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Quiz about Ancient Greek The First Aorist

Ancient Greek-- The First Aorist Quiz

Ancient Greek verbs can be confusing. If you're thinking, "You don't say," then take this quiz! Yes, it's grammar calisthenics, but I wrote especially nice explanations and added some humorous content. Capital E indicates eta; O omega.

A multiple-choice quiz by pu2-ke-qi-ri. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
pu2-ke-qi-ri

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
209,603

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
6 / 10

Plays
531

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. You're going to make an aorist. Any aorist at all, first or second, weak or strong, whatever. Which one of these should you never, never, EVER do? Hint

Reduplication in iota or epsilon

Add a sigma

Add an augment

Lengthen the last vowel in the stem

NEXT>

Question 2 of 10

2. Your next aorist question. Ready? All right. Which of these is the first person singular active indicative personal ending for the weak aorist? (Whew!) Hint

-on

-as

-a

-e

NEXT>

Question 3 of 10

3. First, an aorist with no tricks up its sleeve. Really. What is the first aorist indicative active first person singular of "keleuO"? Hint

keleuso

ekeleusa

ekeleuon

kekeleuka

NEXT>

Question 4 of 10

4. Now, let the complications begin. How does one form the aorist of a stem that ends in a vowel? Take "poieO," "make, do," for instance. What is its weak aorist? Hint

epoiasan

epoiEsan

epoisan

epoiEssan

NEXT>

Question 5 of 10

5. How would you form the correct first aorist of a stem that ends in a liquid, like n, m, l, or r? What would be the weak aorist of "menO," "remain"? Hint

emenas

emeinas

emensas

emennas

NEXT>

Question 6 of 10

6. How does one form the first aorist of a stem that ends in a palatal stop, like kappa, gamma, or khi? What is the correct first aorist of "phrassO," "fence in, fortify"? Hint

ephrapsa

ephrasa

ephraxa

ephrasssa

NEXT>

Question 7 of 10

7. What would be the aorist of a stem that ends in a labial stop, like pi, beta, or phi? What is the correct first aorist of "graphO," "write"? Hint

egraphse

egrase

egrapse

egraxe

NEXT>

Question 8 of 10

8. What is the aorist of a stem that ends in a dental stop, like t, d, or th? What is the correct first aorist of "nomizo," "think"? Hint

enomizsan

enomissan

enomidsan

enomisan

9. Now, the scourge of anyone who has tried to read Greek without learning the grammar well enough (like me.) What happens to the augment if the verb begins with a vowel? How, for instance, would you form the aorist of "akouO" "listen"? Hint

eakousamen

akousamen

Okousamen

Ekousamen

NEXT>

Question 10 of 10

10. Homer sometimes leaves off the augment (just to make things more difficult for you!)

True

False

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. You're going to make an aorist. Any aorist at all, first or second, weak or strong, whatever. Which one of these should you never, never, EVER do?

Answer: Reduplication in iota or epsilon

Reduplication in iota is only a marker of the present tense; reduplication in epsilon is a marker of the perfect and pluperfect tenses. But, two verbs form the aorist with reduplication: agO (Egagon, agagO, agagoimi, agagein, EgagomEn), and the suppletive aorist of pherO (Enegka, Enegkon).

The others are used in aorists, but not every aorist has each one. In Homeric Greek, the augment is sometimes omitted. Sound changes can obscure the presence of the sigma. The lengthened vowel only applies to stems that end in liquids or vowels.

2. Your next aorist question. Ready? All right. Which of these is the first person singular active indicative personal ending for the weak aorist? (Whew!)

Answer: -a

The personal endings are, of course, -a, -as, e, -amen, -ate, an. It is generally not necessary to learn the personal endings for the dual, since you can usually tell from context whether a weird personal ending is the dual.

3. First, an aorist with no tricks up its sleeve. Really. What is the first aorist indicative active first person singular of "keleuO"?

Answer: ekeleusa

The stem is keleu- The augment is e- at the front of the word. Add a sigma and the first person singular indicative active aorist ending, -a, and that's it! No need for the "lengthen the last vowel in the stem" rule, since -eu- is a diphthong and already long.

4. Now, let the complications begin. How does one form the aorist of a stem that ends in a vowel? Take "poieO," "make, do," for instance. What is its weak aorist?

Answer: epoiEsan

The stem is poie- and ends in a vowel. Lengthen the last vowel in the stem, here the epsilon into an eta, add the sigma and personal ending, and that's it.

5. How would you form the correct first aorist of a stem that ends in a liquid, like n, m, l, or r? What would be the weak aorist of "menO," "remain"?

Answer: emeinas

The stem is men-. A liquid plus a sigma means that the sigma disappears and the last vowel in the stem is lengthened to compensate. Here, that means the epsilon becomes the actually-not-a-diphthong ei.

6. How does one form the first aorist of a stem that ends in a palatal stop, like kappa, gamma, or khi? What is the correct first aorist of "phrassO," "fence in, fortify"?

Answer: ephraxa

The stem is phrag-. The present tense adds a yod, y. A palatal stop plus a yod gives -ss- in Ionic Greek, -tt- in Attic. To form the aorist, take away the yod and add a sigma. A palatal stop plus a sigma always gives a xi. Apparently Greek did not make the distinction between "ks" and "gs." Compare English "ex" and "eggs."

7. What would be the aorist of a stem that ends in a labial stop, like pi, beta, or phi? What is the correct first aorist of "graphO," "write"?

Answer: egrapse

The stem is graph- To form the aorist, add a sigma and a weak aorist personal ending. A labial stop plus a sigma gives a psi. Hence, "egrapse."

8. What is the aorist of a stem that ends in a dental stop, like t, d, or th? What is the correct first aorist of "nomizo," "think"?

Answer: enomisan

The stem is nomid-. The present tense adds a yod, y. d plus y gives a zeta. This explains nicely how the stem of Zeus in the nominative is Z- but Di- in the oblique cases. Y and I are produced in the same place in the mouth, but Y is a consonant, while I is a vowel. Try it out a few times.

But back to the aorist. Adding -san to nomid- gives the cluster ds. A dental stop plus a sigma becomes just a sigma. So, the weak aorist is "enomisan."

Answer: Ekousamen

Use the "temporal augment"-- lengthen the initial vowel. Alpha and epsilon lengthen to eta; omicron lengthens to omega; iota and upsilon lengthen, but there is no change in the way the vowel is written.

10. Homer sometimes leaves off the augment (just to make things more difficult for you!)

Answer: True

I grew up on Homer, so this doesn't bother me, but it does seem worth pointing out. Now, the point of this grammatical exercise is this: Weak aorists add the augment, a sigma, and the appropriate personal endings. Sound rules mess things up. Conclusion? Learn sound rules!

Source: Author pu2-ke-qi-ri

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Bruyere before going online.
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