Topics Covered in Elementary Greek

For the past several years I have used From Alpha to Omega by Anne Groton as the basic text for Greek 1 and 2 at Tufts. This list shows the topics we cover in the course.

Phonology, orthography, prosody, metrics

Covered in Greek 1 Covered in Greek 2 For Greek 7 and beyond
the alphabet
pronunciation
pitch vs. stress
sandhi rules: n-movable, forms of ou) and e)k, change to grave accent, elision
labial, dental, palatal consonants; aspirate and non-aspirate; voiced and unvoiced
long and short vowels, diphthongs
principles of accent: nouns persistent, finite verbs recessive
enclitics
proclitics
contraction: in augment, in contract verbs, in s-stem nouns
simplification of consonant clusters
reduplication, dissimilation of aspirates
sound shifts in Indo-European and within Greek
long and short syllables; long by nature or by position; Attic correption
iambic trimeter, dactylic hexameter, elegiac couplet, anapest
princeps, biceps, anceps positions; resolution of princeps, contraction of biceps
catalexis
crasis
quantitative metathesis
trochaic meters
Porson's Law for the iambic trimeter
aeolic meters: glyconic, pherecratean
principle of strophic responsion
mixed-meter lyrics
dialects, especially as used in drama
mixed-meter lyrics
aeolic meters: reizianum, choriambic dimeter, sapphic stanza, alcaic stanza
internal expansion in aeolics
dochmiac meter
ionic meter
cretic and bacchiac metra
dialects: Ionic (Herodotus), Koine (New Testament), Doric (choral poetry), epic, and in general
alphabets and evolution of letter forms

Morphology

Covered in Greek 1 Covered in Greek 2 For Greek 7 and beyond
root, stem, endings, affixes
nouns: principal parts; first, second, third declensions
definite article
adjectives: principal parts; first-and-second, first-and-third, third declensions
adjectives of two or three endings
pronouns: demonstratives, personal, reflexive, relative, interrogative, indefinite
w-verbs (thematic verbs): principal parts and stem formation
present system: indicative, imperative, infinitive, participle, all voices
imperfect indicative
future system: indicative, imperative, infinitive, participle, active and middle
aorist system: indicative, imperative, infinitive, participle, active and middle, first (sigmatic) and second (strong) aorist
perfect system: indicative, imperative, infinitive, participle, all voices
pluperfect indicative
contract verbs
irregular verb ei)mi/
third declension: i-stems, u-stems, and -er stems
pronoun ou)dei/s
locative and directional suffixes
common irregular nouns
regular formation of adverbs from adjectives
comparison of adjectives and adverbs
numerals: cardinal, ordinal, adverbial
mi-verbs (athematic verbs): principal parts and stem formation
subjunctive and optative moods, all voices
aorist passive, future passive, in all moods
root aorist (third or athematic aorist)
verbal adjectives of necessity and of capability
irregular verbs oi)=da, ei)=mi, fhmi/, h)mi/
dual forms of nouns and adjectives
dual forms of verbs
Attic declension
less common irregular verbs and nouns
basics of derivational morphology

Syntax

Covered in Greek 1 Covered in Greek 2 For Greek 7 and beyond
how to parse a form
the three concords
nominative: subject of a finite verb, predicate nominative
genitive: with prepositions, possession, agent with u(po/, price or value, time within which
dative: indirect object, possession with e)sti, with prepositions, means, manner, time when
accusative: direct object, subject of an infinitive, with prepositions, extent of time
vocative: direct address
substantivized adjectives
attribute and predicate position for adjectives and other modifiers
use of active, middle, passive voices
aspect
nominal sentences
singular verb with neuter plural subject
subordinate clauses: temporal, causal (with e)pei/ or w(s)
relative clauses
complementary infinitive
direct questions
indirect questions
participles: attributive, circumstantial, supplementary
particles: sentence connection, post-positive words, correlation
genitive: absolute, of comparison, partitive, subjective, objective
dative: agent, degree of difference
accusative: of respect, absolute, cognate
prolepsis or anticipation
attraction of relative pronouns
deponent verbs
subjunctive: hortatory, deliberative
optative: wish, potential
infinitive: object, subject, articular
pri/n plus infinitive
conditional sentences, conditional relative clauses, conditional temporal clauses
result clauses
purpose clauses
fear clauses
effort clauses
prohibitions
verbs of hindering or forbidding
indirect discourse
sequence of moods
use of mh/ ou) and ou) mh/
historic present
gnomic aorist
mixed conditionals
elliptical conditionals
subordinate clauses in indirect discourse
attraction or assimilation of mood
pri/n plus finite verb

Lexicon

Covered in Greek 1 Covered in Greek 2 For Greek 7 and beyond
vocabulary through chapter 26 of textbook
words in first 50% of your play, except mi-verbs and irregular nouns
remaining vocabulary in textbook
words occurring more than once in Xenophon's Apology
words in first 70% of your play
total vocabulary of about 600 words
remainder of the 1000 most frequent words
words in first 80% of any text you read (and, ideally, first 90-95%)
remainder of the 200,000 or more words in Ancient Greek

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