The Modern Greek grammar , as it is pronounced in Greek and Cypriot now, is basically the Demotic Greek, but has also assimilated certain elements of the ancient Katharevousa, studying Greek variations that mimic the Classical Greek form , which used to be the official Greek language through much of the 19th and 20th centuries. Modern Greek grammar has preserved many features of Ancient Greece, but has also changed in the same direction as many other modern Indo-European languages, from more synthetic to more analytic structures.
Video Modern Greek grammar
General characteristics
Syntax
The dominant word sequence in Greek is SVO (subject-verb-object), but the word order is quite free variable, with VSO and other orders as frequent alternatives. In the noun phrase, the adjective precedes the noun (eg, ??????? ????? , [for me '? Alo' spiti] , 'big house'), while the owner follows it (eg, , [to 'spiti mu] ,' my home '; ??????????? 'Nick's House'). Alternative constructions involving opposite sequences of constituents are possible as marked options (eg ???????????? 'the big house'; ???????????? 'Nick's House')
Greek is a pro-drop language, ie subjects are usually not expressed openly whenever they feel different from the context. Whereas the order of words of the main elements in the clause is quite free, certain grammatical elements attach to the verb as klitika and form a rigidly arranged group together with it. This applies especially to nonstress objects without pressure, negation particles, tense particles ?? [? a] , and subjunctive particle ?? [na] . Likewise, postal pronouns are enclosed in the nouns they modify.
Morphology
The Greek language is mostly synthetic (inflexional). Although the complexity of the inflection system has been slightly reduced compared to Ancient Greece, there is also a considerable degree of continuity in the morphological system, and Greece still has a somewhat archaic character compared to other Indo-European languages ââin Europe. The nouns, adjectives and verbs are each divided into several inflexional classes (class declarations and conjugate classes), which have different sets of endings. In nominations, ancient inflexional systems are well preserved, with the exception of the loss of one case, the dative, and the restructuring of some inflexional classes. In the verbal system, the loss of the synthetic infective category is somewhat larger, and some new analytical (periphrastic) constructs have evolved instead.
Characteristics of Balkan language area
Modern Greece shares some syntactic characteristics with its geographical neighbor, with which it forms what is called the Balkan language region ( Sprachbund ). Among these characteristics are:
- Lack of infinitive. In Greek, a verbal complement in the context in which English will use infinitives is usually formed with the help of a limited verb (subjunctive) verb (eg ?????? , ['? elo na' pao] , literally 'I-want that I-go', ie 'I Want to go ').
- Merging dative and genitive cases. In Greek, the object is not directly expressed partially through the genital form of the noun or pronoun, and partly through the periphrasis consisting of the foreground ?? ( [se] , 'to') and accusative.
- The use of future constructs derived from the verb 'want' ( ????? ?? ['? Eli na] -> ?? [? A] ).
- The tendency to over-preview pre-verbal cliche prisms (duplicate clits), to duplicate objects also stated elsewhere in the clause: for example, ? ? ???? ?? ?????????? ( [to 'iÃÆ'à ° a to afto'cinito] ,' I see it, car, 'literally' It I -saw the car ').
On the other hand, one of the main features of the Balkan language area that is not shared by Greeks is the use of definitive post-post articles. Greek articles (such as Ancient Greece) stand in front of nouns.
Maps Modern Greek grammar
Accent
Modern Greek has a stress accent, similar to English. Accents are marked with a stroke (?) Above the accented vowel and are called ????? ( oxeia , "acute") or ????? ( tonos , "accents") in Greek. The first term is derived from one of the accents used in the polycyclic orthography that officially became obsolete in 1982.
Most single syllables do not have accents like in ?? ( [to] , "the") and ?? ??? ( [pÃÆ'ços] , "who"). Exceptions include conjunction ? ( [i] , "or"), interrogative query ??? ( [post] , "how") and ?? ? ( [pu] , "where") either in direct or indirect questions and some fixed expression like ??? ??? ??? ( [pu ce pu] , "sometimes") and ??? ??? ??? ( [pos ce post] , "hopefully"). In addition, pronouns of weak people are accented in cases where they may be mistaken for enclitics (see below). For example, ? ?????? ??? ??????? ( [o 'scilos mu'? av? ise] , "dog barks at me") instead of ? ?????? ??? ??????? ( [o 'sciloz? mu'? av? ise] , "my dog ââbarks").
