Herbert Weir Smyth, A Greek Grammar for Colleges

ACCENT AS AFFECTED BY CONTRACTION, CRASIS, AND ELISION

a. A contracted antepenult has the acute: φιλεόμενος ῀ φιλούμενος.

b. A contracted penult has the circumflex when the ultima is short; the acute, when the ultima is long: φιλέουσι ῀ φιλοῦσι, φιλεόντων ῀ φιλούντων.

c. A contracted ultima has the acute when the uncontracted form was oxytone: ἑσταώς ῀ ἑστώς; otherwise, the circumflex: φιλέω ῀ φιλῶ.

N. 1.—A contracted syllable has the circumflex only when, in the uncontracted form, an acute was followed by the (unwritten) grave (155, 156). Thus, Περικλέὴς ῀ Περικλῆς, τι_μάὼ ῀ τι_μῶ. In all other cases we have the acute: φιλὲόντων ῀ φιλούντων, βεβὰώς ῀ βεβώς.

N. 2.—Exceptions to 171 are often due to the analogy of other forms (236 a, 264 e, 279 a, 290 c, 309 a).

[*] 172. If neither of the syllables to be contracted had an accent, the contracted syllable has no accent: φίλεε ῀ φίλει, γένεϊ ῀ γένει, περίπλοος ῀ περίπλους. For exceptions, see 236 b.

[*] 173. Crasis.—In crasis, the first word (as less important) loses its accent: τἀ_γαθά for τὰ ἀγαθά, τἀ_ν for τὰ ἐν, κἀ_γώ for καὶ ἐγώ.

a. If the second word is a dissyllabic paroxytone with short ultima, it is uncertain whether, in crasis, the paroxytone remains or changes to properispomenon. In this book τοὔργον, τἄ_λλα are written for τὸ ἔργον, τὰ ἄλλα; but many scholars write τοὖργον, τἆλλα.

[*] 174. Elision.—In elision, oxytone prepositions and conjunctions lose their accent: παρ᾽ (for παρὰ) ἐμοῦ, ἀλλ᾽ (for ἀλλὰ) ἐγώ. In other oxytones the accent is thrown back to the penult: πόλλ᾽ (for πολλὰ) ἔπαθον.

a. Observe that in πόλλ᾽ ἔπαθον the acute is not changed to the grave (154 a, 3). A circumflex does not result from the recession of the accent. Thus, φήμ᾽ (not φῆμ᾽) ἐγώ for φημὶ ἐγώ. τινά and ποτέ, after a word which cannot receive their accent (183 d), drop their accent: οὕτω ποτ᾽ ἦν.