Quantitative metathesis (or transfer of quantity) Smyth, ''Greek Grammar''
paragraph 34
on

CCEL The Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) is a digital library that provides free electronic copies of Christian scripture and literature texts. Description CCEL is a volunteer-based project founded and directed by Harry Plantinga, a pro ...

: transfer of quantity is a specific form of '' metathesis'' or ''transposition'' (a sound change) involving ''quantity'' or

vowel length In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived length of a vowel sound: the corresponding physical measurement is duration. In some languages vowel length is an important phonemic factor, meaning vowel length can change the meaning of the word, ...

. By this process, two

vowel A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (leng ...

s near each other – one long, one short – switch their lengths, so that the long one becomes short, and the short one becomes long. In theory, the definition includes both :long-short → short-long and :short-long → long-short, but

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

, which the term was originally created to describe, displays only the former, since the process is part of long-vowel shortening.

Ancient Greek

In the Attic and Ionic dialects of Ancient Greek, ''ēo'' and ''ēa'' often exchange length, becoming ''eō'' and ''eā''. This quantitative metathesis is more accurately described as one form of long-vowel shortening. Usually if quantitative metathesis affects a word, other kinds of shortening do as well, in the forms where quantitative metathesis cannot occur: * ''ēwo'' → ''eō'' (quantitative metathesis) * ''ēōs'' → ''eōs'' (shortening of long diphthong before consonant) * ''ēi'' → ''ei'' (analogical shortening) In general, the vowels affected by this shortening were separated by the

Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo- ...

semivocalic versions of ''u'' or ''i'', usually deleted in later Greek: ''w'' (written ϝ or υ̯ ) or ''y'' (written ι̯ ).

First declension

The

Homeric Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

form of the genitive singular in the masculine

first declension The first declension is a category of declension that consists of mostly feminine nouns in Ancient Greek and Latin with the defining feature of a long ''ā'' (analysed as either a part of the stem or a case-ending). In Greek grammar, it is also call ...

sometimes undergoes quantitative metathesis: *Πηλεΐδης ''Pēleḯdēs'' ( patronym from Πηλεύς ''Pēleús'': "

Peleus In Greek mythology, Peleus (; Ancient Greek: Πηλεύς ''Pēleus'') was a hero, king of Phthia, husband of Thetis and the father of their son Achilles. This myth was already known to the hearers of Homer in the late 8th century BC. Biogra ...

-son",

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus ( grc-gre, Ἀχιλλεύς) was a hero of the Trojan War, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, and the central character of Homer's '' Iliad''. He was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Pele ...

) :Πηλεΐδᾱο ''Pēleḯdāo'' → *Πηλεΐδηο ''*Pēleḯdēo'' → Πηλεΐδεω ''Pēleḯdeō'' (genitive singular; alternate form Πηληϊάδεω ''Pēlēïádeō'' in the first line of the

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the '' Odys ...

) The Attic genitive singular Πηλεΐδ-ου ''Pēleḯd-ou'' uses a copy of the second-declension ending, which came from the same original form as the ending ''-oio'' (used in Homer) — ''o-syo'',

thematic vowel In Indo-European studies, a thematic vowel or theme vowel is the vowel or from ablaut placed before the ending of a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) word. Nouns, adjectives, and verbs in the Indo-European languages with this vowel are thematic, and tho ...

''o'' and case-ending ''-syo''). The Homeric form comes from the same case ending, with the first-declension pseudo-thematic vowel ''ā''.

Second declension

Nouns in a small subclass of the

second declension The second declension is a category of nouns in Latin and Greek with similar case formation. In particular, these nouns are thematic, with an original ''o'' in most of their forms. In Classical Latin, the short ''o'' of the nominative and accusativ ...

(known as the "

Attic declension The Attic declension is a group of second-declension nouns and adjectives in the Attic dialect of Ancient Greek, all of whose endings have long vowels. In contrast, normal second-declension nouns have some short vowels and some long vowels. This ...

