Noun – 3rd Declension -ων

ObjectivesLearning objectives

The morphology of 3rd declension nouns ending in -ων
The semantics of the dative in temporal expressions

VocabularyVocabulary

Greek	Gloss	Part of speech	Paradigm
ὁ τέκτων, -ονος	the craftsman	noun	B.a.γ.vii(a)
ἡ εἰκών, -όνος	the image	noun	B.a.γ.vii(a)
ὁ γείτων, -ονος	the neighbor	noun	B.a.γ.vii(a)
ὁ πυλών, -ῶνος	the gate	noun	B.a.γ.vii(c)
ὁ χιτών, -ῶνος	the tunic	noun	B.a.γ.vii(c)
ὁ ἄρχων, -οντος	the ruler	noun	B.a.γ.vii(b)

Note-ον (class 1)

The -ς ending drops in the nom sg, and the vowel lengthens, e.g. τέκτον-ς → τέκτων.
– In the dat pl, the ν of the stem drops out before the σ, e.g. τέκτον-σι(ν) → τέκτοσι(ν).

-ον (class 1)

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	τέκτων	τέκτον-ες
Genitive	τέκτον-ος	τεκτόν-ων
Dative	τέκτον-ι	τέκτο-σι(ν)
Accusative	τέκτον-α	τέκτον-ας

Note-οντ (class 2)

The stem has an extra τ, which drops out in the nom sg along with the σ, e.g. ἄρχοντ-ς → ἄρχων
In the dat pl, the ντ drops out before the σ, and the ο lengthens to ου, e.g. ἄρχοντ-σι(ν) → ἄρχουσι(ν)

-οντ (class 2)

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ἄρχων	ἄρχοντ-ες
Genitive	ἄρχοντ-ος	ἀρχόντ-ων
Dative	ἄρχοντ-ι	ἄρχου-σι(ν)
Accusative	ἄρχοντ-α	ἄρχοντ-ας

Note-ων (class 3)

The accent over the ω is circumflex in all forms except nom sg and gen pl

-ων (class 3)

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	χιτών	χιτῶν-ες
Genitive	χιτῶν-ος	χιτών-ων
Dative	χιτῶν-ι	χιτῶ-σι(ν)
Accusative	χιτῶν-α	χιτῶν-ας

SemanticsSemantics: Noun – Dative (3 – Temporal Expressions)

Noun – Dative: all 3 parts on one page →Also in Lesson 3.1, Lesson 46.1

Words that refer to a certain time may be used in the dative to refer to when something takes place:

Example 276The time when something takes place

καὶ τῇ πρώτῃ ἡμέρᾳ τῶν ἀζύμων…λέγουσιν αὐτῷ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ· (Mark 14:12)

And on the first day of unleavened bread … his disciples said to him

The event of Jesus’s disciples saying something to him occurs within the time period referred to by the dative noun, namely the first day of unleavened bread. The preposition ἐν may also be used with this meaning.

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