previous next


ENCLITICS

181. Enclitics (from ἐγκλί_νω lean on, upon) are words attaching themselves closely to the preceding word, after which they are pronounced rapidly. Enclitics usually lose their accent. They are:

a. The personal pronouns μοῦ, μοί, μέ; σοῦ, σοί, σέ; οὗ, οἷ, , and (in poetry) σφίσι.

b. The indefinite pronoun τὶς, τὶ in all cases (including τοῦ, τῷ for τινός, τινί, but excluding ἄττα τινά); the indefinite adverbs πού (or ποθί), πῄ, ποί, ποθέν, ποτέ, πώ, πώς. When used as interrogatives these words are not enclitic (τίς, τί, ποῦ (or πόθι), πῇ, ποῖ, πόθεν, πότε, πῶ, πῶς).

c. All dissyllabic forms of the present indicative of εἰμί am and φημί say (i.e. all except εἶ and φῄς).

d. The particles γέ, τέ, τοί, πέρ; the inseparable -δε in ὅδε, τοσόσδε, etc.

N.—Enclitics, when they retain their accent, are called orthotone. See 187.

181 D. Also enclitic are the dialectic and poetical forms μεῦ, σέο, σεῦ, τοί, τέ, and τύ (accus. = σέ), ἕο, εὗ, ἕθεν, μίν, νίν, σφί, σφίν, σφέ, σφωέ, σφωί_ν, σφέων, σφέας, σφα?́ς and σφᾶς, σφέα; also the particles νύ or νύν (not νῦν), Epic κέ (κέν), θήν, ῥά; and Epic ἐσσί, Ion. εἶς, thou art.

182. The accent of an enclitic, when it is thrown back upon the preceding word, always appears as an acute: θήρ τε (not θῆρ τε) from θήρ ¨ τέ.

183. The word preceding an enclitic is treated as follows:

a. An oxytone keeps its accent, and does not change an acute to a grave (154 a): δός μοι, καλόν ἐστι.

b. A perispomenon keeps its accent: φιλῶ σε, τι_μῶν τινων.

c. A proparoxytone or properispomenon receives, as an additional accent, the acute on the ultima: ἄνθρωπός τις, ἄνθρωποί τινες, ἤκουσά τινων; σῶσόν με, παῖδές τινες.

d. A paroxytone receives no additional accent: a monosyllabic enclitic loses its accent (χώρα_ τις, φίλος μου), a dissyllabic enclitic retains its accent (χώρα_ς τινός, φίλοι τινές) except when its final vowel is elided (174 a).

N.—Like paroxytones are treated properispomena ending in ξ or ψ when followed by a dissyllabic enclitic: κῆρυξ ἐστί; and so probably κῆρυξ τις.

e. A proclitic (179) takes an acute: ἔν τινι, εἴ τινες.

184. Since an enclitic, on losing its accent, forms a part of the preceding word, the writing ἄνθρωπος τις would violate the rule (149) that no word can be accented on a syllable before the antepenult. A paroxytone receives no additional accent in order that two successive syllables may not have the acute (not φίλός ἐστιν).

185. When several enclitics occur in succession, each receives an accent from the following, only the last having no accent: ““εἴ πού τίς τινα ἴδοι ἐχθρόνif ever any one saw an enemy anywhereT. 4.47.

186. Sometimes an enclitic unites with a preceding word to form a compound (cp. Lat. -que, -ve), which is accented as if the enclitic were still a separate word. Thus, οὔτε (not οὖτε), ὥστε, εἴτε, καίτοι, οὗτινος, ᾧτινι, ὧντινων; usually περ (ἕσπερ); and the inseparable -δε in ὅδε, τούσδε, οἴκαδε; and -θε and -χι in εἴθε (poetic αἴθε), ναίχι. οὔτε, ᾧτινι, etc., are not real exceptions to the rules of accent (163, 164).

a. οἷός τε able is sometimes written οἷόστε. οὐκ οὖν is usually written οὔκουν not therefore , and not therefore? in distinction from οὐκοῦν therefore. ἐγώ γε and ἐμοί γε may become ἔγωγε, ἔμοιγε.

187. An enclitic retains its accent (is orthotone, cp. 181 N.):

a. When it is emphatic, as in contrasts: σοὶ τῷ πατρί σου either to you or to your father (ἐμοῦ, ἐμοί, ἐμέ are emphatic: εἰπὲ καὶ ἐμοί tell me too), and at the beginning of a sentence or clause: φημὶ γάρ I say in fact.

b. ἐστί is written ἔστι at the beginning of a sentence; when it expresses existence or possibility; when it follows οὐκ, μή, εἰ, ὡς, καί, ἀλλά (or ἀλλ᾽), τοῦτο (or τοῦτ᾽); and in ἔστιν οἵ some, ἔστιν ὅτε sometimes. Thus, εἰ ἔστιν οὕτως if it is so, τοῦτο δ ἔστι that which exists.

c. In the phrases ποτὲ μὲν . . . ποτὲ δέ, τινὲς μὲν . . . τινὲς δέ.

d. After a word suffering elision: πολλοὶ δ᾽ εἰσίν (for δέ εἰσιν), ταῦτ᾽ ἐστί.

e. When a dissyllabic enclitic follows a paroxytone (183 d).

N. 1.—When they are used as indirect reflexives in Attic prose (1228), the pronouns of the third person οὗ and σφίσι are orthotone, οἷ is generally enclitic, while is generally orthotone.

N. 2.—After oxytone prepositions and ἕνεκα enclitic pronouns (except τὶς) usually keep their accent (ἐπὶ σοί, not ἐπί σοι; ἕνεκα σοῦ, not ἕνεκά σου; ἕνεκά του, not ἕνεκα τοῦ). ἐμοῦ, ἐμοί, ἐμέ are used after prepositions (except πρός με; and in the drama ἀμφί μοι).

hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: