Attic Greek is the ancient dialect of the Greek language that was spoken in Attica, which includes Athens. Of the ancient dialects, it is the most similar to later Greek. It differs from most Greek dialects, including Doric, by frequently changing long ā to ē; from Ionic in not changing all of them. The Homeric dialect was an artificial compound, which resembled Ionic; but it also differed from Attic in losing the augment on the past tenses, and much more frequent use of the dual and other archaic forms. The later Koiné was largely Attic; but Attic differed from it, and most other dialects in saying "tt" for "ss" (e.g. tettares tattomenoi for tessares tassomenoi). Greek (Greek Ελληνικά, IPA – Hellenic) constitutes its own branch of the Indo-European languages. ... Attica (in Greek: Αττική, Attikí) is a periphery (subdivision) in Greece, containing Athens, the capital of Greece. ... The Acropolis in central Athens, one of the most important landmarks in world history. ... Doric Greek is an ancient dialect of the Greek language. ... Ionic Greek was a sub-dialect of the so called Attic-Ionic dialectal group of the ancient Greek language, which was itself a member of the Greek branch of Indoeuropean language family. ... For other uses, see Homer (disambiguation). ... The word koine has several meanings: Koiné (Κοινή), a Greek dialect that developed from the Attic dialect (dialect of Athens) and became the spoken language of Greece at the time of the Empire of Alexander the Great. ...

Grammar

Nouns

Attic Greek nouns have three numbers (singular, dual, and plural), three genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter) and five cases (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative and vocative). The two major noun declensions are the vowel declension and the consonant declension. The vowel declension is split into the alpha-declension and the omicron-declension. There is also the minor consonant declension. The nominative case is a grammatical case for a noun. ... The genitive case is a grammatical case that indicates a relationship, primarily one of possession, between the noun in the genitive case and another noun. ... The dative case is a grammatical case generally used to indicate the noun to whom something is given. ... The accusative case of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a verb. ... The vocative case is the case used for a noun identifying the person being addressed, found in Latin among other languages. ...

Alpha Declension

The alpha declension is predominantly, but not exclusively, feminine. Nouns belonging to the alpha declension have stems ending in alpha, short or long. In certain circumstances the alpha may change its length or become eta.

In the table below of feminine nouns there are three examples: long-alpha stem (ᾱ-stems), short-alpha stems (α-stems), and a stems which can end in eta (η-stems).

The short alpha stem is not present in masculine nouns, thus only ᾱ-stems and η-stems are declined.

Omicron Declension

Nouns in the omicron declension can be masculine, feminine, or neuter, though they are predominantly masculine and neuter. Masculine and feminine nouns are declined alike.

The Article

Attic Greek has only a definite article, which declines with its noun. It does not have an indefinite article which can be translated as "a(n)," "some," or "a certain." Frequently proper names take the definite article. A common construction is a definite article followed by a definite article in the gentive, the noun in the genitive, and finally the noun of the first article. For example: τὸ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἔργον. Translated literally as "the (of the man) deed", or more clearly rendered in English: "The deed of the man." Definite Article is the title of British comedian Eddie Izzards 1996 performance released on video and CD. The video/DVD and CD performances were both recorded on different nights at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London, England. ...

The definite article is declined thus:

Verbs

Verbs have three numbers (singular, dual, plural), three persons (first person, second person, third person), seven tenses (present, imperfect, aorist, future, present perfect, pluperfect, and future perfect), two aspects (simple (or aorist) and continuous), three voices (active voice, middle voice, passive voice), and four moods (indicative mood, imperative mood, subjunctive mood, optative mood). Note that the aorist construction is more than a tense: with the augment it is a tense and an aspect: past simple; without the augment (as is the case for participles, infinitives, and imperatives) it signifies simple aspect only. Grammatical person, in linguistics, is used for the grammatical categories a language uses to describe the relationship between the speaker and the persons or things she is talking about. ... Grammatical person, in linguistics, is used for the grammatical categories a language uses to describe the relationship between the speaker and the persons or things she is talking about. ... Grammatical person, in linguistics, is used for the grammatical categories a language uses to describe the relationship between the speaker and the persons or things she is talking about. ... Present may mean: present (time): time that is neither past nor future a gift: thing given free of charge, gratis This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Imperfect has several meanings: The imperfect tense in linguistics an imperfect cadence in music theory This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The aorist aspect was one of the three original aspects that defined the Indo_European verbal paradigm. ... In a linear conception of time, the future is the portion of the timeline that is still to occur, i. ... The pluperfect tense exists in most Indo-European languages, including English. ... Voice, in grammar, is the relationship between the action or state expressed by a verb, and its arguments (subject, object, etc. ... Voice, in grammar, is the relationship between the action or state expressed by a verb, and its arguments (subject, object, etc. ... In grammar, voice is the relationship between the action or state expressed by a verb, and its arguments (subject, object, etc. ... In linguistics, many grammars have the concept of grammatical mood, which describes the relationship of a verb with reality and intent. ... In linguistics, many grammars have the concept of grammatical mood, which describes the relationship of a verb with reality and intent. ... The subjunctive mood (sometimes referred to as the conjunctive mood) is a grammatical mood of the verb that is subjective, from the persons viewpoint, that expresses wishes, commands (in subordinate clauses), emotion, possibility, judgement, necessity and statements that are contrary to fact. ... In linguistics, many grammars have the concept of grammatical mood, which describes the relationship of a verb with reality and intent. ...

External links

• Greek Grammar on the Web
• Ancient Greek Tutorials
• Textkit - Greek and Latin Learning Tools