Athonite Grammar I

A SIMPLIFIED GRAMMAR OF ATHONITE, THAT IS, THE GREEK DIALECT SPOKEN BY THE PEOPLE OF THE SERENE MONASTIC REPUBLIC OF THE HOLY MOUNTAIN

• Although Modern Greek is the official language of the Monastic Republic, the citizens have their own dialect.
• It developed from their contact with their Turkish conquerors and shows some Turkish influence in grammar and vocabulary.
• It is written with the Greek alphabet, but for ease I'm rendering it here in the Latin alphabet.

Orthography and Pronunciation

• The name of the language is Athonite (Αþωνίτ).
• A spelling reform, proposed by a monk, has standardized the orthography so that it is more consistent with the pronunciation.
• Double letters have been eliminated.
• An acute accent is placed over the accented vowel. Monosyllabic words contain no accent, unless followed by an enclitic.

Greek	Athonite	Latin	Pronunciation	IPA
α	α	a ä	father when accented but otherwise	/a/ /ʌ/
αι	ɛ	e	bed	/ɛ/
αυ	αυ	af, äf av, äv	before voiceless consonants before voiced consonants	/af/, /ʌf/ /av/, /ʌv/
β	β	v	vine	/v/
γ	γ	g j	Sp. vagar before a, ø, o, u, & consonants yes before e, i, y	/g/ /j/
γγ	γγ	ng	sing	ŋ
γκ	γκ	g	go	g
γξ	γξ	nks	sing + lynx	/ŋks/
γχ	γχ	nh	sing + Ger. ich	/ŋç/
δ	δ	ð	that	/ð/
ε	ε	e	bet	/ɛ/
ει	ι	i	feet	/i/
ɛυ	ɛυ	ef ev	before voiceless consonants before voiced consonants	/ɛf/ ɛv/
ζ	ζ	z	zoo	/z/
η	ι	i	feet	/i/
θ	θ	þ	thin	/θ/
ι	ι	i y	bee yes between vowels	/i/ /j/
κ	κ	k	kin	/k/
λ	λ	l	long	/l/
μ	μ	m	mat	/m/
μπ	μπ	b	bat	/b/
ν	ν	n	nap	/n/
ντ	ντ	d	dot	/d/
ξ	ξ	x	ax	/ks/
ο	ο	ø	awe	/ɔ/
οι	ι	i	feet	/i/
ου	oυ	ou	boot	/u/
π	π	p	pit	/p/
ρ	ρ	r	Sp. pero	/r/
ς, σ	ς	s	zoo before voiced consonants sue before voiceless consonants	/z/ /s/
τ	τ	t	tap	/t/
τζ	τζ	dz	reads	/ʣ/
υ	υ	u	Fr. dur	/y/
φ	φ	f	fun	/f/
χ	χ	h	Ger. ich	/ç/
ψ	ψ	ps	lips	/ps/
ω	ω	o	boat	/o/

Grammar

The Articles

The Definite Article

• The declined forms of the Modern Greek definite article have been reduced to the singular forms.
• The plural form of the definite article has been reduced to one form for all the cases.
• There is alway an -n in the feminine accusative singular.
• The definite articles agree in gender, case and number with the nouns they modify

	Nominative	Genitive	Accusative	Plural
Masculine	ο / ø	τoυ / tu	τον / tøn	τι / ti
Feminine	ι / i	τις / tis	τιν / tin	τι / ti
Neuter	το / tø	τoυ / tu	το / tø	τα / ta

• Uses of the definite article
  • Before proper names
    • Ø Yiørg íne kal ped. George is a good boy.
  • Before the names of places
    • I Äþín íne i protévus tis Eláð. Athens is the capital of Greece.
  • Before the names of streets
    • Méno stin øðǿ Staðí. I live on Stadium Street.
  • Before titles of names of professions followed by a person's name
    • Ø yat Evyeníðes kir íne pølú plous. Dr. Eugenides is very rich.
  • Before nouns used in an abstract or general sense
    • I ilikríni íne i pio megál ärét. Sincerity is the greatest virtue.
  • Before nouns desingating parts of the body or personal articles of clothing
    • Ta mäliá tis Märíä íne xänþ. Mary's hair is blond.
  • Before nouns modified by a possessive adjective which follows the noun
    • Ø äðélf mou ø Yian éhi kal ðoulí. My brother John has a good job.
  • Before nouns modified by a demonstrative which always follows the noun
    • I køpél aft íne pølú oré. This girl is very beautiful.
  • Before a noun indicating a class of objects or persons
    • T' astunǿmi íne afstír. Policemen are strict.

The Indefinite Article

• The indefinite article is not used as often in Athonite as it is in English. Most of the time it expresses the idea of "one" and is, thus, the only numeral that is declined.
• The indefinite articles agree in gender, case and number with the nouns they modify.
• The plural of the indefinite article is not used in Athonite to mean "some." Instead the adjective merik- is used.

	Nominative	Genitive	Accusative	Plural
Masculine	ένο / énø	ένoυ / énou	ένον / énøn	μερικί / merikí
Feminine	ένι / éni	ένις / énis	ένιν / énin	μερικί / merikí
Neuter	ένο / énø	ένoυ / énou	ένο / énø	μερικά / meriká

• The final vowel is elided when it is the same as the initial vowel of the word following, e.g., én' istørí; én' ämáxi.

Nouns

• Nouns are divided into three classes known as masculine, feminine, and neuter.
  • Masculine nouns are those preceded in the nominative case by the definite article ø, e.g., ø ánþrop, the man; ø pätér, the father.
  • Feminine nouns are those preceded in the nominative case by the definite article i, e.g., i pørt, the door; i jinék, the woman.
  • Neuter nouns are those preceded in the nominative case by the definite article tø, e.g., tø gräfí, the office; tø peð, the child.
• There are three cases for the nouns in Athonite.
  • The nominative case is used for the subject of the sentence.
  • The genitive case is used to express possession or appurtenance
    • Ta päráþuri tou spit mou íne äkáþärt. My house's windows are filthy.
  • The accusative case is used for the object of verbs.
    • Vlépo énøn ánþrop. I see a man.
  • The accusative case is also used for the objects of prepositions.
    • Pérno ton äðélf mou stin ðoulí kaþ proí. I take my brother to work every morning.
  • After some nouns it expresses their content.
    • Þélo énä potír nerǿ. I want a glass of water.

Declensions

• True declensions are not found in Athonite. Since there are no case endings to the nouns, the only differentiation is in the article used with the noun.
• The nouns are formed by dropping the nominative singular ending. The accent remains on the same stem if it is in the root, e.g., πατέρας > πατέρ/pätér.
• If the accent is on the ending, it reverts to the final syllable, e.g., αδελφὴ > αδέλφ/äðélf.
• Some neuter nouns end in -ίον. These nouns drop the -ον to end in -ί, e.g., χαρτίον > χαρτί.
• Nouns of the third declension, characterized by an increase in the genitive, use the genitive stem for the nominative, e.g., ελπίς, ελπίδος > ελπίδ.
• Nouns that end in -Cr, -Cn, -Cl, e.g., δένδρος, drop the -ρος which gives the Athonite δενδ. These nouns then restore the -r in the plural, δένδρι.

Plural

• Nouns form their plurals by adding an ending to the word.
  • Masculine nouns of whatever class in Greek, add -i.
    • ø äðélf, the brother, ti äðélfi, the brothers
    • ø ánþrop, the man, ti ánþropi, the men
    • ø ergát, the worker, ti ergáti, the workers
  • Feminine nouns of whatever class in Greek, add -i.
    • i äðélf, the sister, ti äðélfi, the sisters
    • i mer, the day, ti méri, the days
    • i vark, the boat, ti várki, the boats
  • Neuter nouns of whatever class in Greek, add -a.
    • tø tsigár, the cigarette, ta tsigára, the cigarettes
    • tø ämáxi, the cart, ta ämáxia, the carts
  • There are a few irregular plurals:
    • tø hróma, the color; ta hrómata, the colors
    • tø fos, the light; ta fóta, the colors
• Note that there is no plural of the definite article.

The Genitive Case

• The genitive case is indicated by a change in the form of the article.
• The singular definite:
  • ø þi, the uncle > tou þi, of the uncle
  • i þi, the aunt > tis þi, of the aunt
  • tø pøð, the foot > tou pøð, of the foot
• The singular indefinite:
  • enø þi, an uncle > énou þi, of an uncle
  • éni þi, an aunt > énis þi, of an aunt
  • énä pøð, a foot > énou pøð, of the foot
• The plural definite:
  • ø þíi, the uncles > tou þíi, of the uncles
  • i þíi, the aunts > tis þíi, of the aunts
  • tø pǿða, the feet > tou pǿða, of the feet
• The plural indefinite:
  • en þi, some uncles > merikí þíi, of some uncles
  • éni þi, some aunts > merikí þíi, of some aunts
  • énä pøð, some feet > meriká pǿða, of some feet

The Accusative Case

• The accusative case is indicated by a change in the form of the article.
• The singular definite article:
  • ø þi, the uncle > tøn þi, the uncle
  • i þi, the aunt > tin þi, the aunt
  • tø pøð, the foot > tø pøð, the foot
• The singular indefinite article:
  • enø þi, an uncle > énøn þi, an uncle
  • éni þi, an aunt > énin þi, an aunt
  • énø pøð, a foot > énø pøð, the foot
• The plural definite article:
  • ø þis, the uncles > ti þíi, the uncles
  • i þis, the aunts > ti þíi, the aunts
  • tø pøðs, the feet > ta pǿða, the feet
• The plural indefinite article:
  • enø þi, some uncles > merikí þíi, some uncles
  • éni þi, some aunts > merikí þíi, some aunts
  • énø pøð, some feet > meriká pǿða, some feet
• The accusative case is used:
  • After the prepositions se, me, páno se, kontá se, mésä se, äpǿ, páno äpǿ, káto äpǿ, giá, etc.
  • As the direct object of verbs, e.g., vlépo énøn ánþrop, I see a man.

Adjectives

• Adjectives in Athonite are indeclinable. They are derived from Modern Greek adjectives in the same way as the nouns.
• Adjectives precede the noun they modify.
  • ø kal ánþrop, the good man
  • i kal jinék, the good woman
  • tø kal peð, the good child
  • ø megál kip, the large garden
  • i megál pørt, the large door
  • tø megál ðomáti, the large room
• The adjectives äft, 'this' and ekín, 'that' follow the noun they modify.
  • ø ánþrop äft, this man
  • ø kip äft, this garden
  • i jinék äft, this woman
  • tø ped äft, this child
  • tø ämáxi äft, this cart
  • ø ergát ekín, that worker
  • i nüht ekín, that night
  • tø ðomáti ekín, that room
• Negation is expressed by putting the negative particle ðen in front of the verb.
  • tø proín íne étim, breakfast is ready.
  • tø proín ðen íne étim, breakfast is not ready.
  • tø bar ðen íne jemát, the bar is not full.
  • i pørt äft ðen íne megál, this door is not big.

The Possessive Adjectives

	singular	plural
1.	mou, my	mäs, our
2.	sou, your	säs, your
3.	tou, his tis, her tu, its	tous, their

• These adjectives are put after the nouns they modify. The nouns are preceded by the definite article.
  • tø spit, the house; tø spít mou, my house
  • ø fil, the friend; ø fíl mou, my friend
  • tø hér mou, my hand
  • ø pätér sou, your father
  • i mitér tis, her mother
  • ø kíp mäs, our garden
  • ø kípi mäs, our gardens
  • tø lépt säs, your money
• When the nouns are preceded by an adjective, the possessive adjective is put after the noun.
  • tø ämáxi, the cart; tø kenúr ämáxi, the new cart; tø kenúr ämáxi mou, my new cart
  • ø kal fíl mäs, our good friend

Comparison of Adjectives

• Adjectives form the comparative degree by placing the word piø in front them. They are then followed by äpǿ and the accusative.
• Piø is an enclitic and causes an accent on the following adjective if it doesn't already have one.
  • Ø Mihál íne ploúsi, Michael is rich.
  • Ø äðélf mou íne piø dunát äpǿ tø äðélf sou, my brother is stronger than your brother.
  • Ø Yian piø ftóh íne äpǿ tǿn Kóstäs, John is poorer than Costas.
  • Tø spít äft íne piø kál äp' ekín, This house is better than that one.
  • Tø äftøkínet äft íne pølú piø hír äpǿ tøn áløn, This automobile is much worse than the other.
• Adjectives form the superlative degree by placing the definite article before the comparative form and the preposition se after it.
  • Ø André íne ø piø kál mäþít stin táx tou, Andrew is the best pupil in his class.
  • Ø pätér tis íne ø piø plúsi stin Äþín, Her father is the richest man in Athens.
  • I Elén íte i piø oré jinék stin Eláð, Helen was the most beautiful woman in Greece.
• The comparative of kak, bad, is hirǿt, worse.
• The comparison of inferiority is expressed with ligót, less, plus äpǿ with the accusative.
  • Ø Nik íne ligót éxüp äpø tøn Kósta, Nick is not as smart as Costa.
• The comparison of equality is expressed by tǿsø...ǿsø ke plus the definite article and the nominative.
  • Ø pätér mou íne tǿsø plousí, ǿsø ke ø pätér sou, My father is as rich as your father.

Pronouns

The Personal Pronouns

• First person

	singular	plural
Nominative	go, I	emís, we
Genitive	mou, my	mas, our
Accusative	me(nä), me	(e)mas, us

• Second person

	singular	plural
Nominative	esú, I	esís, we
Genitive	sou, my	sas, our
Accusative	se(nä), me	(e)sas, us

• Third person

	singular	plural
Nominative	äftǿs, he äftí, she äftǿ, it	äftí, they äftés, they äftá, they
Genitive	tou, his tis, her tou, its	tous, their
Accusative	tøn, him tin, her tø, it	tous, them tis, them ta, them

• The object pronouns are placed before the verb except in the imperative when they follow the verb.
  • Mou tǿ éfere, He brought it to me.
  • Ðǿs mou tø vivlí, Give me the book.
• The negative precedes the object pronoun.
  • Ðen tou tø éðosä, I did not give it to him.

The Possessive Pronouns

• The personal possessive pronouns are formed by prefixing the adjective ðik to the possessive adjectives.

	singular	plural
1.	ðíkmou, my	ðíkmäs, our
2.	ðíksou, your	ðíksis, your
3.	ðíktou, his ðíktis, her ðíktu, its	ðíktous, their

The Genitive Pronouns

• The genitive is used when the verb may take two objects. In such cases the object which can be replaced by a prepositionsl construction is in the genitive case, and the other object is in the accusative. This happens whether the objects are nouns or pronouns.
  • Éðøsa tou Jiǿrg énä vivlí, I gave George a book.
• The genitive could be replaced as follow:
  • Éðøsa énä vivlí stø Jiórg, I gave George a book.
• When the objects are pronouns the genitive is put in front of the accusative and also in front of the verb, e.g.,
• When the verb is in the imperative the pronouns are put after it, e.g.,
  • Ðóse tis lig neró, Give her some water. Mou ípe, He told me. Se íða, I saw you. Þa sou stílo tø prámata, I shall send you the things.
• The genitive of the pronoun may also be used after certain prepositions, adverbs or adjectives, e.g., mäzí mou, with me; mǿnøs tou, alone (by himself); køndá tou, near him.
• The genitive is also used after words denoting greeting, e.g., kälimér sas, good morning to you; kälinǘkt sas, good night; Jía sou, Good-bye (to one person).

The Relative Pronoun

• There is only one relative pronoun in Athonite: pou which stands for all the relative pronouns: who, whom, which, and that.
  • I køpél, pou yelá, íne i äðélf mou, The girl who is laughing is my sister.

The Interrogative Pronoun

• The Interrogative Pronoun: who, whose, whom

	singular	plural
Nominative	pi	piés
Genitive	pioú	pión
Accusative	piǿn	pioús

• • P' íne äftǿs; Who is this?
  • Pioú íne tø käpél ekínø; Whose hat is that?
  • Pioús zitáte; For whom are you looking?
• What? = ti.
  • Ti kánete; What are you doing?
  • T' íne äftǿs; What is this?

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