Enclitics are pronounced very closely with the previous word. Most encounters are the pronouns of the weak. The enclosure does not change the accent of the previous word when it accents the last syllable or second from the back, eg ?????? ??? ( [oÃÆ' à ° i '? oz? mas] , "our driver") and ?????? ??? ( [vi'vlio? su] , "your book"). However, when the previous word is accented on the antepenultimate syllable, enklitk causes the main syllable to be accented as well. For example, ???????? ( ['ÃÆ' à ° askalos] , "teacher") but Greek ???????? ??? ( [? ÃÆ' à ° aska'loz? mu] , "my teacher") and ?????? ( ['forese] , "wear (IMP) ") but ?????? ?? ( [? foree? to] , "wear it"). Finally, enclitics only accented when they preceded other enklitika and both determined the accented imperative on the second syllable from the back. For example, ???? ??? ?? ( [? fere? 'mu? to] , "bring it to me").
In digraphs pronounced as simple phonemes like ?? [e] , ?? [i] and ?? [i] and in the case of ?? ( [af] or [av] ) and ?? ( [ef] or [ev] ), accents written in seconds of the first letter such as ?? , ?? , ?? etc. When the accent is written on the first letter, the sequence is pronounced as an accented diphthong, eg ?? ['ai?] as in ????? ??? ( ['? Ai? ÃÆ' à ° aros] , "donkey"). When the second letter takes a diaer, the sequence is often pronounced as a diphthong, eg ?? [ai?] as in ?????? ?? ( [pai? 'ÃÆ' à ° aca] , "rib"). Finally, when the accent is placed on the second letter along with the diaeresis, the vowel is spoken separately and the second vowel is accented, eg ?? [a'i] as in ????? ( [sa'ita] , "paper plane").
As in Ancient Greece, in modern Greek accents can not be placed before the antepenultimate syllable (Greek: Greek text "> ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???? , the restrictive law, historically called Dreimorengesetz ). As a result, in many unusual nouns, ie nouns that do not have the same number of syllables in all their inflections, the antepenultimate accent moves to the next syllable when the syllable is added. For example, SG ?? ???? ( ['ma? ima] , "lesson") but GEN SG ????????? [ma '? imatos] and Greek ???????? [ma '? imata] etc. In a few words, the accent moves forward even without the addition of a syllable. For example, SG ?? ?????? ( ['an? ropos] , "human") but GEN SG ???????? [an '? ropu] , GEN PL ???????? [an '? ropon] and PL ????????? [an '? Ropus] . This is due to historical reasons: long vocals and diphthongs occupy two morae that have the same effect as the addition of syllables.
Verbs
The Greek verb morphology is arranged around the basic 2-by-2 contrast of two aspects, imperfect and perfect, and two forms of words, past and past (or present). These aspects are expressed by two separate verb stems, while the shape is characterized primarily by different endings. Of the four possible combinations, only three can be used in the indicative function: present (ie imperfectly past), imperfect (ie imperfect past) and AORIST (ie the perfect past). All four combinations can be used in the subjunctive function, where they are usually preceded by the Greek > particle or by one of a series of subordinate conjunctions. There are also two imperatives, one for each aspect.
In addition to these basic forms, Greece also has some construction of the periphrastic verb. All basic shapes can be combined with future particles ?? (historically contraction ?????? , 'want'). Combined with non-past forms, this creates an imperfect and perfect future. Combined with the imperfect past it is used as a conditional, and with a perfect past as something that can be inferred. There is also a perfect, which is expressed by the inflection form of the auxiliary verb ??? ('have'). It happened both as a perfect past (pluperfect) and as perfectly present.
