AUGMENT
[*] 428. The augment (
increase) denotes past time. It appears only in the secondary or past tenses of the indicative mood, namely, imperfect, aorist, and pluperfect. The augment has two forms, the syllabic and the temporal.
[*] 429.
Syllabic Augment.—Verbs beginning with a consonant prefix
ε as the augment, which thus increases the word by one syllable. In the pluperfect
ε is prefixed to the reduplication.
a. Verbs beginning with
ρ double the
ρ after the augment.
ῥί_πτω throw,
ἔ-ρρι_πτον, ἔ-ρρι_ψα, ἐ-ρρί_φθην; ῥήγνυ_μι break,
ἔ-ρρηξα, ἐ-ρράγην.
N.—
ρρ is here due to assimilation of
ϝρ, as in Hom.
ἔρρεξα did (and
ἔρεξα); of
σρ in
ἔρρεον flowed. Cp. 80 a.
[*] 429 a. D. Hom. has
ἔλλαβε took (for
ἐ-σλαβε),
ἔννεον swam (for
ἐ-σνεον),
ἐσσείοντο shook (for
ἐ-τϝειοντο),
ἔδδεισε feared (for
ἐ-δϝεισε).
ἔμμαθε learned is due to analogy.
[*] 430.
βούλομαι wish,
δύναμαι am able,
μέλλω intend augment with
ε or with
η (especially in later Attic); thus,
ἐβουλόμην and
ἠβουλόμην, ἐδυνάμην and
ἠδυνάμην, ἐδυνήθην and
ἠδυνήθην.
a. These forms seem to be due to parallelism with
ἤθελον (from
ἐθέλω wish) and
ἔθελον (from
θέλω).
[*] 431. Some verbs beginning with a vowel take the syllabic augment because they formerly began with a consonant. Thus,
ἄγνυ_μι break (
Ϝάγνυ_μι),
ἔα_ξα, aor. pass.
ἐά_γην.
ἁλίσκομαι am captured (
Ϝαλίσκομαι), imperf.
ἡλισκόμην, aor.
ἑά_λων (with temporal augment) or
ἥλων.
ἁνδάνω please (
Ϝανδάνω), aor.
ἕαδον (Ionic).
ἀν-οίγω open (
Ϝοίγνυ_μι), imperf.
ἀν-έῳγον.
ἐάω permit (
σεϜαω),
εἴων, εἴα_σα, εἰά_θην.
ἑζόμαι sit (for
σεδιομαι),
εἱσάμην.
ἐθίζω accustom (
σϜεθίζω, cp.
123),
εἴθιζον, εἴθισα, εἰθίσθην.
ἐλίττω roll (
Ϝελίττω),
εἴλιττον, εἴλιξα, εἰλίχθην.
ἕλκω or
ἑλκύω draw (
σελκω),
εἷλκον, εἵλκυσα, εἱλκύσθην.
ἕπομαι follow (
σεπομαι),
εἱπόμην.
ἐργάζομαι work (
Ϝεργάζομαι),
εἰργασάμην.
ἕρπω creep (
σερπω),
εἷρπον.
ἑστιάω entertain (
Ϝεστίαω),
εἱστίων, εἱστία_σα, εἱστιά_θην.
ἔχω hold (
σεχω),
εἶχον.
ἵημι send (
σισημι), aor. du.
εἷτον for
ἐ-ἑ-τον, εἵθην for
ἐ-ἑ-θην.
ἵστημι put (
σιστημι), plup.
εἱστήκη for
ἐ-σε-στηκη.
ὁράω see (
Ϝοράω),
ἑώρων, ἑώρα_κα or
ἑόρα_κα.
ὠθέω push (
Ϝωθέω),
ἐώθουν, ἔωσα, ἐώσθην.
ὠνέομαι buy (
Ϝωνέομαι),
ἐωνούμην, ἐωνήθην.
εἶδον saw, 2 aor. of
ὁράω (for
ἐ-Ϝιδον).
εἷλον took, 2 aor. of
αἱρέω (for
ἐ-ἑλον).
[*] 431 D. Syllabic augment in Homer before a vowel is a sure proof of initial
ϝ in
ἔειπον and some other verbs. Similar Ionic and poetic forms occur from
εἶδον, εἴλω, εἴρω, ἔλπω, ἕννυ_μι, ἔρδω, οἰνοχοέω, etc.
[*] 432. Some forms of some verbs in 431 are augmented as if no consonant had preceded the first vowel, as
ἠργαζόμην (and
εἰργαζόμην).
[*] 433. Since
ϝ disappeared early, many augmented forms show no trace of its existence, as,
ᾤκουν from
οἰκέω dwell (
ϝοῖκος). Besides
ε, η was also used as the syllabic augment. This appears in Hom.
ἠ-είδεις (
-ης?), Attic
ᾔδεις you knew.
[*] 434. The verbs
ἄγνυ_μι, ἁλίσκομαι, (
ἀν）
οίγνυ_μι, ὁράω, which began originally with
ϝ, show forms that appear to have a double augment; as
ἐά_γην, ἑά_λων, (
ἀν）
ἐῳγον (rarely
ἤνοιγον),
ἑώρων, ἑώρα_κα (and
ἑόρα_κα). These forms appear to be due to transference of quantity (
34) from
ἠ-ϝα^γην, ἠ-ϝοιγον, ἠ-ϝορων (cp.
433).
[*] 435.
Temporal Augment.—Verbs beginning with a vowel take the temporal augment by lengthening the initial vowel. The temporal augment is so called because it usually increases the
time required to pronounce the initial syllable. Diphthongs lengthen their first vowel.
[*] 435 D. Initial
α becomes
α_ in Doric and Aeolic; initial
αι and
αυ remain.
[*] 436. Initial
ᾳ becomes
ῃ:
ᾁδω sing,
ᾖδον. Initial
η, ι_, υ_, ω remain unchanged. Initial
α_ usually becomes
η:
ἀ_ριστάω breakfast,
ἠρίστησα. ἀνα_λίσκω and
ἀνα_λόω expend form
ἀνά_λωσα and
ἀνήλωσα, ἀνα_λώθην and
ἀνηλώθην.
[*] 437. Initial diphthongs are sometimes unaugmented:
αυ in
αὑαίνομαι dry; ει:
εἴκαζον, ᾔκαζον; ευ:
εὑρέθην and
ηὑρέθην from
εὑρίσκω find,
εὐξάμην and
ηὐξάμην from
εὔχομαι pray; ου is never augmented, since it is never a pure diphthong when standing at the beginning of a verb-form.
[*] 438.
Omission of the Augment.—a. In Attic tragedy the augment is sometimes omitted in choral passages, rarely in the dialogue parts (messengers' speeches), which are nearer akin to prose.
b. In
χρῆν (from
χρὴ ¨ ἦν) the augment is strictly unnecessary, but is often added (
ἐχρῆν) since the composition of
χρῆν was forgotten.
c. In Homer and the lyric poets either the syllabic or the temporal augment is often absent; as
φάτο and
ἔφατο, βῆν and
ἔβην, ἔχον and
εἶχον. Iteratives (
495) in Hom. usually have no augment (
ἔχεσκον).
N.—In Homer the absence of the augment represents the usage of the parent language, in which the augment was not necessarily added to mark past time. It is therefore erroneous, historically, to speak of the
omission of the augment in Homer.
d. In Herodotus the syllabic augment is omitted only in the case of pluperfects and iteratives in
σκον; the temporal augment is generally preserved, but it is always omitted in verbs beginning with
αι, αυ, ει, ευ, οι, and in
ἀγι_νέω, ἀεθλέω, ἀνώγω, ἔρδω, ἐάω, ὁρμέω, etc.; in others it is omitted only in some forms (as
ἀγορεύω, ἄγω, ἕλκω, ὁρμάω), and in others it is variable (
ἀγγέλλω, ἅπτω, ἄρχω, ἐπίσταμαι, ἀνέχομαι); in cases of Attic reduplication the augment is never added. Hdt. omits the augment for the reduplication in the above verbs.
