σύνταξι - το 1ʹ μέρο
Syntax - Part 1

1. The definite article

1.1 Use of the article

ΤΑΚΕ uses the article generally corresponding to the English use of the. But it may be used also in certain cases where English omits it, such as:

1. As we have seen, proper names may be preceded by the article, e.g. το Δαυείδ or Δαυείδ = "David".
2. An abstract noun is usually preceded by the article, e.g. το δικαιοσύνη = "justice"; το σοφία = "wisdom".
3. As we have seen, demonstrative, distributive and collective pronouns have the definite article, e.g.
   τόδε το ἀνδρό = "this man"; ἐκεῖνο το γυναικό = "that woman"; ἕκαστο το ἡμέρα = "each day"; παντό το πόλι = "all the city", "the whole city".
   Possessives are also preceded by the article, e.g.: το ἐξ ἐμέ πατρό =" my father"; το ἐξ ἡμᾶς μητρό = "our mother"; το ἐξ ἕ ἀδελφή = "his sister".
4. However, the definite article is used alone where in English we have a possessive, if this refers back to the subject and is not emphatic, e.g. ἕ ἀγάπα το ἀδελφό = "he loves his brother."
5. The demonstrative adjectives τοῖο and τόσο may be preceded by the article, e.g. το τοῖο γυναικό = "such a woman"; το τόσο ἄνθρωπο = "so many humans", "so many people".
6. The definite article is used if the noun has a generic meaning, e.g. το ἄνθρωπο = "humans [in general]", "Man", "mankind".
7. The article has a distributive force where we would use each or a, an in phrases such as: ἕ δῶ τρία δραχμή το ἡμέρα εἰς το στρατιώτη = "He gave three drachmas a day to each soldier".

1.2 Position of the article

The definite article must precede the noun. We have seen that if any other word or phrase qualifies the noun, there are two positions in the which article may occur; they are

1.2.1 The Attributive Position

An attributive adjective (or attributive phrase) stands between the article and noun, e.g.
το αἰσχρό νησσαρίο = "the ugly ducking",
or, if there is emphasis on the noun, the article and attribute may follow the noun which, itself, must be preceded by the article, e.g.
το νησσαρίο το αἰσχρό = "the ugly duckling", "the duckling that's ugly".

In the former word order we may think of the adjective αἰσχρό as being embedded in the noun phrase το νησσαρίο. But in the latter, we may regard the postposited το αἰσχρό as being in apposition to the noun phrase το νησσαρίο, i.e. το νησσαρίο το αἰσχρό = "the duckling, the ugly [one]." The importance of this distinction becomes clearer in section 1.2.1.1 below.

In the list above, (iv) is an example of an attributive phrase, thus: "my father" = το ἐξ ἐμέ πατρό or το πατρό το ἐξ ἐμέ. Also, it will be seen from (vi) above that if the article is used with τοῖο or τόσο, the attributive order is used.

If two or more attributes are used, then either all attributes are placed between the article and noun provided that no attribute is embedded within another attribute (see next subsection), or each attribute may take an article and stand in either permitted position; thus , "my ugly duckling" could be expressed in any of the following ways:
το ἐξ ἐμέ αἰσχρό νησσαρίο
το αἰσχρό ἐξ ἐμέ νησσαρίο
το ἐξ ἐμέ το αἰσχρό νησσαρίο
το αἰσχρό το ἐξ ἐμέ νησσαρίο
το ἐξ ἐμέ νησσαρίο το αἰσχρό
το αἰσχρό νησσαρίο το ἐξ ἐμέ
το νησσαρίο το ἐξ ἐμέ το αἰσχρό
το νησσαρίο το αἰσχρό το ἐξ ἐμέ

1.2.1.1 Eschew multiple embedding of prepositional phrases

In the ancient language we find, for example, τὰ γὰρ τῆς τῶν πολλῶν ψυχῆς ὄμματα, which may be glossed:
τ-ὰ        γὰρ τ-ῆς       τ-ῶν       πολλ-ῶν     ψυχ-ῆς      ὄμματ-α
the-NOM.PL for the-GEN.SG the-GEN.PL many-GEN.PL soul-GEN.SG eye-NOM.PL
= for the eyes of the soul of the multitude [Plato, "Sophist" 254a].

Note: γὰρ/ γάρ here and in the examples below is a conjunction meaning "for", in the sense of giving the reason or cause of what has preceded. In both ancient Greek and ΤΑΚΕ it comes second word in its clause.

A word for word translation of the ancient Greek phrase in ΤΑΚΕ would give (assuming we know "eye" is plural):
*το  γάρ ἐκ το  ἐκ το  πολύ-λαό  ψυχή ὄμματο
*the for of the of the many-folk soul eye[s]

Clearly this will not do. In the ancient language it is possible because the case endings help to link the articles with their corresponding nouns; but in ΤΑΚΕ where the article is invariable and possession is shown by a prepositional phrase, this is simply confusing. In ΤΑΚΕ we must:

• either put all attributive phrases in apposition after the head noun phrase, thus:
  το γάρ ὄμματο το ἐκ το ψυχή το ἐκ το πολύ-λαό = "for the eye[s] of the soul of the multitude"
• or we may have a single embedding in the final attributive phrase, thus:
  το γάρ ὄμματο το ἐκ το ἐκ το πολύ-λαό ψυχή = "for the eye[s] of the multitude's soul"

As another example we consider "the people in my father's boat." In the ancient language this is just: οἱ ἐν τῷ τοῦ ἐμοῦ πατρός πλοίῳ, i.e.
οἱ         ἐν τ-ῷ        τ-οῦ       ἐμ-οῦ     πατρ-ός       πλοί-ῳ
the.NOM.PL in the-DAT.SG the-GEN.SG my-GEN.SG father-GEN.SG boat-DAT.SG
"The in the of-the my father boat [people]"

In ΤΑΚΕ this is:

• either - το λαό το ἐν το πλοῖο το ἐκ το πατρό το ἐξ ἐμέ = "the people in the boat of the father of me"
•      or - το λαό το ἐν το πλοῖο το ἐκ το ἐξ ἐμέ πατρό = "the people in the boat of my father"

1.2.2 The Determinative Position

The determinative comes before the article and noun; all the examples in (iii) above are determinatives. This is the more common word order; if, however, we want to place more emphasis on the noun, the determinative may be placed immediately after the noun, e.g.
παντό το πόλι = "all the city", "the whole city" or το πόλι παντό = "all the city", "the whole city".

1.2.3 Attributive or Determinative Position According to Meaning

We saw on the 'Pronouns' page that αὐτό could occur in either position, but with a different (though related) meaning, e.g.:
attributive: τ' αὐτό γυναικό or το γυναικό τ' αὐτό = "the same woman ", "the very woman ";
determinative: αὐτό το γυναικό or το γυναικό αὐτό = "the woman herself ".
The adjectives ἄκρο, μέσο and ἔσχατο also have different meanings according to position, for example:

	Attributive	Determinative
ἄκρο	το ἄκρο ὄρο the highest mountain(s)	ἄκρο το ὄρο the top of the mountain
μέσο	το μέσο ἀγορά the middle market	μέσο το ἀγορά the middle of the market
ἔσχατο	το ἔσχατο νῆσο the last island	ἔσχατο το νῆσο the edge of the island (the last point on the island)

Also in the ancient language, we find that the partitive genitive has the determinative position while, as we see above, the possessive genitive has the attributive position. So also in ΤΑΚΕ, a possessive phrase beginning with ἐκ/ ἐξ has the attributive position but a partitive phrase beginning with ἐκ/ ἐξ has the determinative position. Examples of partitive use are:

• το μάλιστα σοφό ἐκ το λαό or ἐκ το λαό το μάλιστα σοφό = "the wisest of people"
• οὐδαμό ἐκ το ἀνδρό-λαό or ἐκ το ἀνδρό-λαό οὐδαμό = "none of the men (folk)"
• ποῦ ἐκ το γῆ; = "Where on earth?"

 

2. Normal Word Order

In the ancient language word order was comparatively free, since the morphology carried much of the grammatical relations. But ΤΑΚΕ has dropped all inflexions; this means that a fairly fixed word order is needed.

The basic word order is Subject-Verb-Object (SOV). The subject must always come immediately before the verb and, if there is a direct object, it should normally follow the verb. Adverbs and prepositional phrases used adverbially will, in an unmarked sentence, follow the direct object.

Some languages have a favorite ordering of these adverbial elements. German, for example, favors the "Time Manner Place" order, whereas English and French favor "Place Manner Time" order. Cf.

• Ich fahre heute mit dem Auto nach Athen.
  (I travel today with the car to Athens.)
• I'm traveling to Athens by car today.

ΤΑΚΕ has no such rule and one is free to put these adverbial elements in any order; thus the above sentence could be rendered:

• ἐμέ πόρευε σήμερον συν το αὐτοκίνητο εἰς Ἀθήνη or
• ἐμέ πόρευε συν το αὐτοκίνητο σήμερον εἰς Ἀθήνη or
• ἐμέ πόρευε συν το αὐτοκίνητο εἰς Ἀθήνη σήμερον or
• ἐμέ πόρευε εἰς Ἀθήνη συν το αὐτοκίνητο σήμερον or
• ἐμέ πόρευε εἰς Ἀθήνη σήμερον συν το αὐτοκίνητο or
• ἐμέ πόρευε σήμερον εἰς Ἀθήνη συν το αὐτοκίνητο

This also means that the the indirect object will follow the direct object (unless one of them is fronted - see below), e.g.

• το Δαυείδ δῶ δύο βιβλίο εἰς το Φίλιππο = "David gave two books to Philip", "David gave Philip two books".

If the verb is impersonal, there will not, of course, be a subject and the unmarked clause will begin with the verb itself; e.g.

• ἔστιν τρία ἀνδρό ἐν το πλοῖο = "There were three men in the boat."
• ὕε σήμερον ἐν Ἀθήνη = "It is raining today in Athens"
• χιόνιζε ἐν Λονδίνιο σήμερον = "It is snowing in London today."

 

3. Marked Word Order

Where there some special emphasis for topicalization, interrogation or some other reason, word order may be varied, but the grammatical subject must always come before the verb; the is no subject-verb inversion as in some languages. The principles set out below are much the same as the variation we shall find in certain types of subordinate clause. But we shall deal with the different types of subordinate clause separately.

3.1 Topic Fronting

The topic is "[t]hat element of a sentence which is presented as already existing in the discourse and about which the rest of the sentence (the comment) is in some sense 'about'" [Trask, R.L. (1993) A Dictionary of Grammatical Terms in Linguistics, London and New York: Routledge].

In many languages, including English, the topic in unmarked sentences corresponds to the grammatical subject. If some other element is chosen as topic, this is marked in some way or other. A common way of doing this in many languages is by bringing the topic to the beginning of the sentence or fronting it. This is what happens in German and also what ΤΑΚΕ does. However, unlike German, there no inversion of subject and verb; the subject must always come in front of the verb. This is important in a language like ΤΑΚΕ where there is no verbal agreement or case marking on nouns.

For example, in το Δαυείδ δῶ δύο βιβλίο εἰς το Φίλιππο ("David gave Philip two books") we assume that David already exist in the discourse and we are being informed that he gave two books to Philip. But in we wish to topicalize either the two books or Philip, we will have:

• δύο βιβλίο το Δαυείδ δῶ εἰς το Φίλιππο = "David gave Philip two books", "Two books is what David gave Philip."
• εἰς το Φίλιππο το Δαυείδ δῶ δύο βιβλίο = " David gave Philip two books", "It's to Philip that David gave two books."

Similarly, with our example about traveling to Athens by car, any one of the three adverbial elements could be fronted as topic, e.g.

• σήμερον ἐμέ πόρευε εἰς Ἀθήνη συν το αὐτοκίνητο = "Today I am traveling to Athens by car"
• εἰς Ἀθήνη ἐμέ πόρευε συν το αὐτοκίνητο σήμερον ="I'm traveling to Athens by car today."
• συν το αὐτοκίνητο ἐμέ πόρευε εἰς Ἀθήνη σήμερον ="I'm traveling to Athens by car today."

Similarly adverbials elements may be fronted before impersonal verbs, e.g.

• ἐν το πλοῖο ἔστιν τρία ἀνδρό = "In the boat [there] were three men."
• σήμερον ὕε ἐν Λονδίνιο = "Today it is raining in London", "It is raining in London today"
• ἐν Ἀθήνη χιόνιζε σήμερον = "It is snowing in Athens today."

3.2 Questions

There are two main types of questions: those known in English as WH-questions and those known as yes-no questions.

3.2.1 WH-questions

The term WH-questions is derived from the incidental fact that most of the words beginning such questions begin with wh- in English. In ΤΑΚΕ such questions begin with one the interrogative words in the table of correlatives on the 'Pronouns' page. As in most European languages, the interrogative word is placed first. If the interrogative is the subject, then the sentence takes the normal SVO word order; otherwise the interrogative is fronted as in 2 (Topic Fronting) above. Examples:

• τίνο πόρευε εἰς Ἀθήνη συν το αὐτοκίνητο σήμερον; = "Who is traveling to Athens by car today? "
• τίνο το Δαυείδ δῶ εἰς το Φίλιππο; = "What is David giving [to] Philip? "
• εἰς τίνο το Δαυείδ δῶ δύο βιβλίο; = "Who is David giving two books to? " ( "To whom is David giving two books? ")
• πῶς το Χριστίνη πόρευε εἰς Ἀθήνη σήμερον; = "How is Christine traveling to Athens today? "
• πότε το Χριστίνη πόρευε εἰς Ἀθήνη; = "When is Christine traveling to Athens? "
• εἰς ποῦ το Χριστίνη πόρευε συν το αὐτοκίνητο σήμερον; = "Where is Christine traveling [to] with the car today? "
• πότε χιόνιζε ἐν Λονδίνιο; = "When was it snowing in London?"

3.2.2 Yes-no questions

These are questions to which the answer is either ναί "yes" or οὔ "no". In the ancient language the interrogative particle ἆρα was used to begin the question, and ΤΑΚΕ likewise uses ἆρα, e.g.

• ἆρα το Χριστίνη πόρευε εἰς Ἀθήνη σήμερον; = "Is Christine traveling to Athens today?"
• ἆρα το Δαυείδ δῶ το βίβλιο εἰς το Φίλιππο; = "Is David giving Philip the book?"
• ἆρ’ ἔστιν τρία ἀνδρό ἐν το πλοῖο; = "Are there three men in the boat?"

We may, however, load such a question so as to imply that the answer should be either "yes" or "no". There are various way of doing this in English. A common method in many languages of implying "yes" is to question the negative, cf. Latin nonne (← non "not" + the interrogative particle -ne). Similarly in ancient Greek we find ἆρ’ οὐ. Thus, for example:

• Ancient Greek: ἆρ' οὐ βούλεσθε ἐλθεῖν;
• Latin: Nonne vultis ire?
• English: Don't you want to go? (You want to go, don't you?)

But the ancient language used μὴ, the other word for "not", in questions implying the answer "no"! So we might have ἆρα μὴ βούλεσθε ἐλθεῖν; (You don't want to go, do you?). But using the two words for "not" in this way could be confusing; also those constructions are not particularly common in the ancient texts. I shall, therefore, use the more distinctive (and arguably more common) ancient words οὐκοῦν (implying "yes") and μῶν (implying "no"), thus e.g.:

• οὐκοῦν σέ βοῦλε βῆ; = "Don't you want to go?", "You want to go, don't you?"
• οὐκοῦν το Χριστίνο πόρευε εἰς Ἀθήνη σήμερον; = "Isn't Christine traveling to Athens today?", "Christine's traveling to Athens today, isn't she?"
• οὐκοῦν ὕε σήμερον; = "Isn't it raining today?", "It's raining today, isn't it?"
• and
• μῶν σέ βοῦλε βῆ; = "You don't want to go, do you?"
• μῶν το Χριστίνο πόρευε εἰς Ἀθήνη σήμερον; = "Christine isn't traveling to Athens today, is she?"
• μῶν ὕε σήμερον; = "It isn't raining today, is it?"

3.2.3 Alternative questions

The ancient language introduced such questions with πότερον or πότερα, being the neuter singular and plural respectively of πότερος (which [of two]?) used adverbially, with the ἢ, the normal word for "or" which, like all monosyllabic conjunctions, will be atonic in ΤΑΚΕ. As ΤΑΚΕ has the interrogative pronoun πότερο; (Which of the two?), I adopt πότερα as the adverb as this slightly more distinctive; e.g.

• πότερα εἰς Ἀθήνη ἠ εἰς Κόρινθο το Χριστίνο πόρευε; = "Is Christine going to Athens or to Corinth?"
• πότερα σέ βοῦλε βῆ ἠ οὔ; = "Do you want to go or not?"
• πότερα χιόνιζε ἠ οὔ; "Is it snowing or not?"

3.3 Commands & wishes

Besides statements and questions, one may also express commands (imperative, jussive and hortative) and wishes. These were explained on the 'Verbs - Part 2' page in the section dealing with "Mood". For convenience, they are summarized here.

3.3.1 Commands

For more details, see Section 4.2 on 'Verbs - Part 2'. In all forms of command the negative is μη and that alone may mark the sentence as a negative command. Positive commands in the 1st person (hortative) and 3rd person (jussive) must be marked by the particle ἴθι at the beginning of the command; the use of the particle with negative commands is optional. For example:

• ἴθι ἡμᾶς βῆ = "Let's go!"
• (ἴθι) ἡμᾶς μη ποίει τόδε = "Let's not do that!"
• ἴθι σφᾶς φάγε πλακοῦντο = "Let them eat cake!"
• (ἴθι) ἕ μη γνῶ περί τόδε = "Let him not know about this!"
• ἴθι ὕε = "Let it rain!"
• (ἴθι) μη χιόνιζε σήμερον = "Let it not snow today!"

The 2nd person, i.e. imperative, is normally expressed, as in most languages, by the verb with no subject expressed (i.e., with the subject "understood"); e.g.

• ἀπόβη = "Go away!"
• πρόσερχε = "Come here!"
• μη ἀπόβη ῍"Don't go away!"
• μη λέγε ἐκεῖνο = "Don't say that!"

If, however, one wishes to emphasize the 2nd person, ἴθι must be used if the command is positive and is optional in negative forms, e.g.

• ἴθι σέ ἀπόβη = "You are to go away!"
• (ἴθι) σέ μη ἀπόβη = "You are not to go away!"

3.3.2 Wishes

For more details, see Section 4.3 on 'Verbs - Part 2'. The negative, in all forms of wish, is μη but that alone cannot mark wishes. Wishes looking the future are marked by the particle εἴθε at the beginning of the wish, e.g.

• εἴθε σέ γένε φίλο εἰς ἡμᾶς = "May you become a friend to us"
• εἴθε το βασιλεύ ζῆ εἰς ἀεί = "May the king live for ever!"
• εἴθε χιόνιζε σήμερον = "May it snow today!"
• εἴθε ἕ μη ἄνερχε σήμερον = "May he not return today!"
• εἴθε σέ μηδέποτε πάθε δυστυχία = "May you never suffer misfortune)"
• εἴθε μη ὕε σήμερον = "May it not rain today."

Wishes referring to the present or past are introduced by the particle ὄφελον, e.g.

• ὄφελον ἕ ποίει τόδε = "Would that he were doing this/ had done this)7"
• ὄφελον ἡμᾶς ἔς ἐκεῖ = "Would that we were there/ had been there."
• ὄφελον ὕε = "Would that it were raining/ had rained."
• ὄφελον ἕ μη ποίει ἐκεῖνο = "Would that he were not doing that/ had not done that."
• ὄφελον σφᾶς μη βῆ εἴς ἔκεῖ = "Would that they were not going there/ had not gone there."
• ὄφελον μη χιόνιζε = "Would that it were not snowing/ had not snowed.