Noun – 3rd Declension -ις

ObjectivesLearning objectives

• The morphology of 3rd declension -ις nouns
• The semantics of how the genitive relates two nouns

VocabularyVocabulary

1 See Semantics C for more on this debate and for a more nuanced definition of “tense” that accounts for many of the problems.

Table 232 (continued)

MorphologyMorphology: Noun – 3rd Declension –ις

• The stem’s ending varies between -ι and -ε
• The nom and acc sg have stems in ι
• In all other forms the ending of the stem becomes ε
• The acc sg has a -ν ending instead of the normal -α combined with ι
• In the dat sg and nom and acc pl, the ε contracts with the ending, e.g. πόλεες → πόλεις
• Like in -ευς nouns (17.2.3.1), the gen sg ending lengthens from -ος to -ως

• Many of these nouns have the suffix -σις, which is often used to make a noun out of a verb stem (see Morphology B)

SemanticsSemantics: Noun – Gen (2 – Relating two nouns, expanded)

Noun – Genitive: all 5 parts on one page →Also in Lesson 3.2, Lesson 7.2, Lesson 28.4, Lesson 40.2

We have said that the genitive can relate two nouns (3.2.3.2), be used as an argument of some verbs (also 3.2.3.2), and indicate possession (7.2.3.2). When we introduced the first use, we said that the relationship was determined by the meaning of the nouns, but we can be more precise about this. Certain nouns are inherently relational and require an argument, just like verbs can require an argument. A verb like τρέχω ‘run’ requires someone to be the runner; similarly, nouns like ἀδελφή ‘sister’ require another person to be in a sibling relationship–a sister is always a sister of someone. With these relational nouns, the following genitive provides the argument of the noun.

If the relationship of the genitive is determined by the relationship that relational nouns encode, how do we determine the relationship of the genitive for non-relational nouns? The genitive relation is still determined at least in part by the semantics of the noun. For example, a noun like βιβλίον has certain properties. It is a physical object that can be owned. When the noun in the genitive is a prototypical possessor, this is normally the default interpretation, as in τὸ βιβλίον τοῦ ἱερέως ‘the priest’s scroll.’ When the noun in the genitive contains content of some kind, it represents the contents of the scroll, as in τὸ βιβλίον τοῦ νόμου ‘the scroll of the law.’ Many other relationships are possible depending on the meaning of βιβλίον and the following noun, but crucially, many are excluded. The genitive following βιβλίον cannot represent a sibling relationship or a parent-child relationship. The noun βιβλίον disallows this. Although this may seem obvious, it has important implications for how we go about determining the relationship of the genitive.