21

Second Declension Nouns

1. Masculine and Feminine

Nouns in this declension are mostly MASCULINE and use endings similar to the masculine definite article. The nominative singular, however, adds –ς. The few FEMININE nouns in this declension use exactly the same endings as the masculine. Only the article marks their feminine gender.

Most NOUN STEMS of the second declension end in –ο. As with the first declension, the vowel stem combines with the SECOND DECLENSION case endings in a stable, consistent way, so you actually learn the stem vowel and the personal ending together as one combined case ending (S 229). Note that the endings for the nominative and accusative singular, as well as the nominative plural, are short. All other endings are long (S 231; GPH p. 5).

ὁ λόγος –ου word

ἡ νῆσος -ου island

ὁ ἀδελφός -οῦ brother

ὁ κίνδυνος -ου danger

ALL MASCULINE (AND FEMININE) NOUNS OF THE 2nd DECLENSION form their vocative with –ε in place of –ος.

• παραδίδως, ὦ ἀδελφέ, τὴν πατρίδα.
  • Brother, you are betraying your country.
  • ἀδελφός → ἀδελφέ (voc.)

2. Accent of Second Declension Nouns

Like some FIRST DECLENSION nouns, e.g. τιμή -ῆς, second declension nouns can have a persistent accent on the ultima of all inflected forms. When this happens, a CIRCUMFLEX is used on the genitive and dative, singular and plural; an ACUTE accent falls on the nominative and accusative, singular and plural.

Unlike the first declension, the accent of the GENITIVE PLURAL of second declension nouns is not inevitably drawn to the ultima.

3. Neuter 

Second declension NEUTER nouns follow the NEUTER LAWS that we learned earlier during our study of third declension nouns. Namely:

1. The NOMINATIVE and ACCUSATIVE SINGULAR must be IDENTICAL.
2. The NOMINATIVE and ACCUSATIVE PLURAL also must be IDENTICAL, and end in a short –α.
3. Whenever any NEUTER noun is the subject of a verb, the verb is regularly 3rd PERSON SINGULAR, even if the neuter subject is plural!

ACCENT RULES for neuter nouns follow those of masculine second declension nouns (S 231; GPH p. 5):

τὸ ἔργον -ου deed, work

τὸ πρόσωπον -ου face, mask, person

τὸ σημεῖον -ου sign

4. ναῦς, νοῦς, and νεώς

In Classical Greek, it is easy to confuse these two nouns:

• νοῦς, νοῦ ὁ mind
• νεώς, νεώ ὁ temple

Let us take a look at how they can be distinguished from each other.

ὁ νοῦς, νοῦ mind

This is a regular second declension noun in MOST DIALECTS, and is inflected as follows in those dialects.

As you may suspect by now, ATTIC GREEK contracts the όο/όω combinations, and accents the results accordingly (S 235; GPH p. 6). Note the circumflexes!

ὁ νοῦς, νοῦ mind (Classical Attic)

2. ὁ νεώς, νεώ temple

This noun is one of a handful of second declension nouns with a nominative singular ending in –εως. This noun in other GREEK DIALECTS actually end in –ηος or –ᾱος.

For example, in Homer, the noun uses –η:

For Doric and other dialects, including Koine, the noun uses –ᾱ:

In ATTIC GREEK, however, TRANSFERENCE OF QUANTITY led to the length of the two adjoining vowels (long η/α and short ο) being switched (short ε and long ω). So while the Athenians would say and write νεώς, almost every other Greek in the Mediterranean would say and write νηός or νᾱός. This change in pronunciation is so peculiar to the Athenians and their Attic dialect that SECOND DECLENSION –εως nouns are called ATTIC DECLENSION NOUNS (S 237-238).

Only two words in our vocabulary list belong to the ATTIC DECLENSION: νεώς, νεώ temple and λεώς, λεώ the people, folk. Both inflect the same (S 238; GPH p. 7). While studying their inflection, note the following characteristics:

• The original noun stem vowel (long η/α) shortens to ε.
• ο and ου become ω
• οι becomes ῳ
• The accent of the nominative singular – acute on the ultima – is kept throughout all forms!

νεώς, νεώ ὁ temple (Classical Greek)

– τὸ τέλος –