Persistent accent
Accents on nouns: persistent accent
You have been introduced to and have practiced the general rules for Greek accents and the rules for determining accents on verbs, which are recessive accents.
The same general rules for accents apply to nouns and adjectives, but nouns and adjectives carry what we call a persistent accent, which means that you must learn where the accent resides as you learn the word. Then, you apply the rules of accentuation as you decline the noun or adjective into its full range of cases.
Reminder of rules that you will apply in declining persistent accents:
- the accent will fall on one of the final three syllables
- the antepenult can be accented only with an acute accent and only when the ultima is short
- circumflex accents appear only on long vowels and diphthongs
- when the penult is accented, it will be accented with an acute if it is a short vowel or if the ultima is long. If the penult is long and the ultima is short and the penult is accented, it will be accented with a circumflex.
Some general rules and results of rules for persistent accents:
- The position of the persistent accent is shown on the nominative form of adjectives and nominative/genitive forms of nouns. You must learn the position of the accent when you learn the word—there is no way of predicting it other than simply learning it along with the word. The “position” is the vowel that carries the accent in the nominative(/genitive) form(s). When you are studying your vocabulary, practice saying the word out loud with the accented syllable stressed so you can remember the accent along with the word.
- The accent will stay on that syllable unless it is forced to move because of the rules above. One example of an accent on a noun or adjective that changes position is when the persistent accent starts on the antepenult in the nominative form. Remember, the antepenult can only carry an accent when the ultima is short, so when in other cases the ultima changes to long, the accent will have to move to the penult. For example, the nominative form ἄνθρωπος has the accent on the penult and its ultima is short, -ος. In the genitive, the ultima is -ου, a long syllable, so the accent shifts forward to the penult: ἀνθρώπου.
- The accent may, however, change from one kind of accent to another while on the same syllable — again, observing the rules above. So when a noun starts with a persistent accent of a circumflex on the penult, that, too, will change form but not place depending on the quantity of the ending. For example the nominative form δῶρον has the penult accented. The omega is long while the ultima -ον is short, and so the accent must be a circumflex. In the genitive, the ultima becomes a long diphthong -ου, and so the accent must be an acute according to the rules: δώρου.
- If the penult has a short vowel and carries the persistent accent, the accent never changes place or form: ex. λόγος, λόγου, λόγῳ, λόγον, λόγοι, λόγων, λόγοις, λόγους.
- When the ultima is accented, it will change from an acute in the nominative singular to a circumflex in the genitive and dative singular, then back to an acute in the accusative. This is a pattern you should learn as you learn your declensions, such as the article later in this module. You will see that the genitive plural and the dative plural carry a circumflex, as well. Ex. ἀγορά, ἀγορᾶς, ἀγορᾷ, ἀγοράν.
- Remember that final –οι and final –αι on noun and adjective forms count as short when determining accents, even though they are diphthongs.
Practice and learn patterns of persistent accents so that as you learn vocabulary you can recognize what the persistent will do in each case in the singular and plural. In the “Practice” section in this module, you will find demonstrations of these patterns as well as opportunities for practicing them.