Greek 12 Aorist imperatives

Greek 12 (Feb. 11, 2011): Aorist imperatives The first aorist imperatives are tricky because –ον and –αι figure as verb endings elsewhere and because RG’s paradigm verb, παύω is monosyllabic in ways that make it hard to deduce what the accentuation is for other verbs. In the aorist accents matter for meaning. There are two ways that circumflexes show up in the conjugation of the aorist· (1) A standard rule· A long penult before a short ultima, if accented, must bear the circumflex (πεῖσον, πεῖσαι [imper.]). (Remember that the circumflex occurs only on long syllables). We’ve seen this rule before: εἶπον, εἶπες, εἶπε, εἴπομεν, εἴπετε, εἶπον. Also imperatives (παῦε but παύετε). The accent on the 1st aorist active and middle imperative is recessive but, with monosyllabic stems, can turn into a circumflex if (rule 1, above) that syllable is long: πεῖσαι, παῦσαι; but ἄρξαι from ἄρχω (ᾰρχ-). RG’s examples παῦσον / παῦσαι are in a small category (#198, p. 189). (Recall that, though a diphthong, the –αι is short both in the 1st aor. middle singular imperative and active infinitive.) (2) The accent on the 1st aorist active infinitive is always on the penult (circumflex if long [πεῖσαι, ἀκοῦσαι, ποιῆσαι]; acute if short [πράξαι from πράττω]). Act. 2s. Act. 2pl. Middle 2s. Middle 2pl. [Acc. recess.*] [Acc. [Acc. recessive] recessive] Act. aor. INFINITIVE Πείθω πεῖσον (1) πείσατε πεῖσαι (1) πείσασθε πεῖσαι (2) Ἀκούω ἄκουσον (1) ἀκούσατε ἄκουσαι (1) άκούσασθε ἀκοῦσαι (2) κατηγορέω κατηγόρησον (1) κατη- κατη- κατη- κατη- γορήσατε γόρησαι (1) γορήσασθε γορῆσαι (2) ποίησαι (1) ποιήσασθε ποιῆσαι (2) ποίεω ποίησον (1) ποίησατε Λέγω εἰπέ* εἴπετε Γίγνομαι εἰπεῖν γενοῦ γένεσθε Λανθάνω λάθε* λάθετε λαθοῦ λάθεσθε λαθεῖν Πάσχω πάθε* πάθετε παθοῦ πάθεσθε παθεῖν A way to keep the accents sorted out is to remember that of aorist infinitives, only the 1st middle is recessive; the others are all quirkish: Active Middle 1st ἀκοῦσαι ἁκούσασθαι [recessive] 2nd λαθεῖν λαθέσθαι All Passive ἀκουσθῆναι, ῥηθῆναι, ποιηθῆναι AORIST INFINITVES: ONLY ‘ –ασασθαι IS RECESSIVE. All of the aorist active and middle imperatives are recessive (table above) except the 2nd aorist singular middle (λαβοῦ)*, though rule (1) sometimes yields a circumflex with the 1st singular active and middle (πεῖσον, πεῖσαι; παῦσον, παῦσαι). AORIST IMPERATIVE: ONLY -οῦ IS NON-RECESSIVE. (Even the aorist passive imperative, which we haven’t encounter is recessive: ‘-θητι / ’ –θητε.) __________ *An issue so nasty I won’t hold you responsible for it. The accent on the 2nd aorist active imperative is recessive: λάθε, πάθε, μάθε, ἕλε [αἰρέω, εἶλον]. There are, however, five exceptions: ἐλθέ [ἔρχομαι > ἦλθον]; εἰπέ [λέγω > εἶπον], ἰδέ [ὁράω > εἶδον]; λαβέ [λαμβάνω > ἔλαβον]; εὑρέ [εὑρίσκω > ηὗρον]. RG has given you only exceptions [λαβέ, εἰπέ ἐλθέ], for unfathomable reasons. Shocking.