The modern Greek verb also has three non-limited forms. There is a form commonly called "??????????" (ie 'infinitive', literally 'invariant form'), historically derived from infinitive (aoris) is perfect, but today it loses all the syntactic functions that are normally associated with that category. It is only used to form perfect periphrastik and pluperfect, and is always formally identical with a single third person of the perfect non-past. There is also a passive participle, usually ending in -menos (-meni, -meno) , which is reflected as a regular adjective. Its use is as a canonical adjective, or as part of a perfect alternative periphrasis with transitive verbs. Finally, there is another invariant form, which is formed from the present tense and usually ends with -ontas , which are variably called either participle or gerund by modern writers. This has historically come from the old present participle, and its only current use is to form a non-limited adverbial time or way clause, roughly the same as a participant in English.
- Regular regular periphrases, with aparemphato ("invariant form"), for example:
- ??? ?????? ??? ??????? ( ['exo'? rapsi tin epita '? i] ,' I have written a check ')
- Perfectly alternative periphrasis, with passive participle, for example:
- ??? ??? ??????? ???????? ( ['exo tin epita'? i? ra'meni] , 'I have write check')
- Adverbial clauses with current participle/gerund form, for example:
- ?????? ??? ????? ???????????? ( ['etrekse sto' ÃÆ' à ° romo tra? u'ÃÆ' à ° ondas] , 'he ran along the way sing' )
The table below exemplifies the various forms with a large inflected verb class, the first conjugate.
First conjugation
Second conjugation
Below are the corresponding forms of two subtypes of another class, the 2nd conjugate. Only the basic form is shown here; the periphrastic combination is formed as shown above. While the end of the person number is fairly regular across all verbs within each class, the formation of two basic bars for each verb presents many irregularities and can follow one of a large number of idiosyncratic patterns.
Augment
Use of the last sentence prefix ? - ( e - ), called augment, denotes some variation and irregularity between verb classes. In an ordinary verb (demotis) in standard modern Greek, prefix is ââused depending on the stress rule, which specifies that any past tense verb form has pressure on the third syllable of the last ( antepenultimate ); the prefix is ââinserted only whenever a verb will have less than three syllables. In this verb, additions always appear as ? - . A number of verbs often have irregular shapes that involve other vowels, most ? - ( i - ), for example, ???? -> ????? ('want'). In addition, the verbs of the learned tradition partly preserve the more complex patterns inherited from ancient Greece. In compound verbs studied with adverbial prefixes such as ???? - ( peri - ) or ??? - ( ipo - ), adds are inserted between the prefix and the verb bar (for example, Greek text splitting = "el" title = "text"> ???? --?? -> ???? -? - ???? ('explain'). Where the prefix itself ends in vowels, the vowels in this position may be subject to further assimilation rules, as in Greek language text "> ??? - ????? -> ?? -? - ????? ('sign'). In addition, verbs whose trunk begins in vowels can also display vowel changes instead of tribal merging words, as in Greek ?????? -> ???? ('hope') The table below presents some further examples of these patterns:
Grammatical voice
Greece is one of the few modern Indo-European languages ââthat still retains the morphological contrast between two Proto-Indo-European grammar sounds: active and mediopassive. Mediopassive has several functions:
- Passive function, which indicates the actions performed on the subject by another agent (for example, Greek <"text"> ????????? 'he was killed');
- The reflexive function, which indicates the action the subject is doing on its own (for example, the Greek text "> ????????? 'she shaves herself');
- Mutual functions, which indicate actions performed by several subjects with each other (for example, ??????????? 'they love each other');
- Capital function, which indicates the possibility of an action (eg ???????? 'edible');
- Deponential Function: a verb that only occurs in mediopassive and has no corresponding active form. They often have meanings that are translated as active in other languages: ????????? '? work'; ???????? 'I sleep'; ??????? 'I agree'. There are also many verbs that have an active and mediopassive form but where mediopassive has a special function that can be assigned with a separate verb in another language: for example, active ??? ??? 'I raise', passive ????????? 'I get up'; active ????? 'I strike', passive ???? ???? 'I'm bored'.
There are also two other categories of verbs, which historically correspond to the old contract verbs.
- There is also a more formal suffix than - ?????? , - ?????? : - ?? ??? , - ????? . In this case the first person suffix of plural and imperfect is the same.
Be and have
The verb ????? ('be') and ??? ('have') is irregular and corrupted, as both have no aspect contrast. The second form is given below. First and second person plural form is ?????? and ?????? very rarely appear in spoken language.
Nouns
The Greek nominal system displays inflection for two numbers (singular and plural), three sexes (masculine, feminine and neutral), and four cases (nominative, genitive, accusative and vocative). As in many other Indo-European languages, the grammatical distribution of gender throughout the noun is largely arbitrary and does not necessarily coincide with natural sex. Cases, numbers and genders are marked on nouns as well as on articles and adjectives that modify them. Although there are four cases, there is a great degree of syncretism between the case forms in most paradigms. Only one subgroup of masculine nouns actually has four different forms in four cases.
Articles
There are two articles in Modern Greek, definite and uncertain. They are both infected for gender and cases, and a definite article as well for numbers. The article agrees with the modified noun.
Certain articles
Articles that are often used in Greek, such as before names and nouns are used in the abstract sense. As an example,
- ? ?????????? ???? ???? ( O Alexandros irthe chthes , "Alexander came yesterday")
- ? ??????????? ????? ? ???????? ???????? ( I eilikrineia einai i kalyteri praktiki , "Honesty is the best policy")
Unlimited articles
An indeterminate article is identical to the one and only single digit. Unlimited use of articles is not dictated by rules and speakers may use them in accordance with the circumstances of his speech. Uncertainty in a plural noun is expressed by a naked noun without an article. As an example,
- ??????? ???? ?????????? ( Agorasa enan ypologisti , "I bought a computer a ")
However, unlimited articles are not used in Greek as often as in English because they specifically express the concept of "one". As an example,
- ????? ????????? ( Einai dikigoros , "He is a lawyer")
- ?? ???? ?????! ( Ti reply paidi , "Very good child!")
Declaration
Greek nouns are deflected by letters and numbers. In addition, each noun including one of three sexes: masculine, feminine and neutral. In each of the three genders, there are several sub-groups (declaration classes) with different inflexional end sets.
masculine noun
The main group of masculine nouns has a nominative singular end in - ?? [-os], - ?? [-I s], -?? [- as], - ??? [-'eas]. The noun in -os is identical to the second degeneration of Ancient Greece, except for the end -n of a single accusative form. However, in other parts of the speech that follow the same slump and where clarity is required, as in the pronoun, the -n is added. When the word has more than two syllables and the antepenult is accented, the accent fluctuates between the antepenult and the penult according to whether the last syllable has one long ancient diphthong, - ??, - ?? or - ???. The noun in -is corresponds to the first ancient decline and has an accent on the main syllable in the genitive plural, and so are some ending nouns - ??? [-'I as]. The noun in -as is derived from the third decline of the ancient. They form a single nominative form of a single accusative and retain a genuine accent in the plural genitive form. The noun in -eas comes from the ancient third declaration and forms their respective plural.
In addition, there are other categories and forms that also relate to Demotic or Katharevousa. For example, through Demotic, many nouns, especially oxytones (accented in the last syllable) in - ?? ( -as ) or - ?? ( -is ) form their plural by adding a bar extension - ?? - ( -ad - ) and - ?? - ( -id - ) respectively. Although this group of degenerates is a Demotic element, it has its roots in Ionic Greek which influenced later Koine. On the other hand, from Katharevousa, nouns like ??? ( mys , "muscle") follows the ancient decline in all cases except for dative.
feminine noun
Most feminine nouns end in -? [-i], -? [-a] and - ?? [-os]. Those ending in -i and many that end in -a are derived from the ancient first decline and have accents in the last syllable in the genitive plural. The remainder of those ending in -a are derived from the decline of the ancient three and have formed their nominative singular form of the singular single accusative; the noun keeps the accent unchanged in the genitive plural form. Nouns that end in - ?? ( -os ) are identical to their respective masculine nouns. Finally, many feminine nouns end in -? ( -i ) corresponds to the ancient Greek noun in - ?? ( -is ), which is still used as a form of learning in a formal context. Their single shapes have been adapted to the rest of feminine nouns, while their plural forms have retained the ancient pattern in - ??? ( -is ). Single genitive forms - ??? ( -eos ) are also found as stylistic variants and they are entirely acceptable, and are actually more commonly used than the old nominative single nomenclature.
