Verb: Aorist sigmatic

GrammarVerb – Aorist sigmatic singular

The sigmatic Aorist does not have the characteristic theme vowels like the thematic Aorist (see 11.1.3.1 and 12.1.3.1), but instead, as the name suggests, has a σ. The sigmatic Aorist is also sometimes called the 1st Aorist, and the thematic is called the 2nd Aorist.

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MorphologyVerb – Aorist sigmatic singular

• The sigmatic Aorist begins with an initial ε – the augment (like the thematic Aorist).
• The endings are based on -σα:
• The 2s adds the characteristic σ of the 2s (2.1.4.1).
• An ε(ν) replaces the α in the 3s ending (compare to the thematic 3s, e.g. ἔ-λαβ-ε(ν)).

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MorphologyVerb – Aorist sigmatic plural

• Just like the sg sigmatic Aorist, the endings for the pl are based on -σα:
• The 1p and 2p use the same endings as the present, future, and thematic Aorist combined with -σα: -σα + -μεν = ἐ-λύ-σαμεν and -σα + - τε = ἐ-λύ-σατε.
• The 3p thematic Aorist -ον (e.g. ἔλαβ-ον) is replaced with the σα ending to form -σαν (e.g. ἔ-λυ-σαν).
• The same σ contraction rules that applied to the future (see 10.2.3.1) apply also to the sigmatic Aorist.

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SemanticsVerb – Aorist (3 – Inchoative)

An inchoative is when a state begins rather than ends. This is the distinction between something like Cooper is good at running (state holds) and Cooper got/became good at running (inchoative). In Greek, the idea of coming into a state can be expressed by using the Aorist with a stative verb:

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