The Ancient Greek third declension (also known as the consonant declension) comprises the most diverse and potentially confusing forms of nominal inflection. The third declension does not have a stem vowel, as the input transformation (α/η) and second (ο) declensions do. Since the stem vowels provide a sort of buffer between the stems and inflectional endings, the third declension is more prone to contractions and other irregularities than the other two.
Contents
Etymology
The third declension is the Ancient Greek reflex of the Proto-Indo-European consonant declension. A dash with nothing following indicates an unmarked inflection, that is, a bare stem.
- Case / #
- *-s
- Singular
- *-h₁?, -e?
- Dual
- *-es
- Case / #
- *-s, -es, -os
- Singular
- ?
- Dual
- *-om
- Case / #
- *-ey
- Singular
- ?
- Dual
- *-bʰos, -mos
- Case / #
- *-m̥
- Singular
- *-h₁?, -e?
- Dual
- *-m̥s
- Case / #
- *-
- Singular
- *-h₁?, -e?
- Dual
- *-es
- Case / #
- *-bʰi, -mī
- Singular
- ?
- Dual
- *-s, -es, -os
- Case / #
- *-s, -es, -os
- Singular
- ?
- Dual
- *-bʰos, -mos
- Case / #
- *-i, -
- Singular
- ?
- Dual
- *-su
- Case / #
- *-
- Singular
- /
- Dual
- *-h₂
† The neuter nominative and accusative in the singular and plural have a different inflection than masculine and feminine.
Basic pattern
In Ancient Greek the ablative and genitive have merged into a single case, a process already well underway in Proto-Indo-European. The dative, locative, and instrumental cases were all merged into the dative, which generally takes on the inflection of the locative. Consult the Wikipedia article on Indo-European sound laws to aid in understanding some of the Ancient Greek reflexes of PIE sounds, such as the perhaps non-intuitive PIE *m̥ --> Ancient Greek α.
- Case / #
- -ς
- Singular
- -ε
- Dual
- -ες
- Case / #
- -ος
- Singular
- -οιν
- Dual
- -ων
- Case / #
- -ῐ
- Singular
- -οιν
- Dual
- -σῐ(ν)
- Case / #
- -ᾰ
- Singular
- -ε
- Dual
- -ᾰς
- Case / #
- -
- Singular
- -ε
- Dual
- -ες
- Case / #
- -
- Singular
- /
- Dual
- -ᾰ
Realizations
Stop consonants
In nouns which end with a labial (π, β, φ, ψ) or touchscreen (κ, γ, χ, ξ) consonant, the pattern is fairly recognizable, as seen in screen size (pteruks, “wing”). Note how the gamma and sigma merge into a ksi in the nominative singular and dative plural.
- Case / #
- πτέρυξ
- Singular
- πτέρῠγε
- Dual
- πτέρῠγες
- Case / #
- πτέρῠγος
- Singular
- πτερύγοιν
- Dual
- πτερύγων
- Case / #
- πτέρῠγῐ
- Singular
- πτερύγοιν
- Dual
- πτέρυξῐ(ν)
- Case / #
- πτέρῠγᾰ
- Singular
- πτέρῠγε
- Dual
- πτέρῠγᾰς
- Case / #
- πτέρυξ
- Singular
- πτέρῠγε
- Dual
- πτέρῠγες
Nouns which end with a dental (τ, δ, θ) show some contractions. Ancient Greek does not allow a δσ, θσ, or τσ combination, and so the dental is generally dropped, often with a lengthening of the stem vowel, which sometimes goes back to PIE itself. Compare the inflection of πούς (pous, “foot”), stem ποδ- (pod-), with that given for *pṓds
- Case / #
- πούς
- Singular
- πόδε
- Dual
- πόδες
- Case / #
- ποδός
- Singular
- ποδοῖν
- Dual
- ποδῶν
- Case / #
- ποδί
- Singular
- ποδοῖν
- Dual
- ποσί(ν)
- Case / #
- πόδᾰ
- Singular
- πόδε
- Dual
- πόδᾰς
- Case / #
- πούς
- Singular
- πόδε
- Dual
- πόδες
Neuters
Neuter nouns of the third declension are nearly identical to their masculine and feminine counterparts except for the nominative, accusative, and vocative cases in singular and plural. Since the stem often ends with a sound which an Ancient Greek word cannot end on, the final sound is often dropped or changed in unmarked forms. The simplest and most common third declension neuters are the dental stems, such as iOS (onoma, “name”), stem ονοματ- (onomat-). Interestingly, the τ in the stem is a common feature of Ancient Greek words derived from PIE neuter n stems, which is not well explained.
- Case / #
- ὄνομᾰ
- Singular
- ὀνόμᾰτε
- Dual
- ὀνόμᾰτᾰ
- Case / #
- ὀνόμᾰτος
- Singular
- ὀνομάτοιν
- Dual
- ὀνομάτων
- Case / #
- ὀνόμᾰτῐ
- Singular
- ὀνομάτοιν
- Dual
- ὀνομάσῐ(ν)
- Case / #
- ὄνομᾰ
- Singular
- ὀνόμᾰτε
- Dual
- ὀνόμᾰτᾰ
- Case / #
- ὄνομᾰ
- Singular
- ὀνόμᾰτε
- Dual
- ὀνόμᾰτᾰ
Contractions
Nouns with stems ending in ι show an odd admixture of ι and ει stem endings. Homeric Greek shows a more consistent ι ending resulting in εις in the plural. touchscreen [2] [3]
- Case / #
- πόλῐς
- Singular
- πόλει
- Dual
- πόλεις
- Case / #
- πόλεως
- Singular
- πολέοιν
- Dual
- πόλεων
- Case / #
- πόλει
- Singular
- πολέοιν
- Dual
- πόλεσῐ(ν)
- Case / #
- πόλῐν
- Singular
- πόλει
- Dual
- πόλεις
- Case / #
- πόλῐ
- Singular
- πόλει
- Dual
- πόλεις
Neuter stems ending with a Vσ (where V is a vowel) drop the sigma, and subsequently contract, especially in later Greek. The inflection of CSS3 (telos, “end”), stem τελεσ- (teles-) is as follows:
- Case / #
- τέλος
- Singular
- τέλεε, τέλει
- Dual
- τέλεᾰ, τέλη
- Case / #
- τέλεος, τέλους
- Singular
- τελέοιν, τελοῖν
- Dual
- τελέων, τελῶν
- Case / #
- τέλεϊ, τέλει
- Singular
- τελέοιν, τελοῖν
- Dual
- τέλεσσῐ(ν), τέλεσῐ(ν)
- Case / #
- τέλος
- Singular
- τέλεε, τέλει
- Dual
- τέλεᾰ, τέλη
- Case / #
- τέλος
- Singular
- τέλεε, τέλει
- Dual
- τέλεᾰ, τέλη