STEMS IN ι AND υ
[*] 268. Most stems in
ι and some stems in
υ show the pure stem vowel only in the nominative, accusative, and vocative singular. In the other cases they show an
ε in place of
ι and
υ, and
-ως instead of
-ος in the genitive singular. Contraction takes place when this
ε stands before
ε, ι, or
α of the case ending.
[*] 268 D. 1.
ι stems.
a. Doric, Aeolic, and New Ionic retain the
ι stem without variation in all cases:
πόλις, πόλιος, πόλι_ (from
πολι-ι) and rarely
πόλει in Hdt.,
πόλιν, πόλι, πόλιες, πολίων, πόλισι, πόλι_ς from
πόλινς (Cretan), and
πόλιας.
b. Hom. has
πόλις, πόλιος, πόλι_, πόλει or
-ιϊ (for which some read
πόλι_, as
κόνι_; πόσεϊ is correct) and
πτόλεϊ, πόλιν, πόλι; pl.
πόλιες, πολίων, πόλεσι (some read instead
πόλισι) or
πολίεσσι (250 D. 2)
ἐπάλξεσιν, πόλι_ς or
πόλιας (
πόλεις appears in some texts).
c. Hom. has also forms with
η:
πόληος, πόληι, πόληες, πόληας.
2.
υ stems.
a. Ionic, Doric, and Aeolic have the open forms
πήχεες, ἄστεϊ, ἄστεα; in the gen. sing.
-ος, never
-ως (
πήχεος, ἄστεος). In the dat. sing. of words of more than one syllable Hom. has
-υϊ or
-υι, as
νέκυι (
νέκυς corpse), but Hdt. does not show
-υι.
b. The gen. pl. has the regular accent (
πηχέων, ἀστέων). On the dat.
πελέκεσσι, νέκυσσι, πίτυσσι (some would read
νέκυ_σι, πίτυ_σι),
νεκύεσσι, see 250 D. 2. Hom. has accus.
ἰχθῦς and
ἰχθύας, Hdt. has
ἰχθύας very rarely.
[*] 269.
Stems in ι and υ are of two kinds:—
1.
a. Stems in
ι, with genitive in
-εως, as (masc.)
μάντις seer,
ἔχις viper; (fem.)
πόλις city,
ποίησις poetry,
δύναμις power,
στάσις faction,
ὕβρις outrage. Neuter nominatives in
-ι are not used in classical prose.
b. Stems in
ι, with genitive in
-ιος, as
ὁ κί_ς weevil, gen.
κι_-ός, dat.
κι_-ί; and so in proper names in
-ις, as
Λύγδαμις Lygdamis, gen.
Λυγδάμιος.
2.
a. Stems in
υ, with genitive in
-υος; as (masc.)
μῦς mouse,
βότρυς cluster of grapes,
ἰχθύ_ς fish; (fem.)
δρῦς oak,
ὀφρύ_ς eyebrow,
ἰσχύ_ς force.
b. Stems in
υ, with genitive in
-εως: (masc.)
πῆχυς forearm,
πέλεκυς axe; (neut.)
ἄστυ town.
N. 1.—In the nom., acc., and voc. sing. barytone stems in
υ have short
υ; oxytone substantives (usually) and monosyllables have
υ_; and monosyllables circumflex the
υ_ (
σῦς, σῦν, σῦ).
N. 2.—
ἡ ἔγχελυς eel follows
ἰχθύ_ς in the singular (
ἐγχέλυ-ος, etc.), but
πῆχυς in the plural (
ἐγχέλεις, etc.). But this does not hold for Aristotle.
[*] 270. Stems in
ι and
υ vary with stronger stems, of which
ε in the cases other than nom., acc., and voc. sing. is a survival. Thus:
a. ι, υ, as in
πόλι-ς, πῆχυ-ς.
b. ει, ευ, which before vowels lost their
ι and
υ (
43), as in
πολε（
[ιγλιδε]）
-ι, πολε（
[ιγλιδε]）
-ες, πηχε（
[υγλιδε]）
-ες; which contract to
πόλει, πόλεις, πήχεις.
c. There is also a stem in
η, as in Hom.
πόλη-ος (268 D. 1, c), whence
πόλε-ως.
N. 1.—
πόλε-ος in Attic poetry for the sake of the metre is due to the analogy of
υ stems with gen. in
-ε-ος (
ἡδέ-ος,
297). Hom.
πήχε-ος is the regular form (from
πηχε（
[υγλιδε]）
-ος). Attic
πήχε-ως follows
πόλεως. πόλε-σι and
πήχε-σι for
πόλι-σι and
πήχυ-σι are due to the analogy of forms from stems in
ει, ευ (
πόλε-ων, πήχε-ων, etc.).
N. 2.—The dual
πόλεε occurs in some Mss.
[*] 271.
Accent.—Final
-ως of the genitive singular does not prevent the acute from standing on the antepenult (163 a). Thus
πόλε-ως, πήχε-ως, ἄστε-ως. πόλε-ως retains the accent of the earlier
πόλη-ος, which, by transference of quantity (
34), became
πόλε-ως. The accent of the gen. pl. follows that of the gen. sing.
[*] 272.
Accusative plural.—
πόλεις, πήχεις are borrowed from the nominative.
ἰχθῦς is from
ἰχθυν-ς. ἰχθύας occurs in late Greek. Cp. 251 a.
[*] 273.
Contraction.—
ἰχθῦ (once) for
ἰχθύε and
ἰχθῦς for
ἰχθύες occur in comedy.
ἰχθῦ is not a legitimate contraction, as
υ cannot contract with
ε (51 c).
ἰχθῦς (for
ἰχθύες) is the accus. form used as the nom. (251 b).
[*] 274.
οἶς sheep is declined as follows:
οἶς, οἰ-ός, οἰ-ί, οἶ-ν, οἶ; dual,
οἶ-ε, οἰ-οῖν; pl.
οἶ-ες, οἰ-ῶν, οἰ-σί, οἶ-ς. Here the stem is
οι᾽, representing
ὀϝι, which is properly an
ι stem:
ὀϝι-ς, Lat.
ovi-s.
[*] 274 D. Hom. has
ὄϊς, ὀΐος and
οἰός, ὄϊν, ὄϊες, ὀΐων and
οἰῶν, ὀΐεσσι (
οἴεσσι ο 386) and
ὄεσσι, ὄϊς（
ι_).
