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SECOND DECLENSION (STEMS IN ο)

228. O stems in the nominative add -ς to the stem in masculines and feminines; -ν in neuters. The feminines, of which there are few, are declined like the masculines. In the neuters, nominative, vocative, and accusative singular have the same form (in -ο-ν); in the plural these cases end in -α.

a. Final -οι is treated as short (169).

b. The dat. sing. in -ῳ represents the union of the stem vowel -ο and ει or αι, the original case ending in the I. E. languages.  Forms in -οι, as οἴκοι at home, may be locatives (-ο ̈ ι, the locative ending). – The stem vowel ο varies with ε, which appears in the vocative sing., and in πανδημεί (locative) in full force. –  N. A. V. dual -ω is for I. E. ōu. – The genitive pl. -ων is due to the union of -ο ̈ ων, which contracted to -ων in the earliest period of the language. – The neuter plural is probably the relic of a feminine collective ending in -ᾱ, which was shortened to -ᾰ.

230. The dialects show various forms.

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Masculine:  λόγος word, δῆμος people, δοῦλος slave, κίνδῡνος danger, πόλεμος war; ἀγρός field, ποταμός river, ἀριθμός number. Feminine:  νῆσος island, ἤπειρος mainland; ὁ(ἡ) τροφός nurse.  Neuter:  ἔργον work, πτερόν wing, δεῖπνον dinner.

232. Feminines. – a. See 197 for νυός daughter-in-law; see 199 for νῆσος island (cp. 200 c), Δῆλος (the island of) Delos, Κόρινθος Corinth, φηγός (acornbearing) oak, ἄμπελος vine.

b. Some are properly adjectives used substantively:  διάλεκτος (scil. γλῶττα speech) dialect, διάμετρος (scil. γραμμή line) diameter, αὔλειος (scil. θύρᾱ door) house-door, σύγκλητος (scil. βουλή council) legislative body, ἔρημος and ἤπειρος (scil. χώρᾱ country) desert and mainland.

c. Words for way:  ὁδός and κέλευθος way; and ἁμαξιτός carriage-road, ἀτραπός foot-path, which may be adjectival (b) with ὁδός omitted.

d. Various other words: βάσανος touch-stone, βίβλος book, γέρανος crane, γνάθος jaw, γύψος chalk, δέλτος writing-tablet, δοκός beam, δρόσος dew, κάμῑνος oven, κάρδοπος kneading-trough, κῑβωτός chest, κόπρος dung, ληνός wine-press, λίθος stone (200 c), νόσος disease, πλίνθος brick, ῥάβδος rod, σορός coffin, σποδός ashes, τάφρος trench, χηλός coffer, ψάμμος sand, ψῆφος pebble.

233. Vocative. – The nominative θεός is used instead of the vocative.  ἀδελφός brother retracts the accent (ἄδελφε).

234. Dative Plural. – The ending -οισι(ν) often appears in poetry, rarely in Attic prose (Plato).

a. In Old Attic inscriptions -οις displaces -οισι(ν) about 444 b.c..

CONTRACTED SUBSTANTIVES

235. Stems in εο and οο are contracted according to 50, 51. εα in the neuter becomes ᾱ (56).

ὁ πλοῦς (πλόος) voyage, ὁ ῥοῦς (π̔όος) stream, τὸ κανοῦν (κάνεον) basket.

236. Accent. – a. The nominative dual is irregularly oxytone: νώ, ὀστώ, not νῶ, ὀστῶ according to 171, N. 2.

b. κανοῦν (κάνεον) basket receives its accent (not κάνουν) from that of the genitive and dative κανοῦ, κανῷ. Cp. 290 c.

c. Compounds retain the accent on the syllable that has it in the nominative singular: ἔκπλους from ἔκπλοος; ἔκπλου (not ἐκπλοῦ) from ἐκπλόου; ἔκπλων (not ἐκπλῶν) from ἐκπλόων.

ATTIC DECLENSION

237. Some substantives ending in -εως are placed under the Second Declension because they are derived from earlier ο stems preceded by a long vowel (-εως from -ηος, 34). A few others have a consonant before -ως. The vocative has no special form.

N.– This declension is called “Attic” because the words in question generally show -ως in Attic and -ος in the Koinè dialect (p. 3, F).

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a. So ὁ λεώς people, ὁ Μενέλεως Menelaus, ὁ λαγώς hare. Observe that ω is found in every form, and that it takes ι subscript in the dative of all numbers where an ordinary ο stem has ι.

b. There are no neuter substantives belonging to the Attic declension in standard classical literature; but neuter adjectives (289) end in -ων.

c. νεώς and most words of this declension owe their forms to transfer of quantity (34) or to shortening (39). Thus, νεώς is from νηός ( = Doric νᾱός), νεών from νηόν; νεῴ is from νηῷ. λαγώς is contracted from λαγωός.

d. In the accusative singular some words end in -ω or -ων, as λαγώ or λαγών hare. So ὁ Ἄθως, ἡ Κέως, ἡ Τέως, ἡ Κῶς, ὁ Μί̄νως. ἡ ἕως dawn always has ἕω.

239.  Accent. – a. The accent of the nominative is kept in all cases. Μενέ0εως (163 a) retains the accent of the earlier Μενέλᾱος.

b. The genitive and dative are oxytone when the final syllable is accented.

N. – The accentuation of the words of this declension is doubtful. Some of the ancients accented λαγώς, λαγών, others λαγῶς, λαγῶν, etc.

THIRD DECLENSION

240. This declension includes stems ending in a consonant, in ι, υ, or a diphthong, and some in ω and ο, representing ωϜ and οι.

N. – To determine whether a noun belongs to the third declension it is necessary in most cases to know the stem, which is usually found by dropping -ος of the genitive singular. Stems in ι and υ are classed under the consonant declension because neither of these vowels admits contraction with the case endings beginning with a vowel, herein being like a consonant.