Athonite Grammar

GRAMMAR OF ATHONITE, THAT IS, THE GREEK DIALECT SPOKEN IN THE SERENE MONASTIC REPUBLIC OF THE HOLY MOUNTAIN

Introduction - Ειςαγώγ

• 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; η > ι.
• Double letters have been eliminated.
• σ has been replaced by ς.
• Some initial consonant clusters have been simplified, e.g., κτ > τ; πτ > τ.
• 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.

Pronunciation Table - Πίνακα τις Προφορά

Greek	α	αυ	β	γ	γγ	γκ	γξ	γχ	δ	ε	ει	ευ	ζ	ι	θ	κ	λ	μ	μπ	ν	ντ	ξ	ο	ου	π	ρ	ς	τ	τζ	υ	φ	χ	ψ	ω
Latin	a	af	v	g	ng	nk	ngks	nch	dh	e	i	ef	z	i	th	k	l	m	b	n	d	ks	ǫ	u	p	r	s	t	z	u	f	ch	ps	o
IPA	/a/1	/af/2	/v/	/ɣ/3	/ŋ/	/g/	/ŋks/	/ŋç/	/ð/	/ε/	/i/	/εf/4	/z/	/i/5	/θ/	/k/	/l/	/m/	/b/	/n/	/d/	/ks/	/ɔ/	/u/	/p/	/r/	/s/6	/t/	/ʣ/	/y/	/f/	/ç/	/ps/	/o/

Notes - Σιμείωςι

• ¹ when accented, otherwise /ʌ/.
• ² before voiceless consonants, /av/ before voiced consonants.
• ³ /ɣ/ before α, ο, ου, and ω; /j/ before ε, ι, υ.
• ⁴ before voiceless consonants, /εv/ before voiced consonants.
• ⁵ /j/ between vowels.
• ⁶ /z/ before voiced consonants.

Grammar - Γραματίκ

The Definite Article - Το Συγκεκριμέν Αρθ

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

Uses of the definite article - Χριςι του Συγκεκριμέν Αρθ

1. Before proper names, e.g., Ο Γιοργ εινε καλ πεδ; George is a good boy.
2. Before the names of places, e.g., Ι αθιν εινε ι πρotεvυς απ' ι Elάδ; Athens is the capital of Greece.
3. Before the names of streets, e.g., Mένo ς' ι οδό Σταδí; I live on Stadium Street.
4. Before titles of names of professions followed by a person's name, e.g., Ο γατ Eυγενιδες κιρ εινε πolύ πloυς; Dr. Eugenides is very rich.
5. Before nouns used in an abstract or general sense, e.g., I ιλικρινι εινε ι πιo μεγάλ αρεt; Sincerity is the greatest virtue.
6. Before nouns designating parts of the body or personal articles of clothing, e.g., To μαλιά απ' ι Mαρíα εινε χανθ; Mary's hair is blond.
7. Before nouns modified by a possessive adjective which follows the noun, e.g., Ο αδελφ μου ο Γιαν εχι καλ δoυλί; My brother John has a good job.
8. Before nouns modified by a demonstrative which always follows the noun e.g., I κοπέλ αυτ εινε πολύ oρέ; This girl is very beautiful.
9. Before a noun indicating a class of objects or persons, e.g., Ο πoλίςι εινε αυςτίρ; 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 ανθρoπ, 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 γυνέκ, the woman.
• 006. Neuter nouns are those preceded in the nominative case by the definite article το', e.g., το γραfί, the office; το πεδ, the child.

Noun Formation - Σχηματίς απ' Ουςιαςτικα

• 007. Athonite nouns are formed by dropping the nominative singular ending of the Greek noun.
• 008. The accent remains on the same stem if it is in the root, e.g., πατέρας > πατέρ.
• 009. If the accent is on the ending, it reverts to the final syllable, e.g., αδελφός > αδέλφ.
• 010. Some neuter nouns end in -ίον. These nouns drop the -ον to end in -ί, e.g., χαρτίον > χαρτί.
• 011. Nouns of the third declension, characterized by an increase in the genitive, use the genitive stem for the nominative, e.g., ελπίς, ελπίδος > ελπίδ.
• 012. Nouns the root of which end in -Cr, -Cn, and -Cl drop the -Cx, e.g., δένδρος gives the Athonite δενδ. These nouns then restore the dropped consonant in the plural, δενδρι.

The Plural - Ο Πλιθυντικό

• 013. Nouns form their plurals by adding a suffix to the word.
• 014. Masculine nouns of whatever type in Greek, add -ι.

