H. W. Smyth

Greek Grammar (First Edition)

Part 2, §§341-346


Previous Page Contents Next Page

99


adverbs


341. Origin. – Adverbs, like prepositions and conjunctions, were originally case forms, made from the stems of nouns and pronouns. Some of these nominal and pronominal stems have gone out of common use, so that only petrified forms are left in the adverbs. Some of these words were still felt to be live cases; in others no consciousness of their origin survived. Many adverbs show old suffixes joined to the stem or to a case form (342). It is sometimes uncertain whether we should speak of adverbs or of nouns with local endings.

Nominative (rare):  πύξ with clenched fist, ἅπαξ once, ἀναμίξ pell-mell.

Genitive: ἕνης day after to-morrow, ἑξῆς next, ποῦ, οὗ where, αὐτοῦ in the very place, ἐκποδών out of the way (ἐκ + ποδῶν); by analogy, ἐμποδών in one's way.

Dative: δημοσίᾳ at public cost, λάθρᾳ in secret, κοινῇ in common, etc. (1527 b), ἄλλῃ otherwise, πῇ how.

Accusative: very common, especially such adverbs as have the form of the accusative of neuter adjectives, as πολύ much, μῑκρόν a little, πρῶτον at first, τήμερον to-day, πολλά often.  See 1606-1611.

Locative:  οἴκο-ι at home (οἶκο-ς house), Ἰσθμο-ῖ at the Isthmus, ποῖ whither, and all adverbs in -οι.  The of the consonantal declension is properly the ending of the locative, as in Μαραθῶν-ι at Marathon; -οισι (234) in O stems, in contrast to -οις; -ᾱσι (-ησι) in Ā stems (215):  θύρᾱσι at the doors, Πλαταιᾶσι at Plataea, Ἀθήνησι at Athens; further in πάλαι long ago, ἐκεῖ there, πανδημεί in full force.

Instrumental: ἄνω above, κάτω below, οὔπω not yet, ὧ-δε thus (but the forms in may be ablatives); κρυφῆ and λάθρᾱ in secret.

Ablative: all adverbs in -ως, as ὡς as, οὕτως thus, ἑτέρως otherwise. Here, e.g. original ἑτερωδ (cp. Old Lat. altoŻd, abl. of altus) became ἑτερω (133), which took on from the analogy of such words as ἀμφίς parallel to ἀμφί.

342. Place. – To denote place the common endings are: –

-ι, -θι, -σι at, in to denote place where (locative).  -ου, the sign of the genitive, is also common.

-θεν from to denote the place whence (ablative).

-δε (-ζε), -σε to, toward to denote place whither.

In the following examples poetical words are bracketed.

οἴκο-ι (οἴκο-θι) at home

οἴκο-θεν from home

οἴκαδε (οἶκόνδε) homeward
(οἰκα- is an old accusative form.)

ἄλλο-θι elsewhere
or ἀλλ-αχ-οῦ

ἄλλο-θεν from elsewhere
ἀλλ-αχ-ό-θεν

ἄλλο-σε elsewhither
ἀλλ-αχ-ό-σε


100

ἀμφοτέρω-θι on both
sides

ἀμφοτέρω-θεν from both
sides

(ἀμφοτέρω-σε to both sides)

παντ-αχ-οῖ in every
direction

παντ-αχ-ό-θεν from every
side
πάντ-ο-θεν (rare)

παντ-αχ-ό-σε in all
directions
πάντ-ο-σε

αὐτοῦ in the very place

αὐτό-θεν from the very
place

αὐτό-σε to the very place

ὁμοῦ at the same place

ὁμό-θεν from the same
place

ὁμό-σε to the same place

Ἀθήνη-σι at Athens

Ἀθήνη-θεν from Athens

Ἀθήναζε to Athens

Ὀλυμπίᾱ-σι at Olympia

Ὀλυμπίᾱ-θεν from Olympia

Ὀλυμπίαζε to Olympia

a. In -αζε, -δε is added to the accusative (1589), and stands for -α(ν)ς, the old acc. pl., + -δε (Eng. to). Cp. 26, 106.  The other endings are added to the stem. -σε is usually added only to pronominal stems. -σι forms a locative plural. ο sometimes takes the place of of the first declension (ῥίζοθεν from the root, stem ῥιζᾱ-), or is added to consonant stems. Words in -τερο- lengthen ο to ω.  Between stem and ending αχ is often inserted.

b. -θεν may take the form -θε in poetry, and especially when the idea of whence is lost, as πρόσθε in front (134 D.). -θα is found in ἔνθα in all dialects. -θα for -θεν occurs in Aeolic and Doric.

c. Some local adverbs are made from prepositions, as ἄνω above, ἔξω outside, ἔσω within, κάτω below, πρόσθεν in front.

343. Manner. – Adverbs of manner ending in -ως have the accent and form of the genitive plural masculine with in place of -ν.

δίκαιος just genitive plural δικαίων δικαίως justly
κακός bad

"           "

κακῶν κακῶς ill
ἁπλοῦς simple

"           "

ἁπλῶν ἁπλῶς simply
σαφής plain

"           "

σαφῶν σαφῶς plainly
ἡδύς pleasant

"           "

ἡδέων ἡδέως pleasantly
σώφρων prudent

"           "

σωφρόνων σωφρόνως prudently
ἄλλος other

"           "

ἄλλων ἄλλως otherwise
πᾶς all

"           "

ἄλλων πάντως in every way
ὤν being

"           "

ὄντων ὄντως really

a. Adverbs in -ως are not formed from the genitive plural, but are originally old ablatives from ο stems (341), and thence transferred to other stems. The analogy of the genitive plural assisted the transference.

344. Various Other Endings. – Adverbs have many other endings, e.g.: – -α:  ἅμα at the same time, μάλα very, τάχα quickly (in Attic prose perhaps). -ακις:  πολλάκις many times, often, ἑκαστάκις each time, τοσαυτάκις so often, ὁσάκις as often as, πλειστάκις very often, ὀλιγάκις seldom, πλεονάκις more times.  The forms without -ς (ὁσάκι, πολλάκι) are earlier, and has been added by imitation of δίς, τρίς.  -δην:  συλλήβδην in short-δον:  ἔνδον within, σχεδόν almost-ει:


101

πανδημεί in full levy (341, locative). -τε: ὅτε when (Aeolic ὄτα, Dor. ὅκα).  -τι, -στι:  ἐθελοντί voluntarily, Ἑλληνιστί in Greek (fashion).

345. Comparison of Adverbs. – In adverbs derived from adjectives the comparative is the same as the neuter singular of the comparative of the adjective; the superlative is the same as the neuter plural of the superlative adjective.

σοφῶς wisely σοφώτερον σοφώτατα
χαριέντως gracefully χαριέστερον χαριέστατα
εὐδαιμόνως happily εὐδαιμονέστερον εὐδαιμονέστατα
καλῶς well κάλλῑον κάλλιστα
ἡδέως pleasantly ἥδῑον
ἧττον less (319, 2)
ἥδιστα
ἥκιστα

εὖ
(adv. of ἀγαθός good)

well ἄμεινον ἄριστα
μάλα very μᾶλλον μάλιστα

a. Adverbs of place ending in ω, and some others, retain ω in the comparative and superlative.

ἄνω above ἀνωτέρω ἀνωτάτω
πόρρω afar πορρωτέρω πορρωτάτω

b. ἐγγύς near has ἐγγύτερον (-τέρω), ἐγγυτάτω (-τατα rare).  πρῴ early has πρωϊαίτερον, πρωϊαίτατα.

c. There are some forms in -ως from comparatives:  ἀσφαλεστέρως (ἀσφαλέστερον) more securely, βελτῑόνως (βέλτῑον) better. Superlatives in -ον are usually poetic; as μέγιστον.

346. Correlative Adverbs. – Adverbs from pronominal stems often correspond in form and meaning. In the list on p. 102 poetic or rare words are in ( ).

a. The demonstratives in ( ) are foreign to Attic prose except in certain phrases, as καὶ ὥς even thus, οὐδ' (μηδ') ὥς not even thus (cp. 180 c); ἔνθα μὲν . . . ἔνθα here . . . there, ἔνθεν (μέν) καὶ ἔνθεν (δέ) from this side and thatἔνθα and ἔνθεν are usually relatives, ἔνθα taking the place of οὗ where and οἷ whither, and ἔνθεν of ὅθεν whence.

b. τοτὲ μὲν . . . τοτὲ δέ is synonymous with ποτὲ μὲν . . . ποτὲ δέ.

c. οὖν (339 e) may be added for indefiniteness: ὁπωσοῦν in any way whatever, ὁποθενοῦν from what place soeverποτέ is often used after interrogatives to give an intensive force, as in τίς ποτε who in the world (as qui tandem); also with negatives, as in οὔποτε never, οὐπώποτε never yet. Other negatives are οὐδαμοῦ nowhere, οὐδαμῇ in no way, οὐδαμῶς in no manner.


102


a

Interrogative:
Direct or
Indirect

Indefinite
(Enclitic)

Demonstrative

Relative
Specific

Indefinite
or Indirect
Interrogative

Place

ποῦ
where?

πού
somewhere

(ἔνθα) ἐνθάδε,
ἐνταῦθα
there
ἐκεῖ yonder
a

οὗ where
(ἔνθα where)

ὅπου where-
(ever)

πόθεν
whence?
a

ποθέν from
some place

(ἔνθεν) ἐνθένδε,
ἐντεῦθεν
thence
ἐκεῖθεν from
yonder

a

ὅθεν whence
(ἔνθεν whence)

ὁπόθεν whence-
(soever)

ποῖ
whither?

ποί to
some place

(ἔνθα) ἐνθάδε,
ἐνταῦθα
thither
ἐκεῖσε thither
a

οἷ whither
(ἔνθα whither)

ὅποι whither-
(soever)

Time

πότε
when?
a

ποτέ some
time
, ever

τότε then

ὅτε when

ὁπότε when-
(ever)

πηνίκα at
what time?

a

a

(τηνίκα)
τηνικάδε
τηνικαῦτα

a

}

at
that
time

ἡνίκα at which
time

ὁπηνίκα at
which time

Way

πῇ which
way? how?

a

πῄ some
way
,
somehow

a

(τῇ) τῇδε, ταύτῃ
this way, thus

in which
way
, as

ὅπῃ in which
way
, as

Manner

πῶς how?
a

πώς
somehow

(τώς), (ὥς) ὧδε,
οὕτω (ς)
thus,
so, in this way
ἐκείνως in that
way

a

ὡς as, how

ὅπως how

Previous Page Contents Next Page