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 began when Greek refugees came to the Monastic Republic from Turkey. They spoke only Turkish, and Athonite was developed as these Greeks started to learn Modern Greek.
• As a result, there is 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

• Under the influence of Turkish, there is neither a definite nor an indefinite article.

Nouns

• Nouns in Athonite are classified biologically and not grammatically. Thus the nouns are divided into two classes, the masculine/feminine and the neuter.
  • Masculine/feminine nouns are those which denote a male or female being, e.g., άνθροπ, (a/the) man; γυνέκ, (a/the) woman.
  • Neuter nouns are those that denote objects without biological gender, e.g., γραφ, (a/the) office; πεδ, (a/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
    • Παράθυρια ςπίτου μου ακάθαρτ ίνε. My house's windows are filthy.
  • The accusative case is used for the object of verbs.
    • Άνθροπον βλέπω. I see a man.
  • The accusative case is also used for the objects of prepositions.
    • αδελφόν μου ςτιν δουλίν καθ πρωί πέρνω . I take my brother to work every morning.
  • After some nouns it expresses their content.
    • Ποτίρον ςουν θέλω. I want a glass of water.

The Nominative Singular

• The nominative singular has been formed by deleting the nominative singular ending of the Greek noun.
  • The accent remains on the same syllable if it is in the root, e.g., πατέρας > πατέρ; άνεμος > άνεμ.
  • If the accent is on the ending, it reverts to the final syllable, e.g., αδελφὴ > αδέλφ.
  • Nouns of the neuter declension characterized by an increase in the genitive in Greek use the genitive stem for the nominative, e.g., ελπίς, ελπίδος > ελπίδ.
  • Nouns whose genitive stems end in consonant clusters, e.g., δένδρος, drop the final consonant (-ρος) which gives the Athonite δενδ. These nouns then restore the -ρ in the plural, δένδρι.

The Genitive Singular

• In the genitive singular:
  • Masculine nouns add -ου.
    • άνθροπος, man, > άνθροπ, άνθροπου, of the man
    • εργάτης, workman, εργάτ, εργάτου, of the workman
    • αδελφός, brother, > αδέλφ αδελφού, of the brother
  • Feminine nouns add -ις.
    • βασίλισσα, queen, > βαςίλις , βαςίλιςις, of the queen
    • κοπέλλα, girl, > κοπέλ, κοπέλις, of the girl
    • αδελφή, sister, > αδέλφ, αδελφίς, of the sister
  • Neuter nouns add -ου.
    • κόκκαλο, cart, > κόκαλ, κόκαλου, of the cart
    • ζιγάρο, cigarette, > ζιγάρ, ζιγάρου, of the cigarette
    • σινεμά, cinema, > ςινέμ, σινεμού, of the cinema

The Accusative Singular

• In the accusative singular:
  • Masculine nouns add -ον.
    • άνθροπος, man, > άνθροπ, άνθροπον, man
    • εργάτης, workman, εργάτ, εργάτον, workman
    • αδελφός, brother, > αδέλφ αδελφόν, brother
  • Feminine nouns add -ιν.
    • βασίλισσα, queen, > βαςίλις , βαςίλιςιν, queen
    • κοπέλλα, girl, > κοπέλ, κοπέλιν, girl
    • αδελφή, sister, > αδέλφ, αδελφίν, sister
  • Neuter nouns add -ο.
    • κόκκαλο, cart, > κόκαλ, κόκαλο, cart
    • ζιγάρο, cigarette, > ζιγάρ, ζιγάρο, cigarette
    • σινεμά, cinema, > ςινέμ, σινεμό, cinema

The Nominative Plural

• In the nominative plural:
  • Masculine nouns add -ι.
    • άνθροπος, man, > άνθροπ, άνθροπι, men
    • εργάτης, workman, εργάτ, εργάτι, workmen
    • αδελφός, brother, > αδέλφ αδελφί, brothers
  • Feminine nouns add -ες.
    • βασίλισσα, queen, > βαςίλις , βαςίλιςες, queens
    • κοπέλλα, girl, > κοπέλ, κοπέλες, girl
    • αδελφή, sister, > αδέλφ, αδελφές, sister
  • Neuter nouns add -α.
    • κόκκαλο, cart, > κόκαλ, κόκαλα, cart
    • ζιγάρο, cigarette, > ζιγάρ, ζιγάρα, cigarette
    • σινεμά, cinema, > ςινέμ, σινεμα, cinema
  • Certain neuter nouns in Greek end in -ι. In Athonite these nouns drop the -ι in the singular, but restore it in the plural, e.g., ψαρ, fish, ψάρια, fishes; πεδ, child, πεδιά, children.
  • There are a few irregular plurals:
    • χρώμ, color; χρώματα, colors
    • φως, light; φώτα, lights
  • Certain neuter nouns can be made masculine or feminine in the plural by using the appropriate plural ending, e.g., ςκύλα, dogs; ςκύλeς, bitches.