ο αδέλφ, the brother, ο αδελφί, the brothers

ο ανθρoπ, the man, ο άνθρoπι, the men

ο εργάτ, the worker, ο εργάτι, the workers

• 015. Feminine nouns of whatever type in Greek, add -ι.

ι αδέλφ, the sister, ι αδελφί, the sisters

ι μερ, the day, ι μερι , the days

ι vαρκ, the boat, ι vαρκι, the boats

• 016. Neuter nouns which end in -μα add -τα.

το χρομα, the color; το χρόματα, the colors

• 017. Other neuter nouns add -α.

το τςιγάρ, the cigarette, το τςιγαρα, the cigarettes

το αμαχι, the cart, το αμάχια, the carts

• 018. There are a few irregular plurals:

το φος, the light; το φοτα, the colors

The Function of Cases - Η Λειτουργί απο Τωςι

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

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

ι θι, the aunt > απ' ι θι, of the aunt

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

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

ι θίι, the aunts > απ' ι θίι, of the aunts

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

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

ο Γιαν δίνει σ' ο Μιχαήλ δωρ John gives Michael a cigarette.

έδοςα σ' ο γιοργ βιβλί, I gave George a book.

• 021. When the objects are pronouns the indirect is placed in front of the direct and in front of the verb.

Στου έδοςα βιβλί , I gave him a book.

Θα ςε ςου ςτειλ το πράματα, I shall send you the things.

• 022. When the verb is in the imperative the pronouns are placed after it.

Δοςε ςτις μπαζ ςου, Give her some water.

Δοςε ςτις το, Give it to her.

Adjectives - Επίθετα

• 023. Adjectives in Athonite are indeclinable. They are derived from Modern Greek adjectives in the same way as the nouns.
• 024. Adjectives precede the noun they modify.
  • ο καλ άνθροπ, the good man
  • ι καλ γυνέκ, the good woman
  • το καλ πεδ, the good child
  • ο μεγάλ κιπ, the large garden
  • ι μεγάλ πορτ, the large door
  • το μεγάλ δoμάτi, the large room
• 025. The adjectives αυτ, this, and εκίν, that, follow the noun they modify. The noun requires the definite article.
  • ο άνθρoπ αυτ, this man
  • ο κιπ αυτ, this garden
  • ι γυνέκ αυτ, this woman
  • το πεδ αυτ, this child
  • το αμαχi αυτ, this cart
  • ο εργάτ εκίν, that worker
  • ι νυχτ εκίν, that night
  • το δωματι εκίν, that room

Comparison of Adjectives - Συγκρις απ' Επίθετα

• 026. Adjectives form the comparative degree by placing the word πιο, 'more', in front them. They are then followed by από.

ο αδέλφ μου εινε πιο δυνάτ απ' ο αδέλφ ςου, my brother is stronger than your brother.

ο Γιαν πιο φτοχ εινε απ' ο Kοςtας, John is poorer than Costas.

το ςπιτ αυτ εινε πιο καλ απ' εκίν, This house is better than that one.

το αφτοκεινετ αυτ εινε πολύ πιο χιρότ απ' ο άλον, This automobile is much worse than the other.

• 027. Adjectives form the superlative degree by placing the definite article before the comparative form and the preposition ςε after it.

ο Aνδρέ εινε ο πιο καλ mαθίτ ς' ι ταχ του, Andrew is the best pupil in his class.

ο πατέρ τις εινε ο πιο πλoυsι ς' ι αθίν, Her father is the richest man in Athens.

I Eλέν ίτε ι πιο oρέ γυνέκ ς' ι Elάδ, Helen was the most beautiful woman in Greece.

• 028. The comparative of κακ, bad, is χειρότ, worse.
• 029. The comparison of inferiority is eχpressed with λιγóτ, 'less', plus από.

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

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

ο πατέρ μου εινε 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

• 031. 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

ι μιτέρ τις, her mother

ο κίπ μας, our garden

ο κίπι μας, our gardens

το lεπτ ςας, your money

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

το αμάχι, the cart; το κενύρ αμάχι, the new cart; το κενύρ αμάχι μου, my new cart

ο καλ φιλ μας, our good friend

The Active Participle - Ι Ενέργ Μετοχί

• 053. A participle is an adjective derived from a verb. It modifies a noun, but may take an object like a verb.
• 034. The active participle indicates that the subject of the sentence is doing something.
• 035. It is formed by adding the ending to the present stem.

Class I

βλεπω > βλεποντ, seeing

Class II

αγαπώ > αγαπώντ, loving

The Passive Participle - Ι Παθιτίκ Μετοχί

• The passive participle is formed by adding the ending -μεν to the present stem.

• Class I
  • βλεπo > βλέπομεν, seen

• Class II
  • αγαπώ > αγαπαμέν, loved

Pronouns - Αντωνυμι

The Personal Pronouns - Η Προςωπίκ Αντωνυμι

• 036. The personal pronouns are declined.

	First singular	First plural	Second singular	Second plural	Third singular	Third plural
Nominative	γo, I	(ε)μείς, we	(ε)σύ, you	(ε)σείς, you	αυτό, he αυτί, she αυτό, it,	αυτί, 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)μαs, us ςε(να), you (ε)ςας, you τον, him
τιν, her
το, it τους, them
τις, them
τα, them

• 037. 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.

δος ςε μου το βιβλί, Give me the book.

• 038. The negative word precedes the object pronoun.

δεν του το έδoςα, I did not give it to him.

The Possessive Pronouns - Η Τιτίκ Αντωνυμι

• 039. The personal possessive pronouns are formed using the personal pronoun in the genitive and the definite article.

το βιβλί αυτ εινε το μου, το βιβλί εκίν εινε το ςου, This book is mine, that book is yours.

====The Genitive Pronouns with Prepositions - Η Γενίκ Αντωνυμι με Προθεσι

• 040. The genitive of the pronoun may be used after certain prepositions, adverbs or adjectives.

μαζί μου, with me; μονος του, alone (by himself); κοντά του, near him.

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

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

The Relative Pronoun - Η Σχετίκ Αντωνύμ

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

I κοπέλ, πou γελά, εινε ι αδέλφ μου, The girl who is laughing is my sister.

The Interrogative Pronoun - Η Ερωτιματίκ Αντωνύμ

• 043. The Interrogative Pronoun: who, whose, whom

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	πι	πιές
Genitive	πιoύ	πιóν
Accusative	πιόν	πιoύς

Π' εινε αυτό; Who is this?

Πιoύ εινε το καπέλ εκίν; Whose hat is that?

Πιoύs ζιτάτε; For whom are you looking?

• 044. What? = ti.

Ti κάνετε; What are you doing?

T' εινε αυτό; What is this?

Verbs - Ρίματα

Verb Classes - Η Ταξις από το Ρίματα

• 045. The Athonite verb has been influenced by Turkish to the extent that the many tenses present in Classical and Demotic Greek have been reduced to six.
• 046. The six tenses are the present, the past, and the future, and their perfect counterparts.
• 047. Athonite verbs are divided into two classes, those in which the personal ending is not accented (I) and those in which the personal ending is accented (II).
• 048. The endings on the verbs are changed to denote person and number.

The Auxiliary Verbs - Το Βοιθιτίκ Ρίματα

• 049. The auxiliary verbs are two of the few remaining irregular verbs.

εχω, I have

	Present	Past	Future
1st singular	εχω, I have	ειχα, I had	θα εχω, I shall have
2nd singular	εχις, you have	ειχες, you had	θα εχις, you will have
3rd singular	εχι, he, she, it has	ειχε, he, she, it had	θα εχι, he, she, it will have
1st plural	έχομε, we have	είχαμε, we hadεί	θα έχομε, we shall have
2nd plural	έχετε, you have	είχaτε, you had,	θα έχετε, you will have
3rd plural	εχoυν, they have	ειχαν, they had	θα εχoυν, they will have

ειμe, I am

	Present	Past	Future
1st singular	ειμε, I am,	ειμουν, I was	θα ειμε, I shαll be
2nd singular	ειςε, you are	ειςουν, you weeε	θα ειςε, you will be
3rd singular	εινε, he, she, it is	ειταν, he, she, it wαs	θα εινε, he, she, it will be
1st plural	έμmαςτε, wε are	είμαςταν, wε were	θα είμαςτε, we shall be
2nd plural	ειςτε, you arε	είςαςτε, you were	θα ειςτε, you will be
3rd plural	εινε, they are	ειταν, they were	θα εινε, they will be

The Active Voice - Η Ενέργ Φων

• 050. The active voice denotes that the agent is doing the action of the verb.

The Present Tense - Ο Ενεστώτ Χρονο

Class I

	Singular	Plural
1st singular	βλεπω', I see	βλέπouμε, we see
2nd singular	βλεπεις, you see	βλέπετε, you see
3rd singular	βλεπει, he, she, it sees	βλεπουν, they see

Class II

	Singular	Plural
1st singular	αγαπώ, I love	αγαπάμε, we love
2nd singular	αγαπάς, you love	αγαπάέτε, you love
3rd singular	αγαπά, he, she, it loves	αγαπάν, they love

The Past Tense - Ο Παρατατίκ Χρονο

• 051. The past tense is formed using endings different from the present and by removing the accent to the third syllable from the end.
• 052. When there is no third syllable, the augment ε- is added.

Class I

	Singular	Plural
1st sg.	έβλεπςα, I saw, was seeing	βλέπςαμε, we saw, were seeing
2nd singular	έβλεπςες, you saw, were seeing	βλέπςατε, you saw, were seeing
3rd singular	έβλεπςε, he, she, it saw, was seeing	έβλεπςαν, they saw, were seeing

Class II

	Singular	Plural
1st singular	άγαpςα, I loved, was loving	αγάpςαμε, we loved, were loving
2nd singular	άγαpςeς, you loved, were loving	αγάpςατε, you loved, were loving
3rd singular	άγαpςε, he, she, it loved, was loving	άγαpςαν, they loved, were loving

The Future Tense - Ο Μελοντίκ Χρονο

053. The future tense is formed by putting the particle θα before the present tense.

Class I

	Singular	Plural
1st singular	θa βλεπω, I shall see	θa βλέπouμε, we shall see
2nd singular	θa βλεπεις, you will see	θa βλέπετε, you will see
3rd singular	θa βλεπει, he, she, it will see	θa βλεπουν, they will see

Class II

	Singular	Plural
1st singular	θ' αγαπώ, I love	θ' αγαπάμε, we love
2nd singular	θ' αγαπάς, you love	θ' αγαπάτε, you love
3rd singular	θ' αγαπά, he, she, it loves	θ' αγαπάν, they love

The Present Perfect Tense - Ο Παρακείμεν Χρονο

• 054. The perfect tenses are not used as frequently in Athonite as they are in English, the past tense usually being used.
• 055. The present perfect tense is formed by the present tense of the auxiliary verb εχω, I have, and the passive participle.
• 056. The present perfect tense is used to denote an event of the past which has a bearing on the present.

	Singular	Plural
1st singular	εχω βλέπομεν, I have seen	έχoυμe βλέπομεν, we have seen
2nd singular	εχεις βλέπομεν, you have seen	έχετε βλέπομεν, you have seen
3rd singular	εχει βλέπομεν, he, she, it has seen	εχουν βλέπομεν, they have seen

The Past Perfect Tense - Ο Υπερςυντελικ Χρονο

• 057. The past perfect tense is more frequent than the present perfect. It is used to denote an event of the past which occurred before another event of the past.
• 058. The past perfect tense is formed by the past tense of the auχiliary verb εχω and the passive participle.

	Singular	Plural
1st singular	ειχα βλέπομεν, I had seen	ειχαμε βλέπομεν, we had seen
2nd singular	ειχεs βλέπομεν, you had seen	ειχατε βλέπομεν, you had seen
3rd singular	ειχε βλέπομεν, he, she, it had seen	ειχαν βλέπομεν, they had seen

The Future Perfect Tense - Ο Συντελεσμέν Μελοντ Χρονο

• 059. The future perfect tense is used to denote an event in the future which will have occurred before another event in the future.
• 060. The future perfect tense is formed by the future tense of the auχiliary verb εχo and the passive participle.

	Singular	Plural
1st singular	θa εχω βλέπομεν, I shall have seen	θa έχoυμε βλέπομεν, we shall have seen
2nd singular	θa εχειs βλέπομεν, you will have seen	θa εχετε βλέπομεν, you will have seen
3rd singular	θa εχει βλέπομεν, he, she, it will have seen	θa εχoυν βλέπομεν, they will have seen

• 061. The active participle is used with the appropriate tense of ειμε, 'I am', to form progressive tenses.

present	past	future	present perfect	past perfect	future perfect
ειμε βλεποντ I am seeing, etc.	ειμουν βλεποντ I was seeing, etc.	θα ειμε βλεποντ I will be seeing, etc.	εχω ειμεν βλεποντ I have been seeing, etc.	ειχα ειμεν βλεποντ I had been seeing, etc.	θα εχω ειμεν βλεποντ I will have been seeing, etc.