Verb – Efagon middle subjunctive

ObjectivesLearning objectives

• The syntax and semantics of the interjection ἴδε
• The morphology of the Efagon middle subjunctive
• The semantics of the middle voice in mental verbs

VocabularyVocabulary

Noteἴδε

The imperative ἴδε is technically the imperative form of the Aorist εἶδον ‘saw.’ However, it usually does not refer to the action of seeing something, but it is used to instruct the hearer to pay attention to what is being said (much like we might use look in English, as in Look, I can’t take this anymore). It is normally followed by a complete clause:

At other times, the speaker may want to draw attention to a specific entity or individual:

The fact that we do not have an object in accusative case in either of the above examples suggests that ἴδε is no longer functioning as an imperative within a clause but is functioning as an interjection outside of the clause.

MorphologyMorphology: Verb – Efagon middle subjunctive

• The Efagon mid subj combines the thematic stem with the Luo med-psv subj endings (see 30.3.3.1)

SemanticsSemantics: Verb – Middle (5 – Mental verbs)

Verb – Middle: all 4 parts on one page →Also in Lesson 23.1, Lesson 24.1, Lesson 31.1

The prototypical subject in a verb with active voice physically engages in an action, and the prototypical object is physically affected by that action (see Syntax B for more on prototypical features of subjects and objects and how they relate to voice). A verb like break involves a prototypical subject and object. In Peter broke the glass, the subject Peter is intentionally and physically engaged in an action that causes a change in the glass. The object glass has many characteristics that are the opposite of the subject: it is not intentionally acting, it changes on account of the event, and the change is a physically different state than when it started. For verbs that have characteristics of prototypical subjects and objects, the verb is almost always active voice, and the object is accusative case.

However, many verbs do not have a prototypical subject or object. A verb like βούλομαι ‘want’ has a subject that does not engage in any physical action. Moreover, there is a sense in which the subject is not intentionally doing anything but is governed by some external force that is causing the desire, i.e. his or her predisposition, habits, etc. For these reasons, verbs that refer to mental states are often found in middle rather than active voice in many languages, and there is a class of verbs in Greek that behave the same way—βούλομαι, φοβοῦμαι, γεύομαι, and λογίζομαι all refer to a mental state or experience where the subject has less of these prototypical subject features. With these kinds of verbs, the subject is often called an experiencer rather than an agent, as we would call the subject in a verb like break. Verbs with experiencer subjects in Greek are often (but not always) found in middle voice.