English - Modern Greek

• It is necessary to classify nouns by the syllable of the stress in the nominatieve (1st case) singular.
• These feminine nouns are, the same as in the masculine and neuter categories, as follows:

• oxytone, with the stress on the final syllable
• paroxytone, with the stress on the penultimate (second syllable from the end).
• proparoxytone, with the stress on the antepenultimate (third syllable from the end)
• a type of nouns that always have the stress in the genitive (2nd case) plural on the final syllable, irrespective of whether they are oxytone, paroxytone, proparoxytone.

A small group of feminine nouns in this category has in singular and plural an extra syllable:

• In singular a «-ς» is appended in the genitive (2nd case)
• In plural «-δων» is appended in the genitive (2nd case)
• In plural «-δες» is appended in the nominative (1st case), the accusative (4th case) and vocative (5th case). The stress remain on «-ά» .

All categories are containing nouns without plural forms. These are mostly proper names and names with an abstract meaning.

This «-α» category contains many words ending on «άδα» and «-ίδα» and all words ending on «-ότητα» and «-ύτητα». In these cases the stress moves forward in the genitive plural to the penultimate syllable.

Some words have an alternative genitive on «-ος», such as («ικανότητα») «ικανότητος» - ability, (κλίμακα) «κλίμακος» - scale or («Ελλάδα») «Ελλάδος» - Greece. These words can be found in formal contexts. Some words also have a learned nominative ending on «-ς» or «-ξ» such as «ικανότης», «κλίμαξ» and «Ελλάς». The word «μητέρα» has «μητρός» as an alternative genitive singular, where the stress shifts to the final syllable.

A few of the words which are accented in the nominative on the antepenultimate (third last syllable) have an alternative genitive (2nd case) ending in singular on «-ης» where the second last syllable gets the stress. These words with the stem-ending on a vowel or on «-ρ» are retaining the ending of the 2nd case on «-ας», but also may have a stress shift to the second last syllable. These words are of learned origin and can be found in formal texts and official papers.

Some examples are:

The same applies for the following city names:

The official name for «Αθήνα» - Athens is «Αθηνών» and «Πάτρα» - Patra is «Πατρών»

(The University of Athens - το Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών)

Some groups in this category are containing abstract words without plural forms.

The first eight groups in this category, containing:

• Words in the nominatief (1st case) singular with the accent on the final syllable. The stress does not shift thoughout the declension.
• Of the words with the accent on the penultimate syllable an obligatory shift in 2nd case plural takes place to the final syllable, whilst of a few words in this group the stress does not shift at all throughout the declension.

The next five groups in this category:

• These nouns are of scientific or academic origin. In the single forms generally the declension of the abovementions words on «-η» is followed, with the exception of a second alternative ending in the genitive on «-εως», which occurs in formal context. In the plural, the Ancient Greek endings on «-εις» and «-εων» are maintained.
• The stress of two-syllabic nouns words remains throughout the inflection on the same syllable.
• The stress of words longer than two syllables moves one syllabe forward, only in the alternative singular form on «-εως», likewise in all plural forms.

The feminine nouns in «-ος» are of scientific or academic origin and have identical endings as the declension pattern of the masculine nouns on «-ος». Naturally they will be accompanied by the female form of the articles.

When the stress of words longer than two syllables is on the third syllable from the end, it shifts in the genitive singular and in the genitive and accusative plural to the second syllable form the end. The vocative (5th case) ends in «-ο».

• Of the nouns with the accent on de penultimate (2nd from the end) the stress remains on the same syllable throughout the declension. In the 5th case the ending can either be «-ε» or «-ο».
• The same applies for words with an accent on the final syllable. In that case the vocative (5th case) ends in «-ος».

This category also contains proper names such as names of towns, countries and islands, which have no plural forms e.g.:

• η Οδησσός - Odessa
• η Νάξος - Naxos
• η Αίγυπτος - Egypt

The fact that the 2nd case plural for some categories is missing is explained in the quote below.

The number of syllables of singular and plural is different again in this category (such as with «γιαγιά»):

• In singular a «-ς» is appended in the genitive (2nd case)
• In plural «-δων» is appended in the genitive (2nd case)
• In plural «-δες» is appended in the nominative (1st case), the accusative (4th case) and vocative (5th case)
• The stress remain on «-ύ»

* In all three groups of grammatical genders categories (masculine, feminine, neuter) nouns appear of which the 2nd case plural is missing. These are called gaps, which are related to the exceptional status of the 2nd case (the genitive) plural in the Greek accents system.

In MG are many inflection categories for nouns and to a certain extent the placing of the accent is predictable. But with these missing cases it is unclear and vague to the writer or speaker whether the stress remains or shifts. On that account in most cases the accusative is chosen in text and spoken language by making use of a preposition, even with nouns of which the 2nd case is not omitting.

N.B.

We distinguish in each of the three grammatical genders three cases viz the 1st case (the nominative), the 2nd case (the genitive) and the 4th case (the accusative). MG has also the 5th case (the vocative), which is used when someone or something is being accosted.

The word endings of the vocatives of the feminine and neuter nouns are the same as in the nominative and the accusative, but for the masculine nouns are different forms.

With the vocative no article is used.