Neuter nouns
Most neutral nouns end well in -? [-o] (plural: -? [-a]) or -? [-i] (plural: - ?? [-ia]). Indeed, most of those ending in -i originally ended up in -io , an end to the little things that many nouns were obtained since the Greek Koine. As a result, the plural ends and singular genital forms are reminiscent of the older forms. For example, a small ancient Greek ???? ( pais , "child") is ??????? ( payment ) and hence the modern noun ????? ( paidi ). Another neutral noun ending in -? ( -a ) and - ?? ( -os ) and its decline is similar to the ancient one. Besides, some nouns in - ??? ( -imo ), usually derived from a verb, is rejected the same as the -a . Also note that most of the loans are neutral that can not be fixed, and can have almost any end, such as ?????? - ???????? "windsurfing". Finally, all neutral nouns have identical forms throughout the nominative, accusative and vocative.
For other neutral nouns, ancient declarations are used. As an example, ?? ??? ( fos , "light") becomes ??? ?????, ?? ???? and ??? ????? and ?? ??? ( oxy , "acid") to be ??? ?????, ?? ???? and ??? ?????.
Adjective
Adjectives agree with nouns in gender, letters and numbers. Therefore, each adjective has a three folding paradigm for the three sexes. Adjectives indicate their second approval when used as an attribute, e.g. ? ?????? ??????? ( i omorfi gynaika , "beautiful ladies") and when they are used as predicates for example. ? ??????? ????? ?????? ( i gynaika einai omorfi , "the woman is beautiful").
Most adjectives take shape - ?? ( -os ) in masculine, -? ( -o ) in neutral as well as -? ( -i ), -? ( -a ) or - ?? ( -ia ) in the feminine. All the adjectives are rejected the same as the nouns that have the same suffix. Yet they remain a stable accent where nouns change it. Adjunctives with consonants before the end usually form feminine with -, they with vowels before ending -? and some adjectives that end in - ??? ([-'kos], -kos ) or - ??? ([-'xos], -chos ) usually form it - ?? though finally -? apply to them as well.
Other classes of adjectives include those who take shape - ?? ( -is ) in masculine and feminine and in - ?? ( -es ) in neutral. They are denied equal to the ancient decline. Those who are not accented on ultima usually raise accents in neutral. Other groups include adjectives that end in - ?? ([-is], -my ). Although some are rejected rather old fashioned like ???? ( oxys , "acute"), most of them are rejected according to the Greek rules of Demotic and in many cases and people they get the other end, as in the case of ?????? ( platys , "width").
Adjective ????? ( polys , "many, many") are irregular:
Comparative and superlative
Adjectives in Modern Greek can form comparisons to express comparisons. Similar to English, it can be formed in two ways, as periphrastic (like in splendid POS splice COMP more beautiful) and as a synthetic form using suffixes, as in English ADJ high COMP tall-er. Comparative periphrastik formed by particles ??? ([pÃÆ'ço], pio , originally "more") precedes the adjective. The synthetic form of the regular adjective in - ??, -? and -o is created with the suffix - ?????? ( -oteros ), - ????? ( -oteri ) and - ????? ( -otero ). For adjectives ending in - ?? and - ?? or - ??, - ??? and -? the corresponding suffix is ââ- ??????? ( -esteros ) etc. and - ?????? ( -yteros ) etc.
A superlative is expressed by combining comparative, either in periphrastic or synthetic form, with the previous definitive article. Thus, Modern Greek does not distinguish between the largest house and the larger house ; both ?? ?????????? ?????.
