Definitions Pertinent to Greek Grammar

1. Isolating Language: Isolating languages are those which have no inflection and depend on position in the sentence and tone of the voice for clearness.

2. Agglutanitive Language: These are languages which use various prefixes, infixes, and suffixes to express relations of words to each other.

3. Inflectional Language: Languages which use stem and endings which no longer exist separately.

4. Atticism: The Greek expressions of a school of writers who tried to preserve or revive literary Attic. Such writers were called Atticists. Such were Dyonysius of Halicarnasus, Dio Chrysostom, Lucian, Aelian.

5. Purist: A purist is a scholar or writer who held that the Greek of the New Testament had to be the finest literary Attic since it was inspired.

6. Hebraist: This is a designation for scholars and writers who held that the New Testament to be in a language of the Holy Ghost and unlike any Greek ever written before, sort of a Jewish Greek.

7. Hebraism: A grammatical designation of a New Testament word or phrase that owes itself to an Old Testament Hebrew origin, or due to a Hebrew thought mould pattern.

8. Digamma: This was a letter in the Greek alphabet after "e" and had the sound of a W. It became equal to two gammas, thus called digamma.

9. Genuine Diphthong: The uniting of two vowels together and the forming of one pronunciation or sound thereby.

10. Spurious Diphthong: A diphthong resulting from the concentration of two vowels in which their combination results in the second vowel being replaced by an alternate that better coalesces with the first, An "e" plus "e" = "ei."

11. Diaeresis: When an "i" or "u" does not form a diphthong with the vowel it is attached to, two dots are placed over it to indicate that a diphthong is not formed.

12. Aspirate: The rough breathing associated with the pronouncing of certain Greek letters.

13. Itacism: The blending of vowels and diphthongs into the "i" sound is called itacism.

14. De-aspiration: A decrease in the use of the "h" sound or rough breathing.

15. Ablaut or Vowel Gradation: This is the quantative and the qualitative difference in the vocalic elements of related words, which were caused by sound laws in the Indo-Germanic stock before it split into separate languages.

16. Quantative Vowel Gradation: This is either the lengthening of a short vowel or the shortening of a long vowel in the vowel gradation process.

17. Qualitative Vowel Gradation: This is a change of vowel or diphthong into another vowel or diphthong of a different sound.

18. Formative Lengthening: This is the term for the change of a short vowel to its long vowel in the vowel gradation process.

19. Compensatory Lengthening: This is the term for the lengthening of a short vowel to its long vowel to make up for the loss of one or more consonants.

20. Prothesis: This is the setting of a letter before words that start with certain letters. It is a short vowel prefixed to an Indo-Germanic word beginning with "r" and a vowel.

21. Elision: This is the dropping of a short final vowel on a word when the next word begins with a vowel.

22. Crasis: This is the contraction of a vowel or diphthong at the end of a word with the following word. Kai ago become K'ago.

23. Coronis: This is the apostrophe type mark placed over the syllable formed by crasis.

24. Metathesis: This is the transposition of consonants, sounds or syllables within a word.

25. Proclitic: Certain monosyllabic words connect themselves closely to a following word. This is called a Proclitic. They connect so closely that they do not have a separate accent. Proclitics may have an accent.

26. Enclitic: These are certain words which join themselves closely with the word that precedes it. They lose their accent under certain conditions. Whether they are accented or not is dependent upon where the accent is on the previous word.

27. Oxytone: The name of a word when that word has the accent on the ultima.

28. Paroxytone: The name of a word when that word has the accent on the penult.

29. Propaoxytone: The name of a word when that word has the accent on the antepenult.

30. Perispomenon: The name of a word when that word has the cirumflex on the ultima.

31. Properispomenon: The name of a word when that word has a circumflex on the penult.

32. Barytone: The name of a word, any word, which has no accent on the last syllable.

33. Root: The root is the letters left after comparing that word with others of the same kind and removing all the prefixes, suffixes, etc. After stripping all these away you have the root.

