Herbert Weir Smyth, A Greek Grammar for Colleges, chapter 37

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Table of Contents:

Part I: Letters, Sounds, Syllables, Accent

Part II: Inflection

Part III: Formation of Words

Part IV: Syntax

Appendix: List of Verbs

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[*] 37. Compensatory lengthening is the lengthening of a short vowel to make up for the omission of a consonant.

The short vowels	α	ε	ι	ο	υ
are lengthened to	α_	ει	ι_	ου	υ_
Thus the forms	τάν-ς	ἐ-μεν-σα	ἐκλιν-σα	τόνς	δεικνυντ-ς
become	τά_ς	ἔμεινα	ἔκλι_να	τούς	δεικνύ_ς
	the	I remained	I leaned	the	showing

a. Thus are formed κτείνω I kill for κτεν-[ιγλιδε]ω, φθείρω I destroy for φθερ-[ιγλιδε]ω, δότειρα giver for δοτερ-[ιγλιδε]α, κλί_νω I lean for κλιν-[ιγλιδε]ω, ὀλοφύ_ρω I lament for ὀλοφυρ-[ιγλιδε]ω.

b. α becomes η in the σ-aorist of verbs whose stems end in λ, ρ, or ν, when not preceded by ι or ρ. Thus, ἐφαν-σα becomes ἔ-φηνα I showed, but ἐπεραν-σα becomes ἐπέρα_να I finished. So σελήϝη moon for σελασ-νη (σέλας gleam).

c. The diphthongs ει and ου due to this lengthening are spurious (6).

American Book Company, 1920.

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