In addition to proper superlatives, sometimes called "relative superlatives", there is also "absolute superlative" or elatif, expressing the meaning of "very...", for example ?????????? means very beautiful . Elative is formed with suffix - ??????, ????? and - ????? for the regular adjectives, - ??????? etc. for those who - ?? and - ?????? for those who - ??
Numbers
The one , three and four numbers are rejected irregularly. Other numbers like ????????? ( diakosioi , "two hundred"), ?????????? ( triakosioi , "three hundred") etc. and ?????? ( chilioi , "thousand") are rejected regularly as an adjective. Other numbers including two are not rejected.
Pronouns
Greek pronouns include pronouns, reflexive pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, pronouns, postal pronouns, intensive pronouns, relative pronouns, and indefinite pronouns.
Personal pronouns
There are strong personal pronouns (stress, free) and pronouns of the weak (without pressure, clit). The nominative pronoun only has a strong form (except in some minor environments) and is used as a subject only when a special emphasis is intended, since a subject that is not pressed can be recovered from a context not expressed openly. The pronoun of genitive (possessive) is used in its weak form as a pre-verbal precursor for expressing indirect objects (eg, ???????, [tu 'milisa ], and as a post-nominal cliche to declare ownership (eg, ???????, [i 'fili tu] ,' his friends'). Strong genitive forms are relatively rare and are only used for special emphasis (eg, ?????? ?????, [af'tu i 'fili] , ' her friends '); they are often duplicated by weak forms (eg, ???????, [af'tu tu 'milisa] , ' he I talk to'). An alternative way to emphasize possessive pronouns is to support them with an emphasized adjective ????? ( [ÃÆ' à ° i'kos] , 'myself'), for example, ?? ????? ??? ????? ( [i ÃÆ' à ° i'ci tu 'fili] ,' her friends ').
The accumulating pronoun is in a weak and strong form. The weak form in the oblique case is used as a pre-verbal clitic (eg, ??????, [ton 'iÃÆ'à ° a] , 'I see it'); strong shapes are used elsewhere in clauses (eg, ???? ?????, ['iÃÆ' à ° a af'ton] , 'I see him '). The weak form in nominative is found only in some idiomatic deik expressions, such as ?? ??? 'there he is]', ??? '?' ???; 'Where is he?'. The third person pronoun has a separate form for the three sexes; the first and second people are not. A weak third person shape resembles the appropriate form of a definite article. A strong third person form works simultaneously as a generic demonstrative ('this, that').
The strong plural of the third person in the genitive and accusative (?????, ?????? etc) has an optional alternative form extended by the additional syllable [- on -] or [- un -] (???????, ????? ??? etc.)
Besides ????? [af'tos] as a generic demonstrative, there is also a more specific spatial demonstrative pronoun ??????, - ?, -? ( ['tutos] ,' this here ') and ???????, - ?, -? ( [e'cinos] , 'existing').
Preposition
In Demotic Greek, the preposition usually requires an accusative case: ??? (from), ??? (for), ?? (with), ???? (after), ????? (without), ?? (as) and ?? (to, at or on). Preposition ??, when followed by a definite article, merge it into a form like ??? (???) and ??? (???). Although there are only a small number of simple preposes derived from Demotic, the two most basic prepositions ?? and ??? can enter into a large number of combinations with the preceding words to form a new compound preposition, for example, ???? ?? (in), ???? ??? (below), ???? ?? (beside) etc.
Some prepositions that take cases other than accusative have been borrowed into the Modern Greek Standard from the Katharevousa tradition studied: ???? (fight), ???? (support, for), ???? (of the). Other prepositions live in the form of fossils in certain fixed expressions (eg, ??????? 'while', dative).
Preposition ??? ( apÃÆ'ó , 'from') is also used to express agents in passive sentences, such as English by .
