Verb: Eluon medio-passive

MorphologyVerb – Eluon medio-passive singular

• Remember: Eluon begins with the augment and uses the Luo stem (see 15.1.3.1)
• The theme vowels are the same as the Luo: ‘ο’ in 1s, and ‘ε’ in 2s and 3s
• The endings are -μην, -σο, and -το
• In the 2s, the σ of -σο drops out, and the theme vowel ε and remaining ο contract to -ου, e.g. εσο → εο → ου).

fromLesson 21.3

MorphologyVerb – Eluon medio-passive plural

• Remember, the theme vowels are the same as Luo: ‘ο’ in 1p, ‘ε’ in 2p, and ‘ο’ in 3p (see 21.3.3.1)
• The 1p and 2p endings are the same as the Luo med-psv, -μεθα and -σθε (see 8.2.4.1), but the 3p ending is -ντο instead of -νται

fromLesson 22.2

SemanticsVerb – Eluon (4 – Ingressive)

Although some grammars use the terms ingressive and inchoative interchangeably, we use the term inchoative to refer to the beginning of a state and “ingressive” to refer to the beginning of an event. Whereas the inchoative is typically expressed with the Aorist, Eluon is the normal form for the ingressive. Both inchoatives and ingressives refer to the initial temporal boundary of an eventuality:

fromLesson 21.3

SemanticsVerb – Eluon (5 – Conative)

Events have a pre-stage where the subject is preparing to do something but has not started yet, and Eluon is often used to refer to this pre-stage:

• (193) Attempting to perform an action
• They were giving (Eluon) Jesus wine mixed with myrrh, but he didn’t take it (Mark 15:23)

If Jesus was given wine, then he would have it in his possession and it would be a contradiction to say that he did not take it. Because the text says he did not take it, the Eluon form of δίδωμι must mean that they were attempting to give him the wine, but the event of giving never actually happened. The Eluon form here means that they attempted to perform the event, and the context clarifies that they were unsuccessful. This is called the conative use of Eluon.

fromLesson 22.2