Verb – ο-contract (contractions)

ObjectivesLearning objectives

• The morphology of ο-contract verbs when the ending begins with a vowel
• A summary of the uses of Aorist and its meaning contribution

VocabularyVocabulary

MorphologyMorphology: Verb – ο-contract (contractions)

• ο contracts with other vowels according to the following rules:
• With ω, ο contracts to ω
• With ε, ο, or ου, ο contracts to ου
• With any vowel with ι, ο contracts to οι (though see the inf exception below)
• The accents of ο-contract verbs behave like other contract verbs (see 25.2.3.1)

• Besides the Luo ind forms given in the chart, the remaining act form would be κυκλο-εις → κυκλοῖς (2s)
• The Luo med-psv forms all have short theme vowels without ι besides -ῃ, so they either contract as ο + ε = ου or ο + ο = ου, e.g. φανερο-ομαι → φανεροῦμαι and φανερο-εται → φανεροῦται (with ῃ, φανερο-ῃ → φανεροῖ)
• All Eluon act and med-psv endings have short vowels, so they either contract as ο + ε = ου or ο + ο = ου, e.g. ἐκυκλο-ε → ἐκύκλου and ἐκυκλο-ον → ἐκύκλουν; ἐφανερο-ομην → ἐφανερούμην and ἐφανερο-ετο → ἐφανεροῦτο
• The Luo inf ending -ειν is an exception to the ι rule; the ending formed is -ουν rather than -οιν, e.g. κυκλο-ειν → κυκλοῦν
• The Luo impv endings both start with -ε, so they contract to form -ου, e.g. κυκλο-ε → κύκλου and κυκλο-ετε → κυκλοῦτε (notice the pl forms in the ind and impv are identical)
• The Luo act and med-psv ptcps always have o-class vowels, so they contract to either ω or ου, e.g. κυκλο-ων → κυκλῶν and κυκλο-οντος → κυκλοῦντος and κυκλο-ουσα → κυκλοῦσα and φανερο-ομενος → φανερούμενος
• The sg Luo subj forms are identical to the ind, but the pl forms have endings beginning with ω

SemanticsSemantics: Verb – Aorist (Meaning and summary)

The Aorist can be used in a variety of ways. It can be used to refer to sequential events, inchoative and complexive states, gnomic statements, performatives, and events with an implied result. The common element in each use is that a temporal boundary is being referred to. Sometimes this is an initial temporal boundary, as in the inchoative. At other times, this is the final temporal boundary, as in sequential events, complexive states, and events with an implied result. At still other times, the temporal boundary referred to is a particular event within a series of timeless events, as in the gnomic use. Finally, this temporal boundary may also occur in the act of speaking the event or state into existence, as in the performative. This definition of the Aorist allows us to be more precise about its contribution to the context. Grammars that describe the Aorist as “punctiliar” or “viewing the event as a whole” are describing particular uses of the Aorist, but such descriptions do not capture all the various interpretations we see. Temporal boundedness (properly understood) can, however, account for all the uses and is the meaning that the Aorist contributed to the context.