34. Stem: The stem of a word is that part which is common to all words and forms which carry the same permanent or idea.

35. Inflection: These are changes which take place in a word to indicate different relations in which the word is used. These changes can be in the addition of prefixes, suffixes, etc.

36. Oblique Case: All cases except the nominative and vocative are called oblique cases. Oblique means not direct in descent but indirect.

37. Heteroclisis: The name given to a word that deviates from its normal form or rule governing it. The interchange of genders is an example. Fluctuations occur between the masculine and neuter and masculine and feminine.

38. Metplasm: A change in the letters or syllables of a word.

39. Primitive Verb: The verb which forms its tense and stem forms directly on the root is called a primitive verb.

40. Denominative Primitive verb: verb: The verb forming its tense and stem from the stem of a substantive rather than the root is called a denominative verb.

41. Athematic Inflexion: Inflexion produced by adding the personal endings directly to the stem of the verb. Verbs of this nature are athematic verbs.

42. Thematic Inflection: Verbs having the vowels "o/e" or w/h connecting the stem with the suffix endings. These are thematic verbs.

43. Trisyllabic Law: This is the law of accent relating to finite verbs which state that the accent should be thrown back as far as the quantity of the final syllable will allow.

44. Temporal Augment: When the initial vowel of a verb, beginning with a vowel, is lengthened, it is called a temporal augment.

45. Syllabic Augment: When the augment (e) is prefixed to verbs beginning with a consonant, it is called a syllabic augment.

46. Reduplication: This is the repetition of the initial sound of a word. It was originally used to express iterative or intensive action. It is used with the present, aorist, and perfect tense systems. It occurs with "i" or "e" in the reduplicated syllable and with the whole syllable reduplicated.

47. Syncope: The loss or elision of one or more sounds from the middle of a word.

48. Hypocoristic: The term given to a noun which has had an affixing of a diminutive ending or an abbreviation used in the Greek to express tender affection, "ion." Teknon compared to teknion.

49. Patronymics: The term given to a substantive which expresses descent and the suffixes are added to proper names … da, des, s.

50. Descriptive Determinative Compound: This is the term given to a compound word in which the first word in the compound describes the second. The first word may be a substantive, adjective, or adverb … wild olive.

51. Possessive Compounds: A term given to a compound word in which the first word in the compound qualifies the second part like an adjective or adverb. When the whole is put together it has the idea of a property belonging to someone … having little faith.

52. Denominative compounds: This is a term for a compound word in which the concept of one word is denominated or placed to that of the other part. Such as a preposition or two being attached to a verb, i.e. anti-par-erchomai. This word in the lexicon means "to pass by on the side opposite to."

53. Syntax: This is a part of language study which deals with the relation of clauses with clauses, sentences with sentences, and paragraphs with paragraphs. It is the interpretation of facts not a set of rules.

54. Copula: The word means "that which links." A copula verb is one that links the subject with the object such as the verb "be." I will be dead.

55. Anacoluthon: This is the grammatical term for a writer failing to follow that which is the normal procedure of what comes next and breaking off for some other grammatical construction.

56. Paratactic: The term designating coordinate clauses used together to form compound sentences.

57. Hypotactic: The term designating subordinate clauses used to form compound sentences.

58. Adversative: The term designating the relation between two paratactic clauses which express antithesis.

59. Disjunctive: The term designating the relation between two paratactic clauses which express alternatives.

60. Inferential: The term designating the relation between two paratactic clauses that expresses that the second clause is deduced by the inference of the first.

61. Asyndeton: This is the lack of connection between words or clause, the words coming separately.

62. Articular: The designation given to a noun, infinitive, or adjective which expresses the force of identity of that substantive. It is indicated by the presence of the definite article.

63. Anartharous: The designation given to a substantive when the definite article in construction is absent and with emphasis on the quality of the thing given.

64. Transitive: A grammatical designation given to certain verbs in which the action is not limited to being produced by or affecting the subject, but such action is directed to an object. The man killed horses. (transitive)

65. Intransitive: A grammatical designation given to certain verbs in which the action of the verb, or state, is limited to the subject itself or ending with it as to the scope of the idea. The man killed. (intransitive)

66. Atecedent: A grammatical designation given to a noun or pronoun, whether word, phrase, or clause, referred to by a personal or relative pronoun. The personal or relative pronoun will immediately follow its antecedent.

67. Adjuncts: A word or phrase added to qualify the force of another word.

68. Actionsart: The designation given to the meaning of a Greek tense that is the kind of action.

69. Affirmation: One of the two functions of a verb in Greek. The verb not only indicates actions as do substantives, but they alone can make affirmation. Affirmation is that particular assertion made possible by the personal endings of a verb. A participle can indicate action but cannot make affirmation.

70. Tense: This is the term in Greek which indicates the kind of action. The time of the action of a Greek verb is noted by the contextual interpretation not within the form of the verb itself.

71. Protasis: That phrase or clause in a conditional sentence that sets forth the conditional elements contingent upon the following condition or statement.

72. Apodosis: The phrase or clause in a conditional sentence that sets for the conclusion or condition or statement resultant from conditional factors stated in the protasis.

73. Elliptical Condition: A conditional sentence from which one member has been entirely omitted and must be supplied from the context. Luke 13:9.

74. Nuance: A delicate gradation, a shade of difference of meaning of tense, case or syntactical significance.

75. Rhetorical Expression: Rhetorical expressions are those that jump the track from normal grammatical expression. These may be such things as lapses, interruptions, or very sudden changes.

76. Allegory: It is the description of one thing under the image of another, a figurative story to convey truth.

77. Alliteration: Repetition of the same word at the beginning of two or more consecutive sentences or repetition of the same initial letter or words in a series of thoughts.

78. Annomination: This is a grammatical figure where the sound of two words is the same and the sense of the two words is the same.

79. Aposiopesis: This is a very effective figure where the sentence is moving along then there is an abrupt breaking off.

80. Brachylogy: This is comparable in grammatical construction to our parenthesis.

81. Chiasm: This is a reverted parallelism. An example is found in Philemon 5 in the Greek. "Love and faith 'to' Jesus and all the saints."

82. Climax: Repetition as the natural expression of emotion.

83. Ellipsis: The omission of one or more necessary words, obviously understood, necessary to make the grammatical expression complete.

84. Hyperbaton: This is the grammatical term for a word being out of its normal proper place.

85. Hyperbole: This is an exaggeration of a statement or fact to make a point of it.

86. Irony: This is high scorn in words revealing various degrees of contempt of the writer or speaker for that of which he is speaking or of whom or to whom he is speaking.

87. Litotes: This is a negative statement of information, or an understatement to avoid censure, or create an effect.

88. Meiosis: This is understating something, the opposite of hyperbole, giving a thing less than its full value. 1 Corinthians 2:4.

89. Parallelism: This is a structural figure where you state something in twoways then repeat one of those features.

90. Metaphor: This is the figure in which one thing is described by calling it another thing. A pastor is called a "shepherd."

91. Paronomasia: This is the repetition of the same word stem, or sound, but in a different sense. This is a sort of play on words using the same word basis but with striking significance in each part.

92. Pleonasm: Redundancy of language in speaking or writing. This means to repeat certain words or to use them more than necessary to convey the truth. Example: The pastor teaches people, and encourages them, and warns them and guides them, and he daily communicates God's Word.

93. Rhetorical Questions: This figure is the concept of asking a question, not for an answer but to expose a condition, rebuke, make a point, or get some desired effect.

94. Zeugma: This is a figure that puts words together that do not belong but occur in the same phrase. The Greek phrase which is translated "I gave you milk to drink, not solid food" in 1 Corinthians 3:2 renders the following word order in the Greek text, "milk I gave you to drink, not solid food."