") lengthen the ''o, oi'' of the ending to ''ō, ōi''. Sometimes this is quantitative metathesis:Smyth
paragraph 238 c
transfer of quantity and shortening in "Attic declension" forms :Ionic ληός ''lēós'' (from λᾱϝός ''lāwós'') → Attic λεώς ''leṓs'' "people" :ληοί ''lēoí'' → λεῴ ''leōí'' (nominative plural) But sometimes, when a long vowel occurs in the ending, ''ē'' is shortened to ''e'' without an accompanying lengthening of the vowel in the ending (but ''ou'' changes to ''ō'' to follow the other forms):Smyth

shortening of long vowel before another long vowel :ληοῦ ''lēoú'' → λεώ ''leṓ'' (genitive singular) :ληῷ ''lēōî'' → λεῴ ''leōí'' (dative singular)

Third declension

Some third-declension

noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, ...

s had, in

, stems in ''-u'' or ''-i'' in zero-grade, ''-ew'' or ''-ey'' in short e-grade, and ''-ēw'' or ''-ēy'' in long ''ē''-grade.Smyth
paragraph 270
stem variation of i, u-stemsSmyth

stem variation of au, eu, ou-stems Others had ''-āw'' with no variation in ablaut grade, which changed in some forms to ''ēw'', by the Attic-Ionic ''ā'' → ''ē'' shift. In many cases, the ''w'' or ''j'' was deleted, but sometimes it is preserved as the last element of a diphthong (''-eus'', ''-aus''). Stems with ''ē'' underwent shortening in Classical Attic-Ionic, but early forms with long ē are preserved in

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

to maintain the original

meter The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its pref ...

. Some forms exemplify the quantitative-metathesis type of shortening: *βασιλεύς ''basileús'' (shortened from *βασιλήϝς ''*basilḗws'')Smyth
paragraph 40
shortening of long vowel before u, i, nasals, liquid + a consonant "king" :

(early Attic- Ionic) βασιλῆος ''basilêos'' (from βασιλῆϝος ''basilêwos'') → Classical Attic βασιλέως ''basiléōs'' (genitive singular) :βασιλῆα ''basilêa'' → βασιλέᾱ ''basiléā'' (accusative singular) :βασιλῆας ''basilêas'' → βασιλέᾱς ''basiléās'' (accusative plural) *Attic ναῦς ''naûs'' "ship" (from *νᾱῦς ''*nāûs'' by shortening of ''ā'':

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''nāv-is'') :νηός ''nēós'' (from *νᾱϝός ''*nāwós'') → νεώς ''neṓs)'' (genitive singular) *πόλις ''pólis'' "city" :πόληος ''pólēos'' (from *πόληι̯ος ''*pólēyos'') → πόλεως ''póleōs'' (genitive singular) *ἄστυ ''ástu'' "town" : *ἄστηος ''*ástēos'' (from *ϝάστηϝος ''*wástēwos'') → ἄστεως ''ásteōs'' (genitive singular) The accent of the genitive singular of the last two words violates the rules of accentuation. Normally the long vowel of the last syllable would force the accent forward to the second-to-last syllable, giving *πολέως ''*poléōs'' and *ἀστέως ''*astéōs'', but instead the accent remains where it was before shortening.Smyth
paragraph 271
accent of genitive singular and plural of some i, u-stemsSmyth

exceptions to rules for antepenult accent Other forms of these nouns shorten ''ē'' to ''e'', but because the vowel of the ending is long, no quantitative metathesis occurs: :*βασιλήων ''*basilḗōn'' → βασιλέων ''basiléōn'' (genitive plural) Some forms shorten ''ē'' to ''e'' before ''i'' according to the analogue of the other forms, but without lengthening the ''i'': :Homeric βασιλῆi ''basilêi'' → Attic βασιλεῖ ''basileî'' (dative singular) Other forms involve no shortening, since they come from a short ''e''-grade form of the stem. The accent of the genitive plural is sometimes irregular because it follows the analogue of the genitive singular: : *πολέι̯-ων ''poléy-ōn'' → πόλεων ''póleōn'' (genitive plural — re-accented after genitive singular) : *ϝαστέϝ-ων '' *wastéw-ōn'' → ἄστεων ''ásteōn'' (also re-accented)

Participle

The perfect participle of the verb θνῄσκω ''thnēískō'' "die" undergoes vowel shortening, and quantitative metathesis in the

oblique Oblique may refer to: * an alternative name for the character usually called a slash (punctuation) ( / ) *Oblique angle, in geometry *Oblique triangle, in geometry * Oblique lattice, in geometry * Oblique leaf base, a characteristic shape of the b ...

forms: * *τεθνηϝώτς ''tethnēwṓts''Smyth
paragraph 301 c
masculine/neuter endings for perfect active participle → τεθνεώς ''tethneṓs'' "dead" (masculine nominative singular: perfect with

stative According to some linguistics theories, a stative verb is a verb that describes a state of being, in contrast to a dynamic verb, which describes an action. The difference can be categorized by saying that stative verbs describe situations that are ...

meaning) : *τεθνηϝότος ''*tethnēwótos'' → τεθνεῶτος ''tethneôtos'' (masculine/neuter genitive singular)

References