Classical Languages - Greek - Syntax

Syntax
Uses of Greek Forms

Syntax

Prerequisites: Morphology

Next: Simple sentence

Morphology describes the forms of Greek words, and syntax describes how those forms are used to build sentences. The section begins with the simple sentence, covering agreement, word order and the negatives, and moves to the uses of the five cases, followed by the article in use, which shapes every noun phrase. It then treats the verb: tense and aspect, which are central to Greek, the three voices with the force of the middle, the infinitive and participle constructions, and the independent uses of the subjunctive and the optative with the particle ἄν. The second half of the section treats the subordinate clauses, then indirect speech and the long periodic sentence with its style.

What syntax adds to the forms

Each form on the morphology pages raises a question that syntax answers.

Form Question Page
Case What does the noun do in the sentence? Uses of the cases (overview)
Article Does it define a noun, mark a position, or turn a word into a noun? The article in use
Tense stem Does the form show an event, a process or a state, and when? Tense and aspect
Voice Who acts, and on whom? Voice (active, middle, passive)
Infinitive and participle How do they stand for a clause? Infinitive constructions, Participle constructions
Mood Is the sentence a wish, a command, a doubt or a possibility? Moods in main clauses
Conjunction and mood How are the clauses joined, and in which mood? Subordinate clauses (overview)

Features of Greek syntax

Four features give Greek its character, and each returns in several pages.

  1. The endings carry the function, so word order is free. The position of a word shows its emphasis and not its role.
  2. The tenses show aspect before they show time. The present, the aorist and the perfect stems present an action as a process, an event or a state, and only the indicative adds time.
  3. The participle and the particles do much of the work of the sentence. A participle can replace a whole clause, and the particles link the clauses and give the tone.
  4. The moods show the attitude of the speaker. The subjunctive and the optative appear in main clauses and in subordinate clauses, and the optative is regular in the sequence of moods.

Plan of the section

  1. The sentence and the noun phrase. The simple sentence, the uses of the cases (an overview and one page for each case group) and the article in use.
  2. The verb. Tense and aspect, voice, the infinitive and participle constructions, and the moods in main clauses.
  3. The complex sentence. The subordinate clauses (purpose, result and fear, temporal and causal clauses, conditionals, indirect questions and relative clauses), indirect speech, and the period and style.

The forms that these pages use are on the pages of the section Morphology, and the complete tables are in the Resources area, beginning with Paradigms: regular verbs.

Pages

Next: Simple sentence

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