ μαθητοῦ | τῶν μαθητῶν |
| Dative | τῷ μαθητῇ | τοῖς μαθηταῖς |
| Accusative | τὸν μαθητήν | τοὺς μαθητάς |
| Vocative | (ὦ) μαθητά | (ὦ) μαθηταί |
| Modern Greek |
| Singular | Plural |
| Nominative | ο μαθητής | οι μαθητές |
| Genitive | του μαθητή | των μαθητών |
| Dative | | – |
| Accusative | τον μαθητή | τους μαθητές |
| Vocative | μαθητή | μαθητές |
Modern Greek is a bit simpler right?
We need to be a bit careful with the accent in Group M1.
The masculines of Group M1 are most of the times stressed in the last syllable in Genitive Plural.
ο τουρίστας → των τουριστών
ο στρατιώτης → των στρατιωτών
Many M1 masculines derive from the AG 3rd Declension.
Take a look at some examples.
e.g. ὁ πίναξ (Ονομαστική α.ε.) 🡪 τον πίνακα (Αιτιατική α.ε.) 🡪 ο πίνακας (Ονομαστική ν.ε.) (board)
ὁ κήρυξ 🡪 τόν κήρυκα 🡪 ο κήρυκας (messenger)
ὁ φοίνιξ 🡪 τόν φοίνικα 🡪 ο φοίνικας (phoenix)
ὁ ἔρως 🡪 τόν ἔρωτα 🡪 ο έρωτας (love)
ὁ φύλαξ 🡪 τόν φύλακα 🡪 ο φύλακας (guard)
ὁ χειμών 🡪 τόν χειμῶνα 🡪 ο χειμώνας (winter)
ὁ Ἕλλην 🡪 τόν Ἕλληνα 🡪 ο Έλληνας
ὁ ἡγεμών 🡪 τόν ἡγεμόνα 🡪 ο ηγεμόνας (ruler)
ὁ γείτων 🡪 τόν γείτονα 🡪 ο γείτονας (neighbour)
ὁ ῥήτωρ 🡪 τόν ῥήτορα 🡪 ο ρήτορας (orator)
ὁ πατήρ 🡪 τόν πατέρα 🡪 ο πατέρας (father)
ὁ ἀνήρ 🡪 τόν άνδρα 🡪 ο άνδρας (man)
The same happens with the masculines ὁ ἥρως (hero) και ὁ Τρώς (Troad).
They become ο ήρωας – οι ήρωες, ο Τρώας – οι Τρώες.
These nouns that derive from the 3rd Declension, they drop the accent by one syllable in the Genitive Plural, e.g. οι πίνακες → των πινάκων, not των πινακών.
This rule does not apply for: