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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.

    Goodell: Irregular Nouns Chart, γυνή

  2. ὁ Ζεύς Zeus

    Goodell: Irregular Nouns Chart, Ζεύς

  3. (/κυον-, κυν- dog

    Goodell: Irregular Nouns Chart, κυον-

  4. (μαρτυ-, μαρτυρ- witness

    Goodell: Irregular Nouns Chart, μαρτυ-

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

    Goodell: Irregular Nouns Chart, ὄνειρος

  6. ἡ Πνύξ Pnyx makes:

    Goodell: Irregular Nouns Chart, Πνύξ

  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.

    Goodell: Irregular Nouns Chart, πρεσβευτής

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

  8. (τὸπῡρ-, πυρ- fire makes its plural of the ο-declension.

    Goodell: Irregular Nouns Chart, πῡρ

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

    Goodell: Irregular Nouns Chart, υἱός

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

  10. (χειρ-, χερ- hand

    Goodell: Irregular Nouns Chart, χειρ

    a. Poets use also

    Goodell: Irregular Nouns Chart, χειρ poetic

143. In poetry the following also are found:

  1. Besides δάκρυον (tear), regular, also τὸ δάκρυ and τοῖς δάκρυ-σι.
  2. From (τὸδορ- spear:

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

  3. From (τὸκαρᾱ- 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.

Suggested Citation

Meagan Ayer, ed. Goodell’s School Grammar of Attic Greek. Carlisle, Pennsylvania: Dickinson College Commentaries, 2018. ISBN: 978-1-947822-10-8.https://dcc.dickinson.edu/grammar/goodell/irregular-nouns