Athonite Grammar I

GRAMMAR OF ATHONITE,

which is,

THE GREEK DIALECT SPOKEN IN THE SERENE MONASTIC REPUBLIC OF THE HOLY MOUNTAIN

Pronunciation Table - Πίνακα τις Προφορά

Athonite	α	β	γ	γγ	γκ	γξ	γχ	δ	ε	ζ	η	θ	ι	κ	λ	μ	μπ	ν	ντ	ξ	ο	ου	π	ρ	ς	τ	τζ	φ	χ	ψ	ω
Latin	a	v	gh	ng	g	ngks	nch	dh	ɛ	z	e	th	i	k	l	m	b	n	d	ks	o	u	p	r	s	t	tz	f	ch	ps	ō
IPA	/a/1	/v/	/ɣ/2	/ŋ/	/g/	/ŋks/	/ŋç/	/ð/	/ɛ/	/z/	/e/	/θ/	/i/	/k/	/l/	/m/	/b/	/n/3	/d/	/ks/	/ɔ/	/u/	/p/	/ɾ/	/s/4	/t/	/ʣ/	/f/	/ç/	/ps/	/o/

Notes - Σιμιωςις

• ¹ when accented, otherwise /ʌ/.
• ² /ɣ/ before α, ο and ου; /j/ before ε and ι.
• ³ final <ν> before <π> and <μπ> becomes /m/, e.g., δεν μπορώ, <dhemboˈrṓ>, I cannot. The <π> becomes /b/, e.g., δεν πιραζι, <dhembiˈrazi>, it doesn't matter.

final <ν> before <κ>, <γ> and <χ> becomes /ŋ/, e.g., δεν κοβω, <dheng'kovō>, I cut.

• ⁴ /z/ before voiced consonants, e.g., ος Δεβτέρ, <oz Dhevtér>, until Monday,

Introduction - Ιςαγώγ

• Although Modern Greek is the official language of the Monastic Republic and is spoken in the Greek monasteries, the citizens have their own dialect.
• It developed from their contact with their Turkish conquerors and shows some Turkish influence in grammar and vocabulary.
• Many internal differences have been regularized, such as simplification of the verb tenses.
• A spelling reform, devised by a monk, has standardized the orthography so that it is more consistent with the pronunciation, e.g., αι > ε; οι > ι.
• Double letters have been eliminated, except for γγ.
• σ has been replaced by ς.
• Some initial consonant clusters have been simplified, e.g., κτ > τ; πτ > τ; γν > ν.
• The accent regularly occurs on the penultimate syllable.
• An acute accent is placed over an accented vowel when the accent is not on the penultima.
• Words of Turkish origin are indicated in blue.

Grammar - Γραματίκ

The Definite Article - Το Οριςτίκ Αρθ

• 001. The Modern Greek definite article has been reduced to one single form for each gender: ο for masculine nouns, ι for feminine nouns, and το for neuter nouns.

Uses of the definite article - Χριςι από το Οριςτίκ Αρθ

1. Before proper names, e.g., Ο Γιοργ ινε καλ αγόρ; George is a good boy.
2. Before the names of places, e.g., Ι Αθίν ινε ι πρoτεβους απ' ι Elάδ; Athens is the capital of Greece.
3. Before the names of streets, e.g., Mενo ςε ι οδ ςταδί; I live on Stadium Street.
4. Before titles of names of professions followed by a person's name, e.g., Ο γατρ Eβγενιδες ινε πolύ πloυςι; Dr. Eugenides is very rich.
5. Before nouns used in an abstract or general sense, e.g., Ι ιλικρινι ινε ι πιo μεγάλ αρέτ; Sincerity is the greatest virtue.
6. Before nouns designating parts of the body or personal articles of clothing, e.g., To μαλιά απ ι Mαρία ινε χανθ; Mary's hair is blond.
7. Before nouns modified by a possessive adjective which follows the noun, e.g., Ο αδέλφ μου ο Γιαν εχι καλ δoυλί; My brother John has a good job.
8. Before nouns modified by a demonstrative, e.g., Αφτ ι κορίτς ινε πολί ωρέ; This girl is very beautiful.
9. Before a noun indicating a class of objects or persons, e.g., Ο πoλιςι ινε αφςτίρ; Policemen are strict.

The Indefinite Article - Το Αοριςτ Αρθ

• 002. There is no indefinite article in Athonite.

Nouns - Ουςιαςτικί

• 003. Nouns are divided into three classes known as masculine, feminine, and neuter.
• 004. Masculine nouns are those preceded in the nominative case by the definite article ο, e.g., ο ανθρωπ, the man; ο πατέρ, the father.
• 005. Feminine nouns are those preceded in the nominative case by the definite article ι, e.g., ι πορτ, the door; ι γινέκ, the woman.
• 006. Neuter nouns are those preceded in the nominative case by the definite article το, e.g., το πεδ, the child; το γραφί, the office.

The Plural - Ο Πλιθυντικό

• 007. Nouns form their plurals by adding a suffix to the word. Note whether the accent shifts or remains.
• 008. Masculine nouns of whatever type in Greek, add -ι.

ο αδέλφ, the brother, ο αδελφί, the brothers

ο ανθρωπ, the man, ο άνθρωπι, the men

ο εργάτ, the worker, ο εργατι, the workers

• 009. Feminine nouns of whatever type in Greek, add -ες.

ι αδέλφ, the sister, ι αδελφές , the sisters

ι μερ, the day, ι μερες , the days

ι ναρκ, the boat, ι ναρκες , the boats

• 010. Neuter nouns which end in -μ(α) add -(α)τα.

το χρωμ, the color; το χρώματα, the colors

• 011. Other neuter nouns add -α or -ια.

το τςιγάρ, the cigarette, το τςιγαρα, the cigarettes

το ψαρ, the fish, το ψάρια, the fishes.

• 012. There are a few irregular plurals.

το φως, the light; το φωτα, the lights

The Function of Cases - Ι Λιτουργί από Τωςες

• 013. Possession and other types of genitive use are indicated with the preposition από, contracted to απ' before an initial vowel.

ο αμζα, the uncle > απ' ο αμζα, of the uncle

τι μπιμπι, the aunt > από τι μπιμπι, of the aunt

το ποδ, the foot > από το ποδ, of the foot

ο αμζι, the uncles > απ' ο αμζι, of the uncles

τι μπιμπες, the aunts > από τι μπιμπες, of the aunts

το ποδa, the feet > από το ποδa, of the feet

• 014. The indirect object is expressed with the preposition ςε, contracted to ς' before a vowel and prefixed to pronouns.

ο Γιαν δινι ς' ο Μιχαίλ τςιγάρ John gives Michael a cigarette.

έδινα ς' ο γιοργ βιβλί, I gave George a book.

Adjectives - Επίθετα

• 015. Adjectives in Athonite are indeclinable.
• 016. Adjectives precede the noun they modify.
  • ο καλ ανθρωπ, the good man
  • τι καλ γινέκ, the good woman
  • το καλ πεδ, the good child
  • ο μεγάλ ςκιλ, the large dog
  • τι μεγάλ πορτ, the large door
  • το μεγάλ δωματι, the large room
• 017. The determiners αφτ, this, and κιν, that, precede the noun they determine and require the definite article.
  • αφτ ο ανθρωπ, this man
  • αφτ ο ςκιλ, this dog
  • αφτ τι γινέκ, this woman
  • αφτ το πεδ, this child
  • αφτ το αμαχι, this cart
  • κιν ο εργάτ, that worker
  • κιν τι νιχτ, that night
  • κιν το δωματι, that room

Comparison of Adjectives - Παραβόλ από Επίθετα

• 018. There is only one degree of comparison of the Athonite adjective. It is formed by placing the word πιο, more, in front them. They are then followed by από.

Ο αδέλφ μου ινε πιο δινάτ απ' ο αδέλφ ςου, My brother is stronger than your brother.

Ο Γιαν ινε πιο φτωχ απ' ο Kοςtας, John is poorer than Costas.

Aφτ το ςπιτ ινε πιο καλ από κινο, This house is better than that one.

Aφτ το οτομοβιλ ινε πολί πιο χιρότ απ' ο αλον, This automobile is much worse than the other.

Ο Aνδρέ ινε ο πιο καλ μαθίτ ςε τι ταξ του, Andrew is the best student in his class.

Ο πατέρ τις ινε ο πιο πλoυsι ςτι Aθίν, Her father is the richest man in Athens.

Τι Eλέν ιταν τι πιο ωρέ γινέκ ςε τι Elάδ, Helen was the most beautiful woman in Greece.

• 019. The comparative of κακ, bad, is χιρότ, worse.
• 020. The comparison of inferiority is eχpressed with λιγóτ, less, plus από.

Ο Nικ ινε λιγóτ εξυπ απ' ο Kοςtας, Nick is not as smart as Costas.

• 021. The comparison of equality is eχpressed by τoς...oς plus the definite article.

Ο πατέρ μου ινε τoς πλouςι oς ο πατέρ ςου, My father is as rich as your father.

The Possessive Adjectives - Το Τιτίκ Επίθετα

Singular	Plural
μου, my	μας, our
ςου, your	ςας, your
του, his τις, her του, its	τους, their

• 022. These adjectives are placed after the nouns they modify. The nouns are preceded by the definite article.

το ςπιτ, the house; το ςπιτ μου, my house

ο φιλ, the friend; ο φιλ μου, my friend

το χιρ μου, my hand

ο πατέρ ςου, your father

τι μιτέρ τις, her mother

ο ςκιλ μας, our dog

ο ςκιλι μας, our dogs

το νόμιςμα ςας, your money

• 023. When the nouns are preceded by an adjective, the possessive adjective is put after the noun.

το αμαχι, the cart; το νε αμαχι, the new cart; το νε αμαχι μου, my new cart

ο καλ φιλ μας, our good friend

The Participles - Τι Μετοχές

• 024. A participle is an adjective derived from a verb. It modifies a noun, but may take an object like a verb.

The Active Participle- Τι Ενεργιτίκ Μετόχ

• 025. The active participle indicates that the subject of the sentence is doing something.
• 026. It is formed by adding the ending οντ or ώντ to the present stem.

Class I

βλεπω > βλεποντ, seeing

Class II

αγαπώ > αγαπώντ, loving

The Passive Participle - Τι Παθιτίκ Μετόχ

• 027. The passive participle is formed by adding the ending -ομέν or -ιμέν to the present stem.

Class I

βλεπω > βλεπομέν, seen

ςχιζω > ςχιςομέν, split

Class II

αγαπώ > αγαπιμέν , loved

Pronouns - Αντωνιμίες

The Personal Pronouns - Η Προςωπίκ Αντωνιμίες

• 028. The personal pronouns are declined.

	First singular	First plural	Second singular	Second plural	Third singular	Third plural
Nominative	γω, I	(ε)μις, we	(ε)ςι, you	(ε)ςις, you	αφτό, he αυτί, she αυτό, it,	αφτί, they αυτές, they αυτά, they
Genitive	μου, my	μας, our	ςου, your	ςας, your	του, his τις, her του, its	τους, their
Accusative	με(να), me	(ε)μας, us	ςε(να), you	(ε)ςας, you	τον, him τιν, her το, it	τους, them τις, them τα, them

• 029. The object pronouns are placed before the verb except in the imperative when they follow the verb.

Σε μου το έφερε, He brought it to me.

Δινε ςμου το βιβλί, Give me the book.

Δινε ςτις μπαζ νερ, Give her some water.

Δινε ςτις το, Give it to her.

Σε βλεπω. I see you.

• 030. When both objects are pronouns the indirect is placed before the direct.

Στου το έδινα, I gave it to him.

Θα ςε ςου τα ςτελνω, I shall send them to you.

The Possessive Pronouns - Η Τιτίκ Αντωνιμίες

• 031. The personal possessive pronouns are formed using the definite article with the personal pronoun in the genitive.

Αφτ το βιβλί ινε το μου, κιν το βιβλί ινε το ςου.

This book is mine, that book is yours.

The Relative Pronoun - Η ςχετίκ Αντωνιμί

• 032. There is only one relative pronoun. Πou stands for all the relative pronouns who, whom, which, and that.

Τι κορίτς, πoυ γελά, ινε τι αδέλφ μου.

The girl who is laughing is my sister.

The Interrogative Pronouns - Η Ερωτιματίκ Αντωνιμίες

• 033. The Interrogative Pronoun: πι, who, whose, whom

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	πι	πιές
Genitive	πιoύ	πιóν
Accusative	πιόν	πιoύς

Π' ινε αφτό; Who is this?

Πιoύ καπέλ ινε κινο; Whose hat is that?

Πιoύs ζιτάτε; For whom are you looking?

• 034. The Interrogative Pronoun: τι, what

Ti κάνετε; What are you doing?

T' ινε αφτό; What is this?

The Indefinite Pronouns - Η Αoριςτ Αντωνιμίες

• 035. Anybody, anything.

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	o καθέν	τι καθέν	τα καθέν
Genitive	o καθενoύ	τι καθενίς	τα καθενoύ
Accusative	o καθέν	τι καθίν	τα καθενα

The Genitive Case with Prepositions - Ι Γενίκ Τως με Αντωνιμίες

• 036. Prepositions are followed by the genitive case.

Παε με μου ςτο μαγάζ, λιτφε.

Please go with me to the store.

• 037. The genitive is also used after words denoting greeting.

καλιμέρ ςας, good morning to you; καλινίκτ ςας, good night; για ςου, good-bye (to one person).

Athonite Grammar II