Adjective – -ος, -α, -ον

ObjectivesLearning objectives

The syntax and semantics of the adjective ἴδιος
The morphology of ‘-ος/α/ον’ adjectives
The syntactic and semantic differences between attributive and predicative adjectives

VocabularyVocabulary

Greek	Gloss	Part of speech	Paradigm
ἅγιος, -α, -ον	holy	adjective	A.a.β
ἴδιος, -α, -ον	one’s own	adjective	A.a.β
παλαιός, -ά, -όν	old	adjective	A.a.β
δεξιός, -ά, -όν	right	adjective	A.a.β
ὅμοιος, -α, -ον	like	adjective	A.a.β
ὁ ἀρχιερεύς, -έως	the chief priest	noun	B.a.γ.iii

Noteἴδιος

The adjective ἴδιος means something like ‘own’ as in ‘his own house.’ It has a wide range of functions, including being used like a pronoun at times. When Jesus is speaking of judging others hypocritically, he asks a rhetorical question about whether you notice the speck ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ ὀφθαλμῷ ‘in your own eye’ (Luke 7:41). There is no word for ‘your’ here, even though it is understood to be the addressee’s eye. In this case, ἰδίῳ is being used similarly to a pronoun, but it is a bit stronger than the pronoun would be. By saying ‘your own eye,’ we are made to think about other people’s eyes as well, but those other eyes are not the ones that cannot see. Rather, it is ‘your eye’ and not anyone else’s that is blind (see Syntax C for more on this kind of construction). This function of ἴδιος, then, can be used to make a stronger claim, and Jesus uses it here to emphasize the point about the blindness of the one who judges hypocritically.

MorphologyMorphology: Adj -ος, -α, -ον

For adjectives ending in ε, ι, or ρ, the vowel of the fem sg endings changes from η to α (just like 1st declension nouns ending in ε, ι, or ρ – see 6.4.4).

Morphology: Adj -ος, -α, -ον

	Masculine singular	Feminine singular	Neuter singular
Nominative	παλαι-ός	παλαι-ά	παλαι-όν
Genitive	παλαι-οῦ	παλαι-ᾶς	παλαι-οῦ
Dative	παλαι-ῷ	παλαι-ᾷ	παλαι-ῷ
Accusative	παλαι-όν	παλαι-άν	παλαι-όν

SemanticsSemantics: Adjective (1 – Attributive and predicate adjectives)

Adjective: all 2 parts on one page →Also in Lesson 29.2

To say God’s holy name is not the same as God’s name is holy. An adjective used attributively (i.e. God’s holy name) is not making a claim that God’s name is holy, but it is assuming that the description is true. On the other hand, saying God’s name is holy makes a claim about what God’s name is like. The technical terms for this in linguistics are presupposition and assertion. Attributive adjectives presuppose that the description is true, while predicative adjectives assert that the description is true.

Semantics: Adjective (1 – Attributive and predicate adjectives)

Attributive vsPredicative Syntax
Before anarthrous noun	ἅγιον ὄνομα
After anarthrous noun	ὄνομα ἅγιον
Between noun and article	τὸ ὄνομα ἅγιον
With its own article	τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ἅγιον
Before definite noun	ἅγιοντὸ ὄνομα
After definite noun, no article	ὁ νόμοςἅγιος

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