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).
| Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | -ος | -οι |
| Genitive | -ου | -ων |
| Dative | -ῳ | -οις |
| Accusative | -ον | -ους |
ὁ λόγος –ου word
| Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | ὁ λόγος | οἱ λόγοι |
| Genitive | τοῦ λόγου | τῶν λόγων |
| Dative | τῷ λόγῳ | τοῖς λόγοις |
| Accusative | τὸν λόγον | τοὺς λόγους |
ἡ νῆσος -ου island
| Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | ἡ νῆσος | αἱ νῆσοι |
| Genitive | τῆς νήσου | τῶν νήσων |
| Dative | τῇ νήσῳ | ταῖς νήσοις |
| Accusative | τὴν νῆσον | τὰς νήσους |
ὁ ἀδελφός -οῦ brother
| Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | ὁ ἀδελφός | οἱ ἀδελφοί |
| Genitive | τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ | τῶν ἀδελφῶν |
| Dative | τῷ ἀδελφῷ | τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς |
| Accusative | τὸν ἀδελφόν | τοὺς ἀδελφούς |
ὁ κίνδυνος -ου danger
| Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | ὁ κίνδυνος | οἱ κίνδυνοι |
| Genitive | τοῦ κινδύνου | τῶν κινδύνων |
| Dative | τῷ κινδύνῳ | τοῖς κινδύνοις |
| Accusative | τὸν κίνδυνον | τοὺς κινδύνους |
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:
- The NOMINATIVE and ACCUSATIVE SINGULAR must be IDENTICAL.
- The NOMINATIVE and ACCUSATIVE PLURAL also must be IDENTICAL, and end in a short –α.
- 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):
| Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | -ον | -α |
| Genitive | -ου | -ων |
| Dative | -ῳ | -οις |
| Accusative | -ον | -α |
τὸ ἔργον -ου deed, work
| Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | τὸ ἔργον | τὰ ἔργα |
| Genitive | τοῦ ἔργου | τῶν ἔργων |
| Dative | τῷ ἔργῳ | τοῖς ἔργοις |
| Accusative | τὸ ἔργον | τὰ ἔργα |
τὸ πρόσωπον -ου face, mask, person
| Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | τὸ πρόσωπον | τὰ πρόσωπα |
| Genitive | τοῦ προσώπου | τῶν προσώπων |
| Dative | τῷ προσώπῳ | τοῖς προσώποις |
| Accusative | τὸ πρόσωπον | τὰ πρόσωπα |
τὸ σημεῖον -ου sign
| Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | τὸ σημεῖον | τὰ σημεῖα |
| Genitive | τοῦ σημείου | τῶν σημείων |
| Dative | τῷ σημείῳ | τοῖς σημείοις |
| Accusative | τὸ σημεῖον | τὰ σημεῖα |
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.
| Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | νόος | νόοι |
| Genitive | νόου | νόων |
| Dative | νόῳ | νόοις |
| Accusative | νόον | νόους |
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)
| Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | ὁ νοῦς | οἱ νοῖ |
| Genitive | τοῦ νοῦ | τῶν νῶν |
| Dative | τῷ νῷ | τοῖς νοῖς |
| Accusative | τὸν νοῦν | τοὺς νοῦς |
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:
| Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | ὁ νηός | οἱ νηοί |
| Genitive | τοῦ νηοῦ | τῶν νηῶν |
| Dative | τῷ νηῷ | τοῖς νηοῖς |
| Accusative | τὸν νηόν | τοὺς νηούς |
For Doric and other dialects, including Koine, the noun uses –ᾱ:
| Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | ὁ ναός | οἱ ναοί |
| Genitive | τοῦ ναοῦ | τῶν ναῶν |
| Dative | τῷ ναῷ | τοῖς ναοῖς |
| Accusative | τὸν ναόν | τοὺς ναούς |
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)
| Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative | ὁ νεώς | οἱ νεῴ |
| Genitive | τοῦ νεώ | τῶν νεών |
| Dative | τῷ νεῴ | τοῖς νεῴς |
| Accusative | τὸν νεών | τοὺς νεώς |
– τὸ τέλος –
Paradigms, Key Terms and Concepts
- Chapter Paradigms
- SECOND DECLENSION: MASCULINE AND FEMININE
- ACCENT OF SECOND DECLENSION NOUNS
- SECOND DECLENSION: NEUTER
- νοῦς, and νεώς
- ATTIC DECLENSION NOUNS
Vocabulary List 1
Masculine Nouns
- ἀδελφός -οῦ ὁ brother
- ἄνθρωπος -ου ὁ, ἡ human being
- ἀριθμός -οῦ ὁ number
- βίος -ου ὁ life
- δῆμος -ου ὁ people
- δοῦλος -ου ὁ slave
- ἵππος -ου ὁ horse
- ἥλιος -ου ὁ sun
- θάνατος -ου ὁ death
- θεός -οῦ ὁ, ἡ god, goddess
- θυμός -οῦ ὁ soul, spirit
- καιρός -οῦ ὁ the right time
- κίνδυνος -ου ὁ danger
- κόσμος -ου ὁ order; decoration; world
- κύκλος -ου ὁ circle
- κύριος -ου ὁ lord, master
- λίθος -ου ὁ stone
- λόγος -ου ὁ word, speech; thought, reason; account, reckoning
Vocabulary List 2
Masculine Nouns
- νόμος -ου ὁ custom, tradition, law
- νοῦς, νοῦ ὁ mind (other dialects: νόος, νόου)
- ξένος -ου ὁ guest/friend/host; foreigner, stranger
- οἶκος -ου ὁ house, home, family
- οὐρανός -οῦ ὁ sky
- ὀφθαλμός -οῦ ὁ eye
- πολέμιοι -ων οἱ the enemy
- πόλεμος -ου ὁ war
- πόνος -ου ὁ work, stress, trouble, pain
- ποταμός -οῦ ὁ river
- στρατηγός -οῦ ὁ general
- σύμμαχοι -ων οἱ allies
- τόπος -ου ὁ place, topic
- τρόπος -ου ὁ way, turn
- υἱός -οῦ ὁ son
- φόβος -ου ὁ panic, fear
- χρόνος -ου ὁ time
Vocabulary List 3
Feminine Nouns
- ἄνθρωπος -ου ὁ, ἡ human being
- θεός -οῦ ὁ, ἡ god, goddess
- νῆσος -ου ἡ island
- νόσος -ου ἡ disease
- ὁδός -οῦ ἡ road
Attic Declension Nouns
- λεώς, λεώ ὁ the people, folk
- other dialects: λαός -οῦ or ληός -οῦ
- νεώς, νεώ ὁ temple
- other dialects: ναός -οῦ or νηός -οῦ
Neuter Nouns
- ἀργύριον -ου τό money, silver
- βιβλίον -ου τό book
- ἔργον -ου τό deed, work
- ζῷον -ου τό living being, animal
- ἱερόν -οῦ τό temple
- ὅπλον -ου τό weapon, tool (mostly pl.)
- πρόσωπον -ου τό face, mask, person
- σημεῖον -ου τό sign
- στάδιον -ου τό (pl. στάδια or στάδιοι) stadion or stade
- a stade is about 185 meters/202 yards
- τέκνον -ου τό child
- χωρίον -ου τό place, spot, district
Exercises
I. Memorize the vocabulary.
II. Decline in full the following nouns:
- ὁ θάνατος -ου
- ὁ νοῦς, νοῦ
- ὁ ποταμός -οῦ
- ὁ λεώς, λεώ
- τὸ ζῷον -ου
III. For the following noun forms, 1). Give the proper form of its article(s), and 2). Change to its opposite number (singular to plural, plural to singular).
For example: κίνδυνος (answer: ὁ /οἱ κίνδυνοι)
- στάδια
- νεῴ
- ἀνθρώπων
- τόπῳ
- τέκνον
- νόσους
- δῆμον
- βιβλίου
- ἀριθμούς
- ἥλιοι
Readings
LXX Psalm 1: AGE Ch. 20.