Conjunction
Coordination and subordination connotations in Greek include:
Word ?? ( [na] ) serves as a generic subordinator that corresponds roughly with English to (infinitive) or that in a sentence like ??????? ?? ??? ( [proti'mo na 'pao] ,' I prefer to go ', literally' I prefer if I go ') or ?? ? ???? ?? ???? ? ??????? ( [proti'mo na 'pai o'? annis] , 'I prefer John to go'). It marks the following verbs as in subjunctive moods. Somewhat similar to the English to -infinitive its use is often associated with the meaning of non-factuality, ie events that have not (yet) materialized, are expected, hoped for etc. In this case, different from ??? ['oti] and ??? [post] , which corresponds to English that when used with the meaning of factuality. The difference can be seen in the contrast between ??? ???? ?? ???? ????? ( [mas' ipe na 'pame' volta] , 'he told us to go for a walk') vs. ??? ???? ??? ???? ????? ( [mas' ipe pos' pi? e 'volta] ,' he told us that he went for a walk '). When used alone with the following verbs, ?? can express desire or order, as in ?? ????! ( [na 'pai] ,' let him go 'or' may go '). In contrast to other subordinate conjunctions, ?? always immediately followed by the verbs it regulates, separated from them only by any clit which may be attached to the verb, but not by any other subject matter or clause material.
Negation
For the negation sentence, Greece has two different negation particles, ??? (['ÃÆ' à ° en], den ) and ?? (?) (['Mi (n)], mi (n) ). ??? used in clause with indicative indicative, while ??? used mainly in subjunctive context, well after induced subjunctive ?? or as a negative substitute for ??. Both particles are syntactically part of the proclitic group in front of the verb, and can be separated from the verb by simply intervening in the clitic pronoun. Difference between ??? and ??? is a very ancient feature in Greek, continuing the marker of the old negation inherited from the Indo-European. Therefore, ??? often associated with the expression of desire for an event that does not materialize:
- ??? ??? ?????? ?? ?????. ( Den tou zitisa na erthei , "I no asked him to come.")
- ??? ?????? ?? ??? ?????. ( Tou zitisa na min erthei , "I asked him not to come.")
When used alone with a subjunctive verb in the second person, prohibition ??? serves as a functional equivalent with a negative imperative, which itself can not be negated. Thus, the negation of the positive imperative ????? ( ['trekse] ,' run! ') is ??? ??????? ( [min 'treksis] ,' do not run! ').
Particle ??? serves as a stand-alone remark of negation ('no'), and also for the negation of ellipse, verblis and negation sentences of the individual constituents:
- ?????? ??? ?????, ??? ??? ??????. ( Kalesa tin Maria, ochi ton Giorgo , "I invite Mary, not George.")
For constituent negation, Greece uses negative concordations. Negated constituents are marked with negative polarity items (eg ??????? 'exist, anyone/no', ?????? 'nothing/nothing', ??????? ' anywhere/'), and the verb is also marked with the negator sentence ??? (or ???). In a verbless context, elliptical negative polarity items can also serve to express negation only.
Negative pronoun ?????? (ie, nobody or anyone is rejected in all three sexes and three cases and can be used as a Determinant English no .
- ??? ???? ??????? ??? ( Den thelo kanenan edo , "I do not want anyone here.")
- - ????? ?????? ???; - ???, ??????. ( - Einai kaneis edo? --Ochi, kaneis , "'Is there anyone here?' 'No, no.'")
- ??? ????? ?????? ?????. ( Den ekana kanena lathos , "I did not make a mistake.")
On the other hand, negative pronouns ?????? ([AS'ÃÆ'à ° is], oudeis ), from the learned tradition of Ancient Greece, is used without a negative concordation:
- ?????? ???????? ( Oudeis peistike , "No one is sure.")
Relative clause
Greece has two different ways of forming relative clauses. The simpler and much more frequent use of relativizer that does not change ??? ( [pu] , 'that', literally 'where'), as in:? ??????? ??? ???? ???? ( [i> i'neka pu 'iÃÆ' à ° a xtes] ,' the woman I saw yesterday '). When a relativist element is a subject, an object or adverbial in a relative clause, then - as in English - has no other open expression in a relatively separate clause of relativizer. However, some other relativist elements, such as owners, are represented in the clause by the pronoun of the parable, as in:? ??????? ??? ????? ??? ?????? ??? (/i? the handbag I found ', literally' the woman I found her handbag ').
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