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Second Declension Nouns

1. Masculine and Feminine

Nouns in this declension are mostly MASCULINE and use endings similar to the masculine definite article. The nominative singular, however, adds –ς. The few FEMININE nouns in this declension use exactly the same endings as the masculine. Only the article marks their feminine gender.

Most NOUN STEMS of the second declension end in –ο. As with the first declension, the vowel stem combines with the SECOND DECLENSION case endings in a stable, consistent way, so you actually learn the stem vowel and the personal ending together as one combined case ending (S 229). Note that the endings for the nominative and accusative singular, as well as the nominative plