Rules of Accentuation

The Recessive Accent

4.14 For most Greek verbs, the principle of RECESSIVE ACCENTUATION determines which syllable will receive the accent. In other words, the accent on a Greek verb form will fall as far back from the ULTIMA as the rules allow. There are three rules.

Rule 1:

4.15 If a verb form has THREE or more syllables, and the ULTIMA of the word contains a SINGLE SHORT VOWEL, the accent “recedes” to the ANTEPENULT. Whether the penult is long or short is irrelevant:

• δίδοτε
• κατενόησε

In this situation, the accent can recede only to the last short vowel sound of the antepenult, so the accent on an antepenult always appears as an acute (“/”), regardless of the length of vowel in this syllable. In other words, if an antepenult receives an accent, it must be acute:

• δώσετε (= δοόσετε)

Rule 2:

4.16 If a verb form has THREE or more syllables, and the ULTIMA of the word contains a LONG VOWEL sound, the accent “recedes” to the PENULT:

• διδότω
• λαμβάνει

In this situation, the accent can recede only to the last short vowel sound of the penult, so the accent always appears as an acute (“/”), regardless of the length of vowel in this syllable:

• παραδώσω (= παραδοόσοο)

Rule 3:

4.17 If a verb form has only TWO syllables, the PENULT always receives the accent. This accent may be an ACUTE (“/”) or CIRCUMFLEX (^), depending upon the following three situations:

If the penult vowel is short, it always receives an acute accent (“/”), regardless of the length of the ultima:

• δότε
• δότω (= δότοο)

If both the penult and ultima vowels are long, the penult receives an acute accent (“/”):

• δώσω (= δοόσοο)
• δώσεις (= δοόσεις)

If the penult vowel is long and the ultima is short, the penult receives a circumflex accent (^):

• σῶσε (= σόοσε)
• σῶσον (= σόοσον)

4.18 Further Notes on Accents:

1. Though the accent rules above may seem rather involved at first glance, a good rule of thumb is that recessive accents GO BACK THREE: in the case of Rule One, back three syllables; in all other situations, back three beats whenever possible.
2. We have already learned that while some vowels are LONG “BY NATURE” (e.g. η, ω…), ALL DIPHTHONGS are long (e.g., ει, οι, ευ…). There are two exceptions, however, to this diphthong rule. For indicative verbs – and all nouns and infinitives – FINAL –αι and –οι were pronounced quickly by the Greeks, and so regarded as short when determining accent type and placement. Note, for example, the accents on the following verb forms: βούλομαι, δύνανται, τίθεται, τίθεσαι…
3. The INFINITIVE mood does not follow the recessive accent rules that govern all other moods of a Greek verb. It is best simply to memorize the accent tendencies for each infinitive form as they are encountered in the lessons. For infinitives ending in –ναι, for example, the accent always falls on the PENULT.