STEMS IN ευ, αυ, ου
[*] 275.
Like
βασιλεύς are declined the masculine oxytones
ὁ ἱππεύς horseman,
ὁ ἱερεύς priest,
ὁ γονεύς parent,
ὁ φονεύς murderer; like
βοῦς is declined
ὁ χοῦς threequart measure (but acc.
χόα_ and
χόας).
[*] 275 D. 1. Hom. has
βασιλῆος, -ῆι, -ῆα, -εῦ, -ῆες, -εῦσι (and
-ήεσσι),
-ῆας. Also
-έος, -έϊ, -έα^, from the stem
εϝ ῀ ε[υγλιδε]. -εῦς and
-εῖ for
-έος and
-έϊ are not common.
Ἀτρεύς, Τυ_δεύς have
-έ（
ϝ）
-ος etc. regularly (
Τυ_δῆ from
Τυ_δέα). Hdt. has
-έος, -έϊ or
-εῖ, -έα^, -εῦ, -έες, -έων, -εῦσι, -έα^ς.
2. Hom. has
γρηῦς or
γρηΰς, γρηΐ, γρηῦ and
γρηΰ; the unattic
βόεσσι (and
βουσί),
βόας (and
βοῦς),
βῶν acc. sing. H 238. The Doric nom. sing. is
βῶς, acc. pl.
βῶς.
3. The declension of
ναῦς in Doric, Homer, and Herodotus is as follows:
Hom. has
ναυσί in
ναυσικλυτός.
[*] 276. Substantives in
-εύς preceded by a vowel may contract in the gen. and acc. sing. and pl. Thus,
ἁλιεύς fisherman has gen.
ἁλιέως or
ἁλιῶς, acc.
ἁλιέα_ or
ἁλιᾶ, gen. pl.
ἁλιέων or
ἁλιῶν, acc. pl.
ἁλιέα_ς or
ἁλιᾶς. All other forms are regular. The contracted forms were in use in the fifth century, but in the fourth (especially after 350 B.C.) the open forms are common. So are declined
Εὐβοεύς Euboean from
Εὐβοιεύς, Παιραιεύς Peiraeus,
Πλαταιεύς Plataean.
[*] 277.
Other Forms.—
a. In the drama from words in
-εύς we find rarely
-έα^ in acc. sing.,
-έα^ς in acc. pl.
-έος and
-ῆος, -ῆες, -ῆας are occasionally found.
b. The nom. pl. in older Attic ended in
-ῆς (
βασιλῆς), derived either from
-ῆες by contraction or from
-έης (once on an inscription) by 34.
-ῆς occurs on inscriptions till about 350 B.C., and is the form to be adopted in the texts of authors of the fifth century and in Plato.
-έες occurs rarely, but is suspected.
βασιλεῖς (regular on inscriptions after 329 B.C.) is from analogy to
ἡδεῖς.
c. The acc. pl.
βασιλεῖς was not used till the end of the fourth century.
-ῆς (the nom. form) is used for the acc. in a few passages (251 b).
[*] 278.
Stem Variation.—Stems ending in
ευ, αυ, ου lose
υ before case endings beginning with a vowel,
[υγλιδε] passing into
ϝ (
43). Stems in
ευ show the pure form only in the vocative; other forms are derived from the stronger stem
ηυ. ηυ and
α_υ before a consonant become
ευ, α^υ (
40) as in
βασιλεύς, βασιλεῦσι, ναῦς, ναυσί from
βασιληυς, να_υς, etc. From
βασιλῆ（
ϝ）
-ος, -ῆ（
ϝ）
-ι, -ῆ（
ϝ）
-α, -ῆ（
ϝ）
-ας come, by transfer of quantity (
34), the Attic forms. So
νεώς is derived from
νη（
ϝ）
-ός. In
βασιλέων, νεῶν, ε is shortened from the
η of
βασιλήων, νηῶν by 39.
βο-ός, etc. are from the stem
βου- βοϝ-, cp. Lat.
bovis.
