Irregular Nouns

142. Some nouns in frequent use are quite irregular. The commonest are:

1. ἡ γυνή woman, wife, otherwise from the stem γυναικ- (which loses -κ-in the voc. sing.), with irregular accent.

   

2. ὁ Ζεύς Zeus

   

3. (ὁ / ἡ) κυον-, κυν- dog

   

4. (ὁ) μαρτυ-, μαρτυρ- witness

   

5. Besides ὁ ὄνειρος (dream), and τὸ ὄνειρον, regular, appear the stems (τὸ) ὀναρ- and ὀνειρατ-

   

6. ἡ Πνύξ Pnyx makes:

   

7. The adjective πρέσβυ-ς (οld) is in the plural masculine the regular word for envoy, ambassador. In poetry the singular also has the same meaning, as well as that of old, but the prose singular is πρεσβευτής, a noun of the agent (§​​​ 405) from the verb πρεσβεύω.

   

   The prose word for old man is πρεσβῡ́της (or γέρων).

8. (τὸ) πῡρ-, πυρ- fire makes its plural of the ο-declension.

   

9. Besides ὁ υἱός (son), regular, forms are made from the stem υἱυ-.

   

   Forms also occur with -υ- for -υι-: ὑός, ὑοῦ, ὑέος.

10. (ἡ) χειρ-, χερ- hand

    

    a. Poets use also

    

143. In poetry the following also are found:

1. Besides δάκρυον (tear), regular, also τὸ δάκρυ and τοῖς δάκρυ-σι.

2. From (τὸ) δορ- spear:

   Genitive δορ-ός, Dative δορ-ί and δόρει. For δορυ- and δορατ- see §​​​ 120.

3. From (τὸ) καρᾱ- head:

   Nominative / Accusative κάρᾱ, Dative κάρᾳ.
   But Genitive κρᾱτ-ός, Dative κρᾱτ-ί; also Nominative / Accusative τὸ κρᾶτα.

4. Besides ὄρνῑς (§​​​ 115), forms from the stem ὀρνι-:

   Singular Nominative ὄρνι-ς, Accusative ὅρνι-ν,
   Plural Nominative / Accusative ὄρνεις, Genitive ὄρνε-ων.

5. Besides ὁ χρώς, χρωτός (skin), regular, also Genitive χρο-ός, Dative χρο-ί and χρῷ.

144. In some nouns the plural may be of different gender from the singular.

ὁ σῖτος (grain, food), pl. τὰ σῖτα

τὸ στάδιον (stade, race-course), pl. στάδιοι οr στάδια.