The Genitive Plural

• In the genitive plural:
  • All nouns add -ων.
    • άνθροπος, man, > άνθροπ, άνθροπων, men
    • εργάτης, workman, εργάτ, εργάτων, workmen
    • αδελφός, brother, > αδέλφ αδελφών, brothers
    • βασίλισσα, queen, > βαςίλις , βαςίλιςων, queens
    • κοπέλλα, girl, > κοπέλ, κοπέλων, girl
    • αδελφή, sister, > αδέλφ, αδελφών, sister
    • κόκκαλο, cart, > κόκαλ, κόκαλων, cart
    • ζιγάρο, cigarette, > ζιγάρ, ζιγάρων, cigarette
    • σινεμά, cinema, > ςινέμ, σινεμών, cinema

The Accusative Plural

• In the accusative plural:
  • Masculine nouns add -ους.
    • άνθροπος, man, > άνθροπ, άνθροπους, men
    • εργάτης, workman, εργάτ, εργάτους, workmen
    • αδελφός, brother, > αδέλφ αδελφούς, brothers
  • Feminine nouns add -ας.
    • βασίλισσα, queen, > βαςίλις , βαςίλιςας, queens
    • κοπέλλα, girl, > κοπέλ, κοπέλας, girl
    • αδελφή, sister, > αδέλφ, αδελφάς, sister
  • Neuter nouns add -α.
    • κόκκαλο, cart, > κόκαλ, κόκαλα, cart
    • ζιγάρο, cigarette, > ζιγάρ, ζιγάρα, cigarette
    • σινεμά, cinema, > ςινέμ, σινεμά, cinema

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.
  • καλ άνθροπ, good man
  • καλ γυνέκ, good woman
  • καλ πεδ, good child
  • μεγάλ κιπ, large garden
  • μεγάλ πορτ, large door
  • μεγάλ δομάτ, large room
• The adjectives αφτ, 'this,' and εκίν, 'that,' follow the noun they modify.
  • άνθροπ αφτ, this man
  • κίπ αφτ, this garden (Note the added accent)
  • γυνέκ αφτ, this woman
  • πέδ αφτ, this child (Note the added accent)
  • εργάτ εκίν, that worker
  • νυχτ εκίν, that night
  • δομάτ εκίν, that room
• Negation is expressed by putting the negative particle δεν in front of the verb.
  • πρωίν έτιμ ίνε, breakfast is ready.
  • πρωίν έτιμ δεν ίνε, breakfast is not ready.
  • μπαρ γεμάτ δεν ίνε, the bar is not full.
  • πόρτ αφτ μεγάλ δεν ίνε, this door is not big.

The Possessive Adjectives

	singular	plural
1.	μου, my	μας, our
2.	ςου, your	ςας, your
3.	του, his τις, her τουtu, its	τους, their

• These adjectives are placed after the nouns they modify.
  • ςπιτ, house; ςπίτ μου, my house
  • φιλ, friend; φίλ μου, my friend
  • χέρ μου, my hand
  • ρατέρ ςου, your father
  • μιτέρ τις, her mother
  • κίπ μας, our garden
  • κίπα μας, our gardens
  • λέπτ ςας, your money
• When the nouns are preceded by an adjective, the possessive adjective is put after the noun.
  • αμάξ, cart; κενούρ αμάξ, new cart; κενούρ αμάξ μου, my new cart
  • καλ φίλ μας, our good friend

Comparison of Adjectives

• Under the influence of Turkish, adjectives form the comparative degree by placing the word πιο in front them. They are then followed by από and the accusative.
• Πιο is an enclitic and causes an accent on the following adjective if it doesn't already have one.
  • Μιχάλ πλος ίνε, Michael is rich.
  • αδέλφ μου πιο δυνάτ από αδελφόν ςου ίνε, my brother is stronger than your brother.
  • Γιαν πιο φτόχ από Κόςταν ίνε, John is poorer than Costas.
  • Σπίτ αφτ πιο κάλ από εκίν ίνε, This house is better than that one.
  • Άφτοκίνετ αφτ πολύ πιο κίρ από άλον ίνε, This automobile is much worse than the other.
• Adjectives form the superlative degree by using the preposition se and the genitive after the comparative form.
  • Ανδρέ πιο κάλ μαθίτ ςε τάξου του ίνε, Andrew is the best pupil in his class.
  • Πατέρ τις πιο πλούς ς' Αθίνου ίνε, Her father is the richest man in Athens.
  • Ελέν πιο ωρέ γυνέκ ς' Ελάδ ίτε, Helen was the most beautiful woman in Greece.
• The comparison of inferiority is expressed with λιγώτ, less, followed by από with the accusative.
  • Νικ λιγώτ έξυπ από Κόςταν ίνε, Nick is not as smart as Costa.
• The comparison of equality is expressed by τόςο...όςο κε followed by the nominative.
  • Πατέρ μου τόςο πλους όςο κε πατέρ ςου ίνε, 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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