18.1 As a general rule, Greeks tended to avoid pronouncing –σ– directly after a liquid (-λ, –ρ) or a nasal (-μ, –ν). We have encountered this situation before. Recall that in our earlier discussion of the Greek noun, the nominative singular ending –ς regularly drops when added to noun stems ending in –ν (e.g. δαιμον-, αἰων-, ἡγεμον-).
As a result, when the future tense marker –σ– was added to a verb stem that ends in a liquid or nasal, some Greek dialects, including Classical Greek, tended to avoid pronouncing what would have been the resulting sounds: –λσω, –ρσω, –μσω, –νσω. This was done by adding an –ε– before the –σ-. As a result, the future tense marker of liquid and nasal stem verbs became –εσ-, to which would then be added the regular –ω endings: –εσω, –εσεις, –εσει, etc.
18.2 In Classical Greek, it is a general (though sometimes broken) rule that an INTERVOCALIC SIGMA – i.e., a –σ– found between two vowels – drops out, and the two remaining vowel sounds, now side-by-side, contract (S 120, G 55). For example, the future tense of αἴρω, “raise,” originally was ἀρέσω (note that the verb stem, ἀρ-, has been slightly changed in the present stem). In Attic Greek pronunciation, the –σ– gradually dropped out, producing the form ἀρέω. Attic Greek then contracted –έω just as it does for regular present tense –έω verbs.
These CONTRACT FUTURES are often called ATTIC FUTURES, because this type of contraction happens much more regularly in Classical Greek than in other Greek dialects, including Koine (S 538-539).
18.3 So, putting it all together, CONTRACT FUTURES conjugate as follows (cf. S 401):
18.4 With only one common exception (ἐλαύνω, ἐλῶ, see below), contract futures are almost always –έω contracts. As a result, the SECOND PRINCIPAL PART of verbs with contract futures are written in their contracted form. Note the following verbs, and the slight changes that some exhibit in their PRESENT TENSE STEMS (cf. S 20, 517-519).
- ἀγγέλλω, ἀγγελῶ, report, tell
- αἴρω, ἀρῶ, raise
- ἀποκτείνω, ἀποκτενῶ, kill
- ἀπόλλυμι, ἀπολῶ, kill, destroy
- βάλλω, βαλῶ, throw
- διαφθείρω, διαφθερῶ, destroy
- κρίνω, κρινῶ, judge, decide, determine
- μένω, μενῶ, remain, stay
- τέμνω, τεμῶ, cut
- φαίνω, φανῶ, make appear
