47.3 For most verbs, the personal endings for optative verbs are THEMATIC SECONDARY endings, with one exception:
- the active first person singular ending ends in –μι.
To mark the optative mood, an –ι– is inserted between the thematic vowel and the personal ending. Inserting this –ι– caused the thematic vowel not to degrade from ο to ε, as it does in other thematic verb inflections. As a result, the thematic vowel remains ο throughout all persons and numbers (S 459, G 252-254).
Τhe importance of inserted –ι– as a marker of the optative mood is reflected by the fact that –οι and –αι (see below) at the end of optative forms are LONG DIPHTHONGS, not short (S 427, G 252-254).
All tenses of the optative use these endings except for the FIRST AORIST, which replaces the thematic vowel –ο– with –σα-.
47.6 FIRST AORIST ACTIVE personal endings:
47.7 FIRST AORIST MIDDLE personal endings:
