Athonite Grammar I

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

Grammar

Nouns

• Nouns are divided into three classes known as masculine, feminine, and neuter.
• Masculine nouns are those preceded by the definite article ø, e.g., ø ánþrop, the man; ø pätér, the father. The indefinite article is en, e.g., en kip, a garden.
• Feminine nouns are those preceded by the definite article i, e.g., i pørt, the door; i jinék, the woman. The indefinite article is éni, e.g., én' istørí.
• Neuter nouns are those preceded by the definite article tø, e.g., tø gräfí, the office; tø peð, the child. The indefinite article is énä, e.g., énä ðomát.
• The final vowel is elided when it is the same as the initial vowel of the word following, e.g., én' istørí; én' ämáx.

	definite	indefinite
M.	ø, the	en, a,an
F.	i, the	éni, a, an
N.	tø, the	énä, a, an

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, ø äðélfi, the brothers
    • ø ánþrop, the man, ø ánþropi, the men
    • ø ergát, the worker, ø ergáti, the workers
  • Feminine nouns of whatever class in Greek, add -i.
    • i äðélf, the sister, i äðélfi, the sisters
    • i mer, the day, i méri, the days
    • i vark, the boat, i várki, the boats
  • Neuter nouns of whatever class in Greek, add -a.
    • tø tsigár, the cigarette, tø tsigára, the cigarettes
    • tø ämáxi, the cart, ta ämáxia, the carts
  • Most of the Athonite nouns are formed by deleting the declensional ending of the Greek, e.g., o adelphós > ø äðélf. However, nouns that end in -Cr, -Cn, -Cl, e.g., e déndros, drop the -r which gives the Athonite tø ðend. These nouns keep the -r in the plural, tø ðéndri.
    • tø þeát, the theater, tø þeátra, 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 > tu þi, of the uncle
  • i þi, the aunt > tis þi, of the aunt
  • tø pøð, the foot > tu pøð, of the foot
• The singular indefinite:
  • en þi, an uncle > énøs þi, of an uncle
  • éni þi, an aunt > énis þi, of an aunt
  • énä pøð, a foot > énäs pøð, of the foot
• The plural definite:
  • ø þíi, the uncles > tu þíi, of the uncles
  • i þíi, the aunts > tis þíi, of the aunts
  • tø pǿða, the feet > tu pǿða, of the feet
• The plural indefinite:
  • en þi, some uncles > énøs þíi, of some uncles
  • éni þi, some aunts > énis þíi, of some aunts
  • énä pøð, some feet > énäs pǿða, of some feet
• The genitive case is used to express possession or appurtenance
  • T' ǿnøm tu pätér mu íne Vasíl, the name of my father is Basil.
  • Ø äðélf mu ín' en fil tu Jiórgu, my brother is a friend of George.
  • I pørt tu spít mu íne mav, the door of my house is black.

	definite	indefinite
1.	tu, my	énøs, our
2.	tis, your	énis, your
3.	tu, his tis, her tu, its	énäs, their

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 > tøn pøð, the foot
• The singular indefinite article:
  • en þi, an uncle > énøn þi, an uncle
  • éni þi, an aunt > énin þi, an aunt
  • énä pøð, a foot > énän pøð, the foot
• The plural definite article:
  • ø þis, the uncles > tøn þíi, the uncles
  • i þis, the aunts > tin þíi, the aunts
  • tø pøðs, the feet > tøn pǿða, the feet
• The plural indefinite article:
  • en þi, some uncles > énøn þíi, some uncles
  • éni þi, some aunts > énin þíi, some aunts
  • énä pøð, some feet > énän 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.

	definite	indefinite
1.	tøn, the	énøn, a, an
2.	tin, the	énin, a, an
3.	tøn, his tis, her tu, its	énäs, their

Adjectives

• Adjectives precede the noun they modify.
  • ø käl ánþrop, the good man
  • i käl jinék, the good woman
  • tø käl peð, the good child
  • ø megál kip, the large garden
  • i megál pørt, the large door
  • tø megál ðomát, the large room
• The adjectives äft, 'this' and ekín, 'that' precede the definite article.
  • äft ø ánþrop, this man
  • äft ø kip, this garden
  • äft i jinék, this woman
  • äf' tø ped, this child
  • äf' tø ämáx, this cart
  • ekín ø ergát, that worker
  • ekín i nyht, that night
  • ekín tø ðomát, 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.
  • äft i pørt ðen íne megál, this door is not big.

The Possessive Adjectives

	singular	plural
1.	mu, my	mäs, our
2.	su, your	säs, your
3.	tu, his tis, her tu, its	tus, their

• These adjectives are put after the nouns they modify. The nouns are preceded by the definite article.
  • tø spit, the house; tø spít mu, my house
  • ø fil, the friend; ø fíl mu, my friend
  • tø hér mu, my hand
  • ø pätér su, your father
  • i mitér tis, her mother
  • ø kíp mäs, our garden
  • ø kíps mäs, our gardens
  • tø lépt säs, your money
• The possessive adjectives are enclitics. They have no accent of their own but add a syllable to the word, so that the accent of the preceding word is drawn to them.
  • t' ǿnøm, the name; t' ønǿm mu, my name
  • i ikøjéni, the family; i ikøjení mu, my family
• When the nouns are preceded by an adjective the possessive adjective is put after the noun.
  • tø ämáx, the cart; tø kenúr ämáx, the new cart; tø kenúr ämáx mu, my new cart
  • ø käl 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 plúsi, Michael is rich.
  • Ø äðélf mu íne piø dynát äpǿ tø äðélf su, my brother is stronger than your brother.
  • Ø Gián piø ftóh íne äpǿ tǿn Kóstäs, John is poorer than Costas.
  • Af' tø spit íne piø kál ap' ekín, This house is better than that one.
  • Af' tø äftøkínet íne pølý piø hír äpǿ tøn áløn in, This automobile is much worse than the other.
• Adjectives form the superlative degree by using the definite article before the comparative form and the preposition se after it.
  • Ø André íne ø piø kál mäþít stin tax tu, 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 Elláð, Helen was the most beautiful woman in Greece.

Pronouns

The Personal Pronouns

• First person

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

• Second person

	singular	plural
Nominative	esy, I	esís, we
Genitive	su, 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	tu, his tis, her tou, its	tus, their
Accusative	ton, him tin, her to, it	tus, them tis, them ta, them

The Possessive Pronouns

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

	singular	plural
1.	ðíkmu, my	ðíkmäs, our
2.	ðíksu, your	ðíksis, your
3.	ðíktu, his ðíktis, her ðíktu, its	ðíktus, 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 tu Jiórgu énä vivlí, I gave George a book.
• The genitive could be replaced as follow:
  • Éðøsa énä vivlí sto Jiórgu, 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.,
  • tu tø édøsa, I gave it to him.
• When the verb is in the imperative the pronouns are put after it, e.g.,
  • Ðóse tis lig neró, Give her some water. Mu ípe, He told me. Se íða, I saw you. Þa su stílo tø prámats, I shall send you the things.
• The genitive of the pronoun may also be used after certain prepositions, adverbs or adjectives, e.g., mäzí mu, with me; mǿnøs tu, alone (by himself); kondá tu, near him.
• The genitive is also used after words denoting greeting, e.g., kälimér sas, good morning to you; käliníkt sas, good night; Jía su, Good-bye (to one person).

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