 | Re: Masculine Nouns |
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Hi Artemis, you raise some very interesting points which I will bring up with my nephews teacher. My nephew asked for help with the homework exercise - and I am always more than happy to assist the children as much as I can. You won't get an argument from me on the issues you raise, as I am in total agreement with you! Unfortunately I won't be able to see the teacher for 3 weeks as they have just reached a 2 week semester break here in Australia. (but stay tuned) I grew up in Australia and all of my Greek & English education was completed here. Times seem to have changed dramatically though since my (long lost) youth. Today we have only one τόνο, although when I went to school there were many! Here is another interesting English word derived from the Greek words οκτό + πους ..."octopus" The word octopus = 8 feet, yet in Greek we say "χταπόδι" (The English keep the πους yet we Greeks say πόδι – go figure!?) I have just thought of another masculine noun with –ους !!!! (Just came to me) (Only declined in the singular as there is only one!) Again not useful for pattern matching through declension as there is no plural. My list is slowly growing!Cheerio George |
| Re: Masculine Nouns |
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I think what your nephew's teacher meant was that s/he didn't want masculine nouns in -ους which decline according to the ancient/katharevousa model, but rather inflect according to the Modern Greek model. Therefore, a contracted consonant-stem like ο πους (genitive ποδός, stem ποδ-) does not qualify, even though the word itself certainly continues from ancient into Modern Greek. On the other hand παππούς, νους, and απόπλους all inflect according to a standard Modern model: genitive παππού, νου, απόπλου. By the way, I'm not sure whether or not Ιησούς would count according to the teacher's criteria: Ιησούς is a proper noun (a name) which is not Greek in origin -- it's essentially a transliteration from the Hebrew. On the other hand, it does decline according to the standard model: gen. Ιησού. Regards, Greg Brush |
| Re: Masculine Nouns |
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Greg, I do believe you've hit the nail on the head! However, I won't be able to confirm the teachers intent until after the semester break. The point is (& perhaps this is also part of the teachers plan), that there are not really that many masculine nouns that fit into this category. This aside, the exersise itself was quite interesting.  I'll keep trying to think of more... ο πλους ο ρους could possibly be used?? Thank you again for your help. Cheerio George |
