Hyperlinked Greek Grammatical Terms

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Glossary of Greek Grammatical Terms

~under construction last updated January 27, 2006

This glossary was distributed to Greek classes at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary by James Lowell Blevins during the 1990's. David P. Smith compiled the list. I have converted it into a hypertext document. Many additional entries are being added using It’s Still Greek to Me by David Alan Black (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998). Eventually all of the “Key Terms” will be defined. For further information please contact Robert Lee Foster at rfoster@wbcoll.edu.

Aa |

Ablative– In an eight case system this case takes the form of the genitive and denotes separation or source.

Absolute, Genitive– A participial absolute is a construction where a noun or pronoun functions as the subject of the action implied by a participle which is in the same case as the substantive. This construction is grammatically unrelated to the subject of the main clause, hence, absolute. The participle is translated as a finite verb. The most common form of this construction is the Genitive Absolute. Notice o)yi/av genome/nhv, “When evening had come.” But the NT also has Nominative (also called nominativus pendens or the “hanging nominative”) and Accusative Absolute constructions. See Rev 3:12 (Nom. Abs.), Ph 1:7 (Acc. Abs.).

Accidence– The aspect of grammar that deals with the inflections of words.

Accusative (Case)– The accusative case is the case of limitation. It demonstrates the direction of the action of the verb. It is most commonly used to identify the direct object in a verbal phrase.

Accusative Absolute– See Absolute, Genitive.

Accusative of Direct Object– An accusative that is functioning as a direct object, e.g., in the sentence lamba/nw to\n bi/blion, meaning “He is taking the scroll” bi/blion is functioning as the accusative of direct object.

Accusative of General Reference– Also, Epexegetical Infinitive, Accusative of Definition, Adverbial Accusative of Reference. A construction with an accusative plus an infinitive where the accusative functions almost like the subject of the infinitive. Notice Ph 1:10 where dokima/zein u(ma=v, is translated “that you might prove.”

Accusative of Time– Occasionally, the accusative case is used to communicate the extent of time, as opposed to the genitive case which communicates kind of time and to the dative case which communicates point of time especially in a series of events. For example, kai\ nhsteu/sav h(me/rav tessara/konta kai\ nu/ktav tessera/konta, and after fasting for forty days and forty nights (Mt 4:2).

Active Voice–

Adjectival Clause–

Adjectival Participle–

Adjective–

Adverb–

Adverb of Degree–

Adverb of Manner–

Adverb of Place–

Adverb of Time–

Adverbial Accusative–

Adverbial Adjective–

Adverbial Clause–

Adverbial Participle–

Adversative Conjunction–

Agent–

Agglutinative– Used to denote a compound word that is formed from two or more separate words; from agglutinate or “glue together.” Such words as eu)-doke/w and para-klh/tov, are agglutinative compounds.

Agreement–

Am|

Anacoluthon– This denotes a sharp break in the structure of a sentence or the failure to complete a sentence as intended. For example, a Suspended Subject (a noun, pronoun, or participle “left by the wayside”) or a Digression (where the writer “chases a rabbit”) is an Anacoluthon. See Ph 1:28

Anaphoric Use of the Article– Also, Article of Previous Mention. Denotes the use of the article without an accompanying substantive where the article refers to something already mentioned or implied. See Ph 1:12; 2:9.

Anarthrous– Denotes the absence of an article in a construction where one might be expected.

Antecedent– A word previously used in a sentence to which another, later word relates.

Antecedent Action– Prior or preceding action; e.g., an aorist participle denotes antecedent action, or action prior to that of the main verb.

Aktionsart– Refers to the kind of action of a verb as opposed to time of action. Examples are; punctiliar, durative, iterative, and perfective.

Aorist Tense–

Aoristic– From a)o/ristov, the word ‘aorist’ means “without boundaries or limits.” The term “aoristic” may be used to describe other verbal ideas, such as present, perfect, and future. That is true because greater stress is placed on kind of action with the aorist than simply on the time of action (Aoristic Aspect).

Aoristic Aspect– See Aoristic.

Aoristic Present–

Apodosis– The main clause in a conditional sentence; the “then” clause. Notice the apodosis of Ph 2:2 to the compound protasis in 2:1. See Protasis.

Aposiopesis– A conscious break in a sentence due to strong emotion. Also, the omission of an apodosis after a protasis. See Mk 11:32, Lk 13:9, John 6:62, Ac 23:9. Also Rom 7:24, Rev 22:9.

Apposition– A construction where two substantives relate to one another and stand in the same syntactical relationship to the rest of the sentence. These substantives, therefore, generally share the same case. One exception to this rule is the idiom of the Genitive in Apposition where the genitive case is used in apposition to the nominative of the subject. This is not common in the N.T. (See II Pet 2:6, Lk 2:4).

Arthrous–

Article–

Articular– Denotes the presence of an article in a construction. Some special constructions include: Articular Infinitive– Where an anaphoric article is coupled with an infinitive verb, Ph 1:21, 23,29; 2:6, 4:10; Articular Participle, which is attributive, Ph 3:18.

Aspect–

Aspiration– The use of a rough breathing mark and its accompanying h sound in pronunciation.

Asyndeton– The lack of particles or connecting words, especially kai\ and h!, in a long string of words or phrases where these might be expected. See Polysyndeton. See Ph 2:1.

Attraction– Denotes a constructive where the case of the object in a relative clause is governed by its antecedent rather than the verb. It is common for the accusative of the direct object to be attracted to genitive case of its antecedent. See Eph 1:8.

Attributive– Any word or phrase that ascribes a quality or attributes a characteristic to a substantive.

Attributive Adjective–

Augment– A preformative attached to a verb to indicate past action in the indicative mood. For words starting with a consonant the augment is an e) prefix. For words starting with vowel the augment is a lengthening of that vowel, e.g., e becomes h.

B |

Balancing Adversative–

Brachylogy– Also, Breviloquence. A passage where the writer’s thought seems to move more quickly than his pen. The words are compressed together and some are omitted which would make the reading smoother or less obscure. Notice Mk 2:10; 14:49. See also Ellipsis.

Ca |

Cardinal–

Case–

Causal Clause– See Clauses.

Causal Conjunction–

Causal Infinitive–

Causal Participle–

Causative Active–

Chiasm– A literary pattern involving the schema a b / b a where the order of the words or concepts of the first movement is reversed in the second. See Ph 1:15-17 and Col. 3:11.

Circumlocution– An around about way of saying something; adding unnecessary words to express an idea.

Clause(s)– The term “clause” can be used of any construction that contains a subject and predicate and that functions within a compound or complex Greek sentence. They can, therefore, take a number of descriptive names, depending on what word, purpose, tense, function, etc. is controlling the clause. For instance clauses can be participial, adverbial, adjectival, conditional, etc. depending on how they function in the sentence. The following is a short list of some of the more difficult clauses to define.

Causal Clause– Usually these are marked by the use of causal o#ti or dio/ti. The clause gives the reason or cause for the action expressed by the verb in the main clause of the sentence. The words “since” or “because” are often used to introduce these clauses. Ph 2:26; 4:11.

Comparative Clause– These are clauses that modify the main clause by comparing or by showing the manner in which something is done. The comparative particles w(v, w#sper, kaqw/v, kaqa/per, etc. introduce these clauses. Ph 2:8, 12.

Concessive Clause– These are conditional clauses with the addition of kai\, either kai\ ei) or kai\ e)a/n (“even if”) or ei) kai\ (“if also”). This is a clause that concedes to some degree the supposition of a previous point. Ph 3:4, 15.

Conditional Clause– One of the two clauses, protasis and apodosis, that make up a conditional sentence. See Protasis and Apodosis.

Consecutive Clause– See Result Clause.

Discourse Clause, Direct or Indirect– These are clauses usually introduced by o#ti (although i#na or o#pwv can be used) that contain the content of a speech or saying either verbatim (direct discourse where the o#ti functions like quotation marks in English, e.g., Ph 2:11) or paraphrased (indirect discourse, e.g., 2:26).

Final Clause– See Purpose Clause.

Hypotactic Clause– Also Dependent, Subordinate Clause. Relative, causal, comparative, local, temporal, purpose, result, conditional, and discourse clauses are all considered hypotactic. See Hypotactic.

Local Clause– This is a Relative Clause that uses an adverb, o#qen, ou{, or o#pou, as a conjunction to introduce the clause. See Relative Clause.

Paratactic Clause– See Paratactic.

Parenthetical Clause– A clause that is inserted into a sentence without proper syntactical relationship to the sentence. It is usually used for elaboration or explanation of an idea previously used in the sentence. Ph 1:28.

Purpose Clause– also Final Clause. This clause is formed with the subjunctive and is introduced by i#na. The subjunctive indicates the purpose of the action of the main clause. It is a subordinate or hypotactic clause. Ph. 1:9. See Result Clause, Hypotactic.

Relative Clause– This clause is usually marked by the use of a relative pronoun, e.g., o#v, although sometimes ti/v can be used as a relative pronoun. A relative clause is used in the predicate in place of a substantive or to modify a previously used substantive. These clauses are usually translated with the words “who,” “which,” “what” or some other relative word. Ph 2:5, 6.

Result Clause– also Consecutive Clause. This clause is formed with the subjunctive and is introduced by i#na as is the purpose clause listed above. It differs, however, in that in the Result Clause the subjunctive indicates what the result of the action of main clause is. See Purpose Clause. Ph 1:27.

Temporal Clause– A subcategory of the Relative Clause, the temporal clause introduces an aspect of time or concessive action into the sentence. The words o#te and o#tan, translated “when” or “whenever,” and a!ci, me/xri, and e!wv, translated “until” or “while,” usually introduce temporal clauses. Ph 2:8; 4:15.

Co |

Collective Noun–

Colwell’s Rule–

Common Gender–

Comparative Clause–

Comparative Degree–

Comparison of Adjectives–

Complement–

Complementary Infinitive–

Complementary Participle–

Complete Predicate–

Complete Subject–

Complex Sentence–

Compound Predicate–

Compound Sentence–

Compound Subject–

Compound-Complex Sentence–

Conative Action– Action that is just beginning or an act that has begun but is interrupted. See Inchoative Action.

Concatenation of Genitives– The denotes a long series of genitives used one after another. Paul is particularly fond of piling up genitives in this way. This term is usually used for genitives although concatenation can refer to any series that is liked together in a chain. See Ph 2:30; 3:8.

Concessive Clause–

Concessive Participle–

Concord– Refers to the grammatical agreement between words; e.g., case concord is expected when a noun is in apposition to its antecedent.

Conditional Sentence–

Conditional Participle–

Conjunction–

Constative Aorist–

Constructio ad Sensum– A construction in which the sense of a word or phrase is considered and not necessarily the grammatical form. For instance a singular noun which refers to a number of people, e.g., o!xlov, will often take a plural verb. The agreement is to the sense of the noun and not its form. See Solecism.

Consummative Perfect–

Content Clause–

Content Subjunctive–

Contrary-to-Fact Condition–

Coordinating Conjuction–

Copula– A word used to connect sentences or clauses. )Eimi/ is a copulative verb which is often used as a connective rather than as the predicate in a sentence. Also, kai/, te/, ou!te mh/te, ou)de/ mhde/ are copulative conjunctions.

Copulative Conjunction– See Copula.

Copulative Verb– See Copula.

Coronis– An apostrophe over a contracted syllable. See Crasis.

Crasis– The combination of two words into one word; e.g., kai/ + e)gw/ = ka)gw/.

Da |

Dative of Advantage– Also, Dativus commodi. The personal relationship established by the use of the dative is viewed in a favorable way.

Dative of Agency–

Dative of Association–

Dative of Direct Object–

Dative of Disadvantage– Dativus incommodi. The personal relationship established by the use of the dative is viewed in an unfavorable way.

Dative of Indirect Object–

Dative of Manner–

Dative of Possession–

Dative of Reference–

Dative of Time–

Declarative Indicative–

Declarative Sentence–

Declension–

Definite Article–

Deictic– Demonstrative.

Deliberative Future–

Deliberative Questions– Using either the subjunctive or future indicative, these questions ask about possibility, desirability, or necessity rather than asking for the facts. Ph 1:22.

Deliberative Subjunctive–

Demonstrative Pronoun–

Dependent Clause–

Deponent Verb–

Descriptive Genitive–

Descriptive Present–

Diacritical Marks– Marks made near a letter or diphthong that the letter or diphthong a phonetic value. The accents, breathing marks, and dieresis are diacritics.

Dieresis– A mark placed above the second vowel in a series of vowels to show that the combination is not to be translated as a diphthong.

Direct Middle–

Disjunctive Conjunction(s)– A conjunction that expresses alter native or opposing ideas between the words it connects; e.g., h! which is usually translated “or.”