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We have already learned a handful of pronouns:

• αὐτός -ή -ό self, same, he/she/it
• ἐγώ, ἡμεῖς I, we
• σύ, ὑμεῖς you, y’all
• ἐκεῖνος -η -ο that
• οὗτος, αὕτη, τοῦτο this
• ὅδε, ἥδε, τόδε this
• ὅς, ἥ, ὅ who, which, that
• ὅσπερ, ἥπερ, ὅπερ the same who, which, that
• ὅστις, ἥτις, ὅ τι anyone/thing who/which
• τις, τι (enclitic) someone, something
• τίς, τί who? what? which?

This chapter introduces REFLEXIVE and RECIPROCAL PRONOUNS, additional DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS, and the words for ALL, ONE, and NONE.

Reflexive and Reciprocal Pronouns

1. Reflexive Pronouns (-self, -selves)

English combines the personal pronoun and the word –self to form REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS: e.g. You love yourself.  We see ourselves. 

Greek forms REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS in much the same way, combining the personal pronoun with the corresponding (oblique) case, number, and gender form of αὐτός αὐτή αὐτό. Recall that this pronoun is emphatic – and translated as –self – if it is used on its own in the NOMINATIVE, or as an ADJECTIVE in the PREDICATE POSITION.

Note that Greek tends to combine the SINGULAR forms into one word (accent on the ultima), but inflects both pronouns in the PLURAL (S 329; GPH pp. 44-45).

a. Reflexive First Person Pronouns (myself, ourselves)

b. Reflexive Second Person Pronouns (yourself, yourselves):

For some authors, the –ε– in the antepenult of the singular forms is elided, resulting in σαυτοῦ/ῆς, σαυτῷ/ῇ, σαυτόν/ήν.

c. Reflexive Third Person Pronouns (himself, herself, itself, themselves):

Attic Greek uses the archaic third person pronoun ἑ to represent he, she, it in its THIRD PERSON REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS. While ἑ is found in Homer, in later Attic Greek the third person pronoun is more commonly expressed by ἐκεῖνος, oblique forms of αὐτός, and οὗτος.

The older third person pronoun ἑ does, however, survive in Attic Greek’s THIRD PERSON REFLEXIVE PRONOUN. Note that for this pronoun, Attic Greek combines the personal and reflexive pronouns into one form for both the singular and plural. Note also that the resulting form is accented as though it were a regular first or second declension noun with a persistent ultima accent (S 329; GPH pp. 46-47).

Some Attic Greek authors contract this pronoun. The result is that only the ROUGH BREATHING distinguishes it from the pronoun αὐτός αὐτή αὐτό!

2. Reciprocal Pronoun (each other)

Greek has a distinct pronoun that corresponds to the phrase each other. It is called the RECIPROCAL PRONOUN (S 331; GPH p. 51). It is usually found only in the oblique cases of the plural.

• οἱ Ἕλληνες ἀλλήλοις μάχονται.
  • The Greeks are fighting with each other.

Demonstrative Pronouns

In Chapter 12, you learned the demonstrative pronoun οὗτος αὕτη τοῦτο (this). Two variations of this pronoun express quality and quantity.

1. Demonstrative Pronoun of Quality

Adding the prefix τοι– makes οὗτος αὕτη τοῦτο refer to the QUALITY of someone or something: this type, this kind or this sort (of). The inflection of this pronoun exhibits the following pattern:

• The prefix τοι– is added to all forms, and replaces the initial τ found in some inflected forms of οὗτος αὕτη τοῦτο.
• The stem τοιουτ– changes to τοιαυτ– if the case ending includes either an η or an α.
• The persistent accent is on the penult.

τοιοῦτος τοιαύτη τοιοῦτο this type, this kind, this sort (of) (S 333 e)

Singular:

Plural:

2. Demonstrative Pronoun of Quantity

Adding the prefix τοσ– makes οὗτος αὕτη τοῦτο refer to the QUANTITY of someone or something: so great, so large. The inflection of this pronoun exhibits the following pattern, which follows closely that of τοιοῦτος τοιαύτη τοιοῦτο:

• The prefix τοσ– replaces the initial τ found in some inflected forms of οὗτος αὕτη τοῦτο.
• The stem τοσουτ– changes to τοσαυτ– if the case ending includes either an η or an α.
• The persistent accent is on the penult.

τοσοῦτος τοσαύτη τοσοῦτο so great, so large (S 333e)

Singular:

Plural:

All, One, None

The next five pronouns all share a pattern:

• The MASCULINE/ NEUTER forms use THIRD DECLENSION endings.
• The FEMININE form uses FIRST DECLENSION endings, and CHANGES its STEM.

1. All, Every, Whole

πᾶς πᾶσα πᾶν all, every, whole, is an important and flexible pronoun. Given its nominative forms, it may seem surprising to know that the stem of this pronoun is παντ-. While its inflectional pattern may seem peculiar at first glance, the reasoning behind the stem changes that occur are familiar and regular.

For the MASCULINE and NEUTER, which both use THIRD DECLENSION endings, note the following inflection patterns:

• When the endings involve adding a –σ– to the stem (i.e. dative plural –σι and the masculine nominative singular –ς), the –ντ drops from the end of the stem. The –α– of the resulting new stem, πασ-, becomes long due to COMPENSATORY LENGTHENING.
• The neuter nominative singular has no case ending. Since –τ cannot end a Greek word, the –τ drops off the neuter nominative and accusative singular. The –α– is lengthened to match the masculine.
• The ACCENT pattern for the masculine and neuter is peculiar. In the SINGULAR, it is accented as though a monosyllabic noun. In the PLURAL, it is accented as though it has a persistent accent on the penult.

For the FEMININE, which uses FIRST DECLENSION endings, note the following inflection patterns:

• In all cases and numbers, the feminine stem originally added a –σ– to παντ-, which produced the stem παντσ-. The –ντ– dropped out by the Classical Period. The –α– of the resulting new stem, πασ-, became long due to COMPENSATORY LENGTHENING.
• The feminine is inflected with a short –ᾰ ending in the NOMINATIVE and ACCUSATIVE SINGULAR, and has its persistent accent on the PENULT. Its inflection, in other words, is similar to that of γλῶττα, γλώττης.

πᾶς πᾶσα πᾶν all, every, whole (S 299; GPH p. 30)

Singular:

Plural:

As an adjective, the translation of πᾶς πᾶσα πᾶν depends upon its position (attributive or predicate) and the presence or absence of the article:

• Attributive: whole
  • ἡ πᾶσα χώρα the whole country
• Predicate: all
  • πᾶσαι αἱ χῶραι all the countries
• No article: every
  • πᾶσα χώρα every country

2. All together

πᾶς πᾶσα πᾶν may be strengthened by adding an initial ἁ– to its form. The new form, ἅπας ἅπασα ἅπαν all together, declines similarly to πᾶς πᾶσα πᾶν, though note the change in accentuation! In all forms, it now is accented as though it has a persistent accent on the antepenult (or penult, if disyllabic).

ἅπας ἅπασα ἅπαν all together

Singular:

Plural:

3. One

The word for one, εἷς μία ἕν, can function as a pronoun or an adjective. Note the following inflection patterns.

For MASCULINE and NEUTER:

• The stem is ἑν-. The ν drops out with the addition of the masculine nominative singular ending –ς, and the vowel is lengthened to a diphthong.
• Both the masculine and neuter follow the monosyllabic accent pattern.

For the FEMININE:

• The word uses a totally different stem, μι– (S 349a). Like πᾶσα, it has a short –ᾰ in the NOMINATIVE and ACCUSATIVE SINGULAR.
• The accent is on the penult of the NOMINATIVE and ACCUSATIVE, and on the ultima for the GENITIVE and DATIVE. Note that the –ι– of the stem results in ᾱ appearing instead of η in all cases.

εἷς μία ἕν one (S 349; GPH p. 37)

Singular:

4. No one, Nothing

An important compound of εἷς μία ἕν adds the prefixes οὐ and δε to mean no one, nothing. Note that the accent pattern matches that of εἷς μία ἕν.

οὐδείς οὐδεμία οὐδέν no one, nothing (S 349b)

Singular:

Sometimes Greek uses μή instead of οὐ for not when forming this compound. There is no difference in meaning.

μηδείς μηδεμία μηδέν no one, nothing (S 349b)

Singular:

– τὸ τέλος –