το ρήματο - το 1ʹ μέρο
Verbs - Part 1

Just like the other parts of speech, all the ΤΑΚΕ verbs are also invariable; they have no inflexions and, therefore, do not change to show tense, mood, voice or, indeed, non-finite forms. This page concentrates on how the ΤΑΚΕ verb forms are derived from the ancient language.

As the ancient Greek verb system was far more complex than that of Latin, the derivation of verbs from the ancient language is a good deal more complex than that of deriving 'Latino sine flexion' verbs from Classical Latin.
 

1. Initial Considerations

In Latino sine Flexione Giuseppe Peano used the Latin singular imperative as being closest to the verb stem (the same form can be obtained by removing the final -re of the active infinitive); at least he did this with regular active verbs. As for Latin's deponent verbs (i.e. verbs with passives endings but having active meanings), he adopted a form which would have been the active singular imperative if the verb had had one, e.g. from sequor (I follow), sequi (to follow) Latino sine Flexione has seque.

As far as thematic verbs (i.e. the majority of ancient Greek verbs) are concerned, ΤΑΚΕ generally does the same since the singular imperative is likewise generally close to the verb stem. But some of the thematic and all the athematic verbs are more problematic. As I wrote above, the ancient Greek verbs are a good deal more complex than their Latin counterparts. The terms 'athematic' and 'thematic' are explained below, with one or two other of the complications.

Perhaps before looking at these, it should be explained that unlike Latin with just active and passive 'voice', Greek also had a middle voice; this had a more or less reflexive meaning. In some parts of the verb all three voices had distinct forms, but in many of the other parts the middle and passive forms were not differentiated; we refer to such undifferentiated forms as medio-passive. Now read on:

1.1 Principal parts & verb stems

Those who know Latin will know that verbs are given in dictionaries, texts books grammars etc. with four principal parts from which three verb stem are derived; from these three stems are derived regularly all the various verb forms for the vast majority of verbs. Unfortunately, things were not so simple in ancient Greek; there the verb may have up to six principle parts, from which are derived six different (though usually related) stems. The principal parts given in dictionaries etc are the 1st person singular of:

1. Present indicative active (or medio-passive, if the verb is deponent)
   This gives the present stem from which were derived the: present & imperfect indicative, present subjunctive, present optative, present imperative, present participle and present infinitive in both the active and medio-passive voices;
2. Future indicative active (or middle, if the verb is deponent)
   This gives the future stem [active or middle] from which were derived the: future indicative, future optative, future participle and future infinitive in the active and middle voices only;
3. Aorist indicative active (or middle, if the verb is deponent)
   This gives the aorist stem [active & middle] from which were derived the: aorist indicative, aorist subjunctive, aorist optative, aorist imperative, aorist participle and aorist infinitive in the active and middle voices only;
4. Perfect indicative active
   This gives the perfect active stem from which were derived the: perfect & pluperfect indicative, perfect subjunctive, perfect optative, [rare] perfect imperative, perfect participle and perfect infinitive in the active voice only;
5. Perfect indicative medio-passive
   This gives the perfect medio-passive stem from which were derived the: perfect & pluperfect indicative, perfect subjunctive, perfect optative, [rare] perfect imperative, perfect participle and perfect infinitive in the medio-passive voice only;
   and also the less common: future-perfect indicative, future-perfect optative, future-perfect participle and future-perfect infinitive in the passive voice only.
6. Aorist indicative passive
   This gives the aorist passive stem from which were derived the: aorist indicative, aorist subjunctive, aorist optative, aorist imperative, aorist participle and aorist infinitive in the passive voice only;
   and also the: future indicative, future optative, future participle and future infinitive in the passive voice only.

NOTE: A few deponent verbs had passive rather than middle forms where these were different; such verbs obviously lacked (ii) and (iii) above.

Fortunately, of the six different verbal stems, only (i) and (iii) concern us, i.e. the 'present' and 'aorist' stems. In modern terminology, they would be termed 'imperfective' and 'perfective' stems, respectively, as, for example, in the Slav languages.

The 'present subjunctive', 'present optative' etc are in fact the imperfective subjunctive, imperfective optative etc. The two indicative tenses formed from this stem are more correctly the present imperfective indicative and the past imperfective indicative.

As far as the aorist is concerned, one merely has to replace 'aorist' by 'perfective' throughout, except the 'aorist indicative' is more properly 'the past perfective indicative'.

1.2 Thematic and athematic verb forms

• Thematic verb forms are those which form the indicative tenses, imperatives, infinitives and participle by inserting a thematic vowel (thema) between the stem and the ending (the subjunctive mood uses a lengthened form of the thematic vowel and the optative mood adds -ι- to the thema , but these do not concern us here).
• Athematic verb forms add endings directly to the verb base being used.

When books speak of thematic and athematic verbs, however, they are referring to the behavior of the present stem forms, where thematic verbs have the thema -ο- before nasal consonants and -ε- elsewhere before the ending. As in Latin, so in ancient Greek it is usual to cite the 1st person singular of the various tenses and this is the form given in dictionaries. So thematic verbs are shown ending in -ω (active) or -ομαι (deponent), and athematic ending in -μι (active) or -μαι (deponent).

There are also thematic and athematic aorist forms; but we will note those below.

1.3 Weak & Strong Aorists

When deriving ΤΑΚΕ verbs, we are not concerned the ancient aorist passive, only with aorist stem used for the active and middle voices. But, just to add to the fun, this came in two varieties: weak & strong.

1. Weak aorist
   In the active the weak aorist ends in -(σ)α and in the middle it ends in -(σ)άμην. It is derived by adding -(σ) to (normally) the present stem, followed by the thema -α-; the (σ) is shown in brackets as it often combined with a preceding consonant and did not appear as a separate sigma, thus:
   π, β, φ or πτ + σ → ψ
   τ, δ, θ or ζ + σ → σ
   κ, γ, χ or κτ + σ → ξ
   ν, ρ or λ drop the - σ- but modify the preceding vowel.
   In the original version of ΤΑΚΕ, the weak aorist was sometimes used for deriving verbs; in this revision, we never use weak aorists.
2. Strong aorists
   These are inherited from Proto-Indo-European and usually represent the most basic verb stem. They come in two forms: thematic, ending in in -ο-ν (active) or -ό-μην (middle), and athematic which simply add -ν (active) or -μην (middle). The stem before the athematic endings usually ends in -η- , -ω- or, less commonly, long -α- and -υ-. Strong aorists are often used for deriving ΤΑΚΕ verbs.

NOTE: a verb may have an thematic present but an athematic strong aorist, e.g. βαίνω, ἔβην (to step, go).

1.4 Reduplication

Reduplication of initial consonants or even of whole syllables features quite a bit in the ancient verbal system. 'Present' (i.e. imperfective) stems may have the initial consonant repeated with -ι- between them, e.g. γι-γνώσκω, δί-δωμι (if the initial consonant is φ, θ or χ the the consonant before -ι- is π, τ or κ respectively, e.g. τί-θημι); occasionally a nasal consonant follows the -ι-, e.g. πίμ-πλημι. In Homer strong aorists are also found with reduplication of initial consonant with intervening -ι- or -ε-; these are not used in later Greek and are not used for deriving ΤΑΚΕ verbs.

Reduplication was a standard feature for forming perfect stems; this was similar to that described in the preceding paragraph, except that the vowel between the initial consonants was -ε- and there was no infixing of a nasal consonant. This type of reduplication, however, does not concern us here.

A less common type of reduplication is that known as 'Attic reduplication', e.g. ἀρ-αρίσκω (but this verb was poetic, mainly Homeric, and is not used in ΤΑΚΕ); the only reduplicated strong aorists that concern us are the very few which show Attic reduplication, e.g. ἤγ-αγον (aorist stem: ἀγ-αγ-).

2. Rules for deriving the ΤΑΚΕ verb from ancient Greek

Dictionaries and grammar normally list the various verb stems showing the 1st person singular. The rules below, therefore, show how the ΤΑΚΕ verb is derived from either the present indicative 1st person singular or the aorist indicative 1st person singular.

NOTE:

• All references to 'aorist' refer to the active and/or middle aorist forms.
• All reference to the singular imperative refer to the 2nd person singular (the ancient verb also had 3rd person imperative endings).

2.1 The Basic Rules

1. Use the strong aorist if
     the aorist is related to the present stem and
     the aorist stem is not reduplicated.
2. Use the strong aorist if
     the aorist is not related to the present stem and
     the aorist stem is not reduplicated and
     the aorist stem is used in forming compounds.
3. Use the present stem in all other cases.

Notes:

• Basic rule (a): A few transitive verbs have a weak transitive aorist and a strong intransitive aorist (i.e. although the strong aorist has active endings it has, for these verbs, a middle meaning). We use the strong aorist of these verbs to derive the ΤΑΚΕ verb, as ΤΑΚΕ verbs are neutral as regards voice.
• Basic rule (b): In most cases where the present stem and aorist stem are different (i.e. the verb is suppletive), the present stem will be used for deriving ΤΑΚΕ verbs. The aorist stem is used if and only if all clauses of this rule are true, including the last clause.
• Basic rule (c): If a verb also has no present stem, then there is no TAKE verb derived from it (see 3.1 below).

What this all boils down to is: if the verb has a suitable strong aorist, use it; otherwise use the present tense.

2.2 Rules for accenting ΤΑΚΕ verbs

When the ΤΑΚΕ verb has been derived according to the above rules, one needs to know where to place the accent and what accent to use. Whether the verb is derived from the strong aorist or the present stem, we apply the same rules, namely:

2.2.1 Verb ending in a consonant

There is, in fact, only one such verb, namely the verb "to be", and it is accented thus: ἔς.

2.2.2 Verbs ending in -ε

• If the verb is of three syllables or more, then we place an acute on the third syllable from the end (the antepenultimate syllable), e.g. ἄγγελλε (to announce); ξήραινε (to dry); ὕποσχε (to promise).
• If the verb has only two syllables, then we accent the first syllable thus:
  1. If the vowel of the first syllable is η, ω, a diphthong or a digraph, we use a circumflex accent;
  2. if the vowel of the first syllable is ε or ο, we use an acute accent;
  3. if the vowel of the first syllable is α, ι or υ, we shall normally use the acute accent also, unless the dictionary shows the ancient vowel was long (i.e. writes it as ᾱ, ῑ or ῡ).
  Examples are: σῶζε (to save); εὗρε (to find); δεῖκε (to show); λέγε (to say); κόπτε (to cut); βάλε (to throw); λίπε (to depart); πύθε (to enquire) - but πρᾶσσε (to do, manage).
• If the verb has only one syllable, we put an acute on the final -ε, e.g. πτέ (to fly); σχέ (to have).

2.2.3 All other verbs

• If the verb is of two or more syllables, we have an acute on the next to last syllable, e.g. ἀγάπα (to love); δήλου (to reveal, show); ποίει (to do, make).
• If the verb has only one syllable, we put a circumflex on the vowel; e.g. βῆ (to go); γνῶ (to know); δρᾶ (to perform, act).

Ancient Greek verbs, with a few exceptions, had what is called a "recessive accent"; that is, the accent was placed as far forward from the final syllable as possible within the overall rules of accentuation. The above rules implement this in TAKE as -ε is the only 'short' vowel that occurs as a verb ending; all the other vowels reflect an ancient 'long' vowel.

2.2 Implementing Basic Rules (a) and (b)
    (ΤΑΚΕ verb is derived from the strong aorist)

2.3.1 First remove the augment

The aorist indicative tense has what is called a 'temporal augment' to show that it refers to the past. This applies only to the indicative tense, not to other aorist forms as the aorist stem itself shows aspect, not tense. Unfortunately, it is the 1st person singular of the [past] aorist indicative tense which is used by dictionaries and grammars.

However, the ΤΑΚΕ verb is derived from the aorist stem, not from the aorist tense. Therefore we need to remove the augment from the 1st person singular:

• If the aorist stem begins with a consonant, the augment is simply a prefixed ἐ- (or occasionally ἠ-); we simply remove this.
• If the aorist stem begins with a vowel, the augment normally causes some change in this vowel (the details need not concern us here); we need to restore the vowel to its unaugmented form which is usually the same as the initial vowel of the present stem (if this is not so, dictionaries and grammars should make this clear).

NOTE: if the verb is a compound, i.e. is prefixed by a preposition, then the augment comes between the prefix and the stem, e.g. the aorist of ἀποθνήσκω (also written ἀποθνῄσκω) was ἀπέθανον, i.e. ἀπ-έθανον, but, for example, the aorist infinitive, which has no augment, was ἀποθανεῖν, i.e. ἀπο-θανεῖν.

2.3.2 Then derive the ΤΑΚΕ verb

• If the aorist is thematic, then remove the final -ον (active) or -όμην (middle) and add -ε, and accent according to 2.2.2 above.
• if the aorist is athematic, simply drop the final -ν (active) or -μην (middle), and accent according to 2.2.3 above.

Examples:

• βάλλω (to throw) - aorist: ἔβαλον → βαλον → βαλε → βάλε
• βιβρώσκω (to devour) - aorist: ἔβρων → βρων → βρω → βρῶ
• γιγνώσκω (to know) - aorist: ἔγνων → γνων → γνω → γνῶ
• σβέννυμι (to extinguish) - aorist: ἔσβην → σβην → σβη → σβῆ
• ὑπισχνέομαι (to promise) - aorist: ὑπεσχόμην (i.e. ὑπ-εσχόμην) → ὑποσχόμην → ὑποσχε → ὕποσχε

The two steps above, 2.3.1 and 2.3.2, result in a form identical in spelling with the singular active imperative as far as the thematic verbs are concerned (but not in accent, as the singular imperative of such verbs was one of the few exceptions to the recessive accent rule). Thematic strong aorists usually formed the active imperative with the ending -θι and the TAKE verb corresponds to the ancient singular imperative active without the ending -θι.

2.4 Implementing Basic Rule (c)
    (ΤΑΚΕ verb is derived from the present tense)

NOTE:

• There is more variation in implementing this rule. It will be convenient to divide the ancient Greek verbs into different groups according to the behavior of their present stem forms. It will be convenient to divide them into three groups of thematic verbs and three groups of athematic verbs.
• All the sub-rules below apply, of course, if and only if a verb does not have a suitable strong aorist.

2.4.1 Group 1: Thematic inceptive verbs with reduplicated present stems.

Inceptive verbs (also called 'inchoative verbs') end in -σκω and, in theory, denote the beginning of an activity or state; in practice, however, few of the Greek verbs actually had an inceptive meaning. Most of these will, if they do not possess a strong aorist, behave exactly like the rest of Group 3 below; but it seems desirable that the very few of those with reduplication in the present stem and no strong aorist should by analogy with γιγνώσκω (to know) and βιβρώσκω (to devour) above, derive their ΤΑΚΕ form thus:

• Remove the initial reduplication and the inceptive suffix (-σκω);
• Accent the verb in the same way as verbs derived from athematic strong aorists.

Thus, for example:

• μιμνήσκω (to remember) → μνη → μνῆ
• τιτρώσκω (to wound) → τρω → τρῶ

2.4.2 Group 2. Thematic contract verbs

That is verbs ending in -άω, -έω or -όω (or in -άομαι, -έομαι, or -όομαι if deponent), where the final vowel of the present stem normally combines with the vowel of the ending to give a 'contracted' form. To derive the ΤΑΚΕ verb, we change the endings thus:

• -άω or -άομαι → -α
• -έω or -έομαι → -ει
• -όω or -όομαι → -ου

These are, in fact, contractions of -αε, -εε and -οε (see group 3) respectively and are identical with the ancient singular 'present' (i.e. imperfective) imperative active.

A few verbs ending in -άω, however, contracted -αε to -η, and not to -α. They are διψάω (to be thirsty) , ζάω (to live), κνάω (to scratch), πεινάω (to be hungry), σμάω (to wipe clean), χράομαι (to use) and ψάω (to rub, wipe). The ΤΑΚΕ verbs derived from these will, therefore, have the -αω or -αομαι changed to -η.

Examples of ΤΑΚΕ verbs derived from ancient contract verbs are:

• ἀγαπάω (to love) → ἀγάπα
• δηλόω (to reveal) → δήλου
• διψάω (to be thirsty) → δίψη
• ζάω (to live) → ζῆ
• ὠνέομαι (to buy) → ὤνει

2.4.3 Group 3: All other thematic verbs ("ordinary verbs")

That is verbs ending in -ω (or in -ομαι if deponent) after ι, υ or a consonant (except for the very few in group 1 above). These form by far the largest group of verbs. The ΤΑΚΕ verbs are derived by removing the final -ω (active) or -ομαι (deponent), replacing it with -ε and accenting it according to 2.2.2.
Examples:

• ἀγγέλλω (to announce)→ *ἀγγελλε → ἄγγελλε
• ἔρχομαι (to come) → ἔρχε

The ΤΑΚΕ verb is, in fact, identical with the ancient singular imperative active.

2.4.4 Group 4: Athematic verbs with reduplicated present stems.

This is not a large group of verbs. Some are not used in ΤΑΚΕ for reasons explained in Section 3 below; ἵστημι is used but forms its ΤΑΚΕ verb from its strong aorist in the normal way. Only three verbs of this group are used in ΤΑΚΕ; they are δίδωμι, πίμπλημι and τίθημι. The ΤΑΚΕ verb is formed in a manner analogous to 2.4.1 above: remove the initial reduplication and the personal suffix -μι, thus:

• δίδωμι (to give) → δω → δῶ
• πίμπλημι (to fill) → πλη → πλῆ
• τίθημι (to put, place) → θη → θῆ

2.4.5 Group 5: Athematic verbs ending in -(ν)νυμι.

These verbs infix -νυ- (or -ννυ- after vowels) between the verb stem and the verbal suffixes. There are a few deponent verbs in this group, but they are almost all Ionic and poetic, mainly Homeric. An exception which is is found in classical Attic is πτάρνυμαι (to sneeze); however, it also had a thematic alternative, πταίρω, and both verbs share the strong aorist ἔπταρον, from which ΤΑΚΕ πτάρε is derived. The deponents of this class, therefore, do not concern us here.

Basically, ΤΑΚΕ treats all these verbs the same way: we remove the ending -(ν)νυμι and replace it with -ε. If the ancient verb ended in a consonant followed by -νυμι or ended with -ώννυμι, there is no further change than adjusting the accent. If, however, the ancient verb ended with -άννυμι or -έννυμι, the -ε merges with the final vowel of the verb stem in exactly the same way as with the thematic contract verbs above, i.e. -άννυμι → [long]-α and -έννυμι → ει. All the resultant ΤΑΚΕ verbs are accented according to the rules given above. Examples are:

• δείκνυμι (to show) → δεῖκε
• μίγνυμι (to join) → μίγε     [This was also sometimes written μείγνυμι]
• σκεδάννυμι (to scatter) → σκέδα
• κορέννυμι (to satiate) → κόρει
• ζώννυμι (to gird) → ζῶε

NOTE: Verbs in this group that are Ionic or poetic only are not used in ΤΑΚΕ.

2.4.6 Group 6: Other athematic verbs

Many of the verbs of this group were Ionic or poetic, chiefly Homeric, and often had alternative thematic forms ending in -άω or -έω. In forming ΤΑΚΕ verbs, thematic forms are always to be preferred over athematic variants. Also, several of the active verbs in this group had usable strong aorists (and thus formed their ΤΑΚΕ derivative from the aorist stem), and a few verbs, both active and deponent, were defective and are not used in ΤΑΚΕ/ The latter are listed in Section 3 below.

The only present stem active verb of this group used in ΤΑΚΕ is εἰμί (to be). This verb had no aorist, and the 1st person singular εἰμί might suggest an ΤΑΚΕ derivative εἶ. In fact the verb was very irregular and varied in the different dialects.

	Doric	Epic	Ionic	Attic
I am	ἠμί	εἰμί
you (s.) are	ἐσσί	ἐσσί, εἶς	εἶς	εἶ
[he/she/it] is	ἐστί
we are	εἰμές, εἰμέν, ἠμέν	εἰμέν		ἐσμέν
you (pl.) are	ἐστέ
[they] are	ἐντί	εἰσί, ἔασι	εἰσί

The stem would appear to vary between εἰ- (or Doric ἠ-) and ἐσ-. In fact εἰ- (Doric ἠ-) developed from an earlier ἐσ- before a consonant. The Attic ἐσμέν was reformed on analogy with ἐστέ. As 50% of the forms in all of the above dialects show ἐσ- followed by a personal ending (and that is not true of εἰ-), it seems most sensible that the ΤΑΚΕ verb "to be" is ἔς.

The only present stem deponent verb of this group from which ΤΑΚΕ derives verbs are a few ending in -αμαι. With these, we remove the personal ending -μαι and treat the final -α of the verb stem in the same as that of thematic contract verbs ending in -άομαι.

Examples of verbs of this group are

• εἰμί (to be) → ἔς
• δύναμαι (to be able)→ δύνα
• ἐπίσταμαι (to understand, know how to) → ἐπίστα

 

3. Why some ancient Greek verb are not used in ΤΑΚΕ

As a general principle I do not use verbs that were purely, or mainly, Ionic and poetic (chiefly Homeric); I prefer instead to use synonyms from classical prose usage.

For more particular consideration of some individual words, it will be convenient to consider first those verbs that have neither a strong aorist or a present stem (verbs with perfect stem forms but with "present stem" meanings) and then the use the six groups of Section 2.4 (Implementing Basic Rule (c)).

3.1 Verbs with perfect stem forms but with "present stem" meanings.

These verbs are all defective; they have no present stem. The imperfective meanings are conveyed by forms that are normally used for perfect meanings. None of these verbs is used in ΤΑΚΕ, their meanings being supplied by other verbs, thus:

• δέδοικα (I fear) with alternative short form δέδια, is the perfect of the mainly Epic verb δείδω, used with present meanings. I do not to use this somewhat anomalous verb in ΤΑΚΕ, preferring instead φόβει (← φοβέω - see table in Section 4 below) .
• εἴωθα (to be accustomed) is the perfect of an uncommon verb ἔθω (to be accustomed), used with present meaning. I do not use this verb, but use instead ἔθιζε (← ἐθίζω) which means both 'to accustom' and 'to be accustomed', depending upon whether it is used transitively or not.
• μέμονα (to be furiously eager, very eager) is mainly Epic and not found in other tenses other than this perfect used as a present; in fact it is more common as a participle than a finite verb. It is not used in ΤΑΚΕ, which uses μάνη (← μαίνομαι - see table in Section 4 below).
• οἶδα (I know) is a defective verb with irregular conjugation. Although the futures εἴσομαι and εἰδήσω are very occasionally found, the verb forms its other tenses from γιγνώσκω (Ι know). ΤΑΚΕ, therefore, does not use οἶδα, using instead γνῶ (← γιγνώσκω); see table below.

3.2 Group 1: Thematic inceptive verbs with reduplicated present stems.

• -διδράσκω (aorist: -έδραν) "to run" is not used, both because in the ancient language (apart from one or two very early examples) it is used only in compounds, and because it would have given an ΤΑΚΕ verb 'δρᾶ' which is identical to the ΤΑΚΕ verb form 'do, perform, act'. In ΤΑΚΕ "to run" is always τρέχε, and thus "to run away" is ἀπότρεχε.
• ἀραρίσκω (to construct, fit together): the verb is poetic and for this meaning ΤΑΚΕ uses κατασκεύαζε (← κατασκευάζω).
• πιπράσκω (to sell, offer for sale): the verb is uncommon and defective. For this meaning ΤΑΚΕ uses πώλει (← πωλέω), cf. English 'mono-poly'.

3.3 Groups 2 and 3: Other thematic verbs.

There are no special ones here that I wish to comment on.

3.4 Group 4: Athematic verbs with reduplicated present stems.

• δίδημι is a rare reduplicated form for the far more common δέω (to bind, tie, fetter). ΤΑΚΕ derives it verb from the latter, i.e. δεῖ.
• ἵημι (to send) would have given ἧ but is not used in ΤΑΚΕ, the meaning being conveyed by πέμπε (to send [on a journey]) or στέλλε (to send, dispatch); however, some compounds of ἵημι are used, e.g. ἄφη ← ἀφίημι (to forgive).
• The rare verb κίχρημι (to lend) is not used. ΤΑΚΕ derives its verb from the the more common verb δανείζω, i.e. δάνειζε (to lend).
• πίμπρημι (to burn [trans.]), some of whose forms were supplied by πρήθω, whose present stem forms were intransitive, though other forms were transitive. Neither of these verbs is used in ΤΑΚΕ, which uses instead καῖε (to burn).

3.5 Group 5: Athematic verbs ending in -(ν)νυμι.

The ancient verbs, for the most part, will be used in ΤΑΚΕ except for those found only in epic or the poets. The only verb to be considered here is στόρνυμι (to strew, to spread), which had the variant form στρώννυμι and, at a later period, στορέννυμι. In view of the ancient nouns στρῶμα (anything spread out, a mattress, a bed), στρωμνή (bed, couch) and στρῶσις (a spreading, a covering), I have adopted στρῶε (← στρώννυμι), as shown in the table in Section 4 below.

3.6 Group 6: Other athematic verbs.

• εἶμι which, in Attic, was used as the future of ἔρχομαι (come, go); this verb is not used in ΤΑΚΕ, which uses βῆ (to go) and ἔρχε (to come).
• Both ἠμί (to say) and φημί (to say) were enclitic in the present tense in ancient Greek. ΤΑΚΕ does not have enclitic verbs and for "to say" it is uses λέγε instead.
• κάθημαι (to sit [intrans.]) was a defective verb with only present stem tenses (the future καθήσομαι is uncommon and is a late formation); the other tenses were supplied by the middle voice of καθίζω (to seat, sit [trans.]). ΤΑΚΕ verbs are neutral as regards voice; it would, therefore, not make sense to have a special verb for the intransitive or 'middle' meaning. Just as στῆ may be used as an active, middle or passive (see note above the table of verbs), so κάθιζε may be active (to seat [someone]), middle (to sit), or passive (to be seated [by someone]). In view of the defectiveness of κάθημαι and in order to be consistent, I do not use κάθημαι.
• κεῖμαι (to be set down, to lie) was a defective verb with only present stem tenses and a rare future form κείσομαι; the other tenses were supplied by the passive voice of τίθημι (to place, to lay down). For exactly the same reasons that I have rejected using κάθημαι I have also rejected using κεῖμαι. In ΤΑΚΕ θῆ may mean either 'to lay' or 'to lie [down]'.
• Neither the defective verb κρέμαμαι (to hang, suspend [intrans.] nor the rare κρήμνημι (to hang, suspend [trans.]) are used in ΤΑΚΕ, which uses κρέμα ( ← κρεμάννυμι), with both the transitive and intransitive meaning.

 

4. Table giving examples of derivation of ΤΑΚΕ verbs ancient Greek.

NOTE: For convenience the simple English infinitive is given as the "Dictionary Meaning"; but verbs in ΤΑΚΕ are neutral as regards voice so, e.g.ἀγάπα could equally well mean 'to be loved', ἄγγελλε 'to be announced' etc. A verb like like στῆ may be active, e.g. 'they stand their exhibits over there', or middle, e.g. 'they are standing over there', or passive, 'their exhibits were stood over there'.

Ancient Greek		ΤΑΚΕ verb	"Dictionary Meaning" (See note above)
Present tense (1st per. sg.)	Aorist tense (1st per. sg.) Those ending in -α or -άμην are weak
ἀγαπάω	ἠγάπησα	ἀγάπα	to love, show affection for
ἀγγέλλω	ἤγγειλα	ἄγγελλε	to announce
ἄγω	ἤγαγον	ἄγε	to lead
αἱρέω	εἷλον (ἑλ- )	αἵρει	to take, to obtain
αἰσθάνομαι	ᾐσθόμην	αἶσθε	to perceive, apprehend
ἁμαρτάνω	ἥμαρτον	ἅμαρτε	to err, sin
ἀποθνήσκω1	ἀπέθανον	ἀπόθανε	to die
βαίνω	ἔβην	βῆ	to go
βάλλω	ἔβαλον	βάλε	to throw
βιβρώσκω	ἔβρων	βρῶ	to eat up, devour
βιόω	ἐβίων	βίω	to live, to pass one's life
γίγνομαι	ἐγενόμην	γένε	to become
γιγνώσκω	ἔγνων	γνῶ	to know
δείκνυμι	ἔδειξα	δεῖκε	to show
δέω	ἔδησα	δεῖ	to bind, fetter
δηλόω	ἐδήλωσα	δήλου	to reveal, exhibit, make manifest
δίδωμι	ἔδωκα	δῶ	to give
διψάω	ἐδίψησα	δίψη	to be thirsty
δράω	ἔδρασα	δρᾶ	to do, perform, act
δύναμαι	ἐδυνήθην [pass.]	δύνα	to be able (to)
εἰμί	-	ἔς	to be
ἐλαύνω	ἤλασα	ἔλαυνε	to drive, march
ἐπίσταμαι	ἐπιστήθην [pass.]	ἐπίστα	to know how to, understand
ἔραμαι	ἐράσθην [pass.]	ἔρα	to love (with sexual passion), lust after
ἐργάζομαι	ἠργασάμην	ἔργαζε	to work
ἔρχομαι	ἦλθον (ἐλθ- )	ἔρχε	to come
ἐσθίω	ἔφαγον	φάγε	to eat
εὑρίσκω	ηὗρον or εὗρον	εὗρε	to find
ἔχω	ἔσχον	σχέ	to have
ζάω	ἔζησα	ζῆ	to live, to have life
ἡγέομαι	ἡγησάμην	ἥγου	to take the lead, to take command
θάπτω	ἔθαψα	θάπτε	to bury
ἵστημι	[w] ἔστησα [s] ἔστην	στῆ	to place, stand
καθίζω	ἐκάθισα	κάθιζε	to set, seat, sit
καίω	ἔκαυσα	καῖε	to burn
κεράννυμι	ἐκέρασα	κέρα	to mix, mingle, blend
κόπτω	ἔκοψα	κόπτε	to cut
κρεμάννυμι	ἐκρέμασα	κρέμα	to suspend, hang
κρύπτω	ἔκρυψα	κρύπτε	to conceal, hide
λαγχάνω	ἔλαχον	λάχε	to obtain by lot
λαμβάνω	ἔλαβον	λάβε	to take
λέγω	εἶπον (εἰπ- )	λέγε	to say
λείπω	ἔλιπον	λίπε	to depart, leave
μαίνομαι	ἐμάνην	μάνη	to rage, be furious, be mad
μανθάνω	ἔμαθον	μάθε	to learn
μίγνυμι2	ἔμιξα	μίγε	to join, bring together, mix up
μιμνήσκομαι1, 3	ἐμνησάμην	μνῆ	to remember
νοέω	ἐνόησα	νόει	to think, perceive
νομίζω	ἐνόμισα	νόμιζε	to believe
ξηραίνω	ἐξήρανα	ξήραινε	to dry
ὁράω	εἶδον (ἰδ- )	ὅρα	to see
ὀρύσσω	ὤρυξα	ὄρυσσε	to dig
πάσχω	ἔπαθον	πάθε	to suffer
πείθω	ἔπιθον	πίθε	to persuade
πέτομαι	ἐπτόμην	πτέ	to fly
πίμπλημι	ἔπλησα	πλῆ	to fill
πίνω	ἔπιον	πίε	to drink
πίπτω	ἔπεσον	πέσε	to fall
ποιέω	ἐποίησα	ποίει	to do, make, produce
πληρόω	ἐπλήρωσα	πλήρου	to satiate, render in full, fulfill
πρᾱ́σσω	ἔπρᾱξα	πρᾶσσε	to do, manage
πυνθάνομαι	ἐπυθόμην	πύθε	to enquire
ῥήγνυμι	ἔρρηξα	ρήγε	to break
σβέννυμι	[w] ἔσβεσα [s] ἔσβην	σβῆ	to extinguish
στέλλω	ἔστειλα	στέλλε	to send
στρέφω	ἔστρεψα	στρέφε	to turn
στρώννυμι	ἔστρωσα	στρῶε	to strew, spread
σώζω4	ἔσωσα	σῶζε	to save
τέμνω	ἔτεμον	τέμε	to cut
τίθημι	ἔθηκα	θῆ	to place, to lay, to lie [down]
τίκτω	ἔτεκον	τέκε	to beget, give birth to
τρέχω	ἔδραμον	τρέχε	to run
τυγχάνω	ἔτυχον	τύχε	to happen to be, to happen upon
ὑπισχνέομαι	ὑπεσχόμην	ὕποσχε	to promise
φέρω	ἤνεγκον (ἐνεγκ- )	φέρε	to bear, carry
φεύγω	ἔφυγον	φύγε	to flee
φθάνω	[w] ἔφθασα [s] ἔφθην	φθῆ	to act first, to do beforehand, to outstrip
φιλέω	ἐφίλησα	φίλει	to love, show regard to, treat kindly
φοβέω	ἐφόβησα	φόβει	to frighten, to be afraid
χαίρω	ἐχάρην	χάρη	to rejoice
χράομαι	ἐχρησάμην	χρῆ5	to use
ψεύδω	ἔψευσα	ψεῦδε	to deceive
ὠνέομαι	ἐπριάμην	ὤνει	to buy
ὠφελέω	ὠφέλησα	ὠφέλει	to benefit, be of use to

¹The earlier spelling was -ῃσκω but -ησκω without an iota subscript became usual in the later period of ancient Greek.
²The codices normally spell this verb with initial μι- but papyri and inscriptions often give the spellings μείγνυμι etc, with initial μει-; I keep the simpler spelling.
³There is a very rare active form μιμνήσκω meaning 'to remind.' But the verb is used almost entirely in the middle to mean 'to remember' and in the passive 'to be remembered'. In ΤΑΚΕ 'to remind' is expressed by a periphrasis meaning to 'to cause to remember' - see Verbs: Part 2.
⁴This was also written σῴζω. Forms with ῳ occurred, however, only as an alternative in forms derived from the present stem. In all other parts of the verb only ω is found (though some papyri do show ῳ even before -σ-; but that is likely to be hypercorrection). It seems more consistent to keep to those forms without the iota subscript in deriving the ΤΑΚΕ verb.
⁵This should not be confused with the ancient Greek 'pseudo-verb' χρή (it is necessary); this strange 'pseudo-verb' was probably once a neuter singular noun. All its other forms are contractions of χρή with εἰμί; e.g. χρἤσται (← χρὴ ἔσται). This 'pseudo-verb' is not used in ΤΑΚΕ which uses δεῖ (it is binding; it is necessary); see Verbs - Part 2.