Koine Greek/Declining 1st and 2nd Declension Nouns

Stems The stem of a word is that part of it which remains substantially unchanged through varieties of inflection. Nouns, adjectives and pronouns are 'declined'; verbs are 'conjugated' by the help of prefixes or terminations added to the stem, which may itself be variously modified, but can always be traced, and contains the main idea of the word. To know this stem, therefore, is an essential preliminary to the study of the inflections. The stems of words shall in this section be distinguished by dark letters, and in general by an appended hyphen, as the stem in itself is incomplete, requiring some kind of addition before it becomes a word. First and Second Declension Nouns A declension is a group of nouns, adjectives, or pronouns that all form their gender, number, or case in the same way or in similar ways. In ancient Greek, to change the case, gender, or number, all you need to do is change the case ending. There are three declensions in ancient Greek. Since Greek nouns most commonly use two numbers (singular, plural) and four cases (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative; all cases other than the nominative are oblique), they need 8 different endings to cover all the possibilities. The second declension only has two sets of endings: singular/plural masculine, and singular/plural neuter. So, to show that the word 'λόγος' is the target (accusative) of the action in a sentence, you would say 'λόγον' ('λόγος' is translated as 'word,' 'reason,' or 'account' (among others)). γράφω λόγον. — I write a word. γράφω λόγους. — I write words. Now, it might seem that “λόγος” should be neuter, since it is an inanimate object. But, in Greek, each word has a gender, and unless referring to a human, it does not indicate actual gender. In Greek lexicons, the gender of a word is shown by writing the definite article with the same gender as the word after the word. So, to show that λογός is declined masculinely, the lexicon says "λόγός, ὁ.". The gender also helps to identify what adjectives, or other nouns, may be related to each other. In the dative singular under the alpha, there is a small mark called "the iota subscript," an iota written under either α, η, or ω, which helps to identify the function of the word, often signalling the dative case. When a Greek word with an iota subscript is written in capitals, the iota is promoted to the main line, following its vowel. First Declension Noun Endings CaseMasculineFeminine Singular Plural Singular Plural Nom. -ᾱς / -ης -αι -ᾱ / -η -αι Gen. -ου -ῶν -ας / -ης -ῶν Dat. -ᾳ / -ῃ -αις -ᾳ / -ῃ -αις Acc. -αν / -ην -ᾱς -αν / -ην -ᾱς Voc. -ᾱ / -α -αι -ᾱ / -η -αι First-declension nouns that preserve the 'α' are known as alpha-pure, while those that do not are alpha-impure. Alpha-pure stems end in 'ι', 'ε', or 'ρ' Pure: ἡμέρα, ἡ, -ᾳ Impure: δόξα, ἡ, -ῃ Pure: νεανίας, ὁ, -ᾳ Impure: πολίτης, ὁ, -ῃ Second Declension Noun Endings CaseMasculineNeuter Singular Plural Singular Plural Nom. -ος -οι -ον -α Gen. -ου -ων -ου -ων Dat. -ῳ -οις -ῳ -οις Acc. -ον -ους -ον -α Voc. -ε -οι -ον -α Translation The nominative case is usually translated as the word and the indefinite article. Words in this case are the sentence’s subject. For example, λόγος means “a word.” When the definite article is present, it becomes ὁ λόγος, meaning “the word.” The subject of the sentence generally has the definite article, while the predicate nominative does not. καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. — and the Word was God (John 1.1). The genitive case is translated as “of.” It’s similar to the English possessive case. For instance, λόγου means “of a word.” ἡμεῖς δὲ τῇ προσευχῇ καὶ τῇ διακονίᾳ τοῦ λόγου προσκαρτερήσομεν. — But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word (Acts 6.4). The dative case is translated as “to,” “for,” or “with.” It shows that the word is the indirect target of the action. For example, λόγῳ means “to, for, or with, a word.” οὐ γὰρ ἐν λόγῳ ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ ἀλλ᾽ ἐν δυνάμει. — For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power (1 Corinthians 4.20). The accusative case is usually translated as the word and the indefinite article. Words in this case are the sentence’s direct object. ὁ σπείρων τὸν λόγον σπείρει. — The sower soweth the word (Mark 4.14). The vocative case is translated as the word itself. It’s a direct address. For example, “λόγε” can be translated as “O word.” Major patterns The genitive plural of all declensions in Greek (all nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verb participles, basically anything that can decline) end in ων. The accusative and nominative of all neuter declensions in Greek are the same. In all declensions, the dative case contains an ι, perhaps as an improper diphthong. Vocabulary Second Declension Masculine ἄγγελος, -ου: angel, messenger ἀδελφός, -ου: brother (Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love) ἄνθρωπος, -ου: man (anthropology, the study of humankind) θεός, -ου: god (theology, the study of the divine) κόσμος, -ου: world (cosmology, the study of the universe; cosmopolitan, worldly) κύριος, -ου: lord (kyrie eleison, "Lord have mercy", the beginning of the Mass) λόγος, -ου: that which is said, or thought. Translated as word, but has deep meanings in philosophy (-logy, the study of -; logic) νόμος, -ου: law (astronomy, the law of the stars) οὐρανός, -ου: heaven (Uranus, the Greek god of the sky) υἱός, -ου: son ἀπόστολος, -ου: apostle, literally, one that is sent διδάσκαλος, -ου: teacher (didactic, intending to teach) Second Declension Neuter ἔργον, -ου: work, deed (ergonomics) ἱερόν, -οῦ: temple (hierarchy, from ranking of angles, which derives from rule of the high priest) πρόσωπον, -ου: face τέκνον, -ου: child First Declension Feminine ἀλήθεια, -ας: truth ἁμαρτία, -ας: sin (hamartiology) βασιλεία, -ας: kingdom (basilica) ἡμέρα, -ας: day (ephemeral) καρδία, -ας: heart (cardiology) χαρά, -ας: grace (charity) γλῶσσα, -ης: tongue (glossary, polyglot) δόξα, -ης: glory (doxology) θάλασσα, -ης: sea (thalassic) ἀγάπη, -ης: love (agape) γῆ, -ῆς: earth, land, soil (geology) ζωή, -ῆς: life (zoology) . φωνή, -ῆς: sound, voice (telephone) ψυχή, -ῆς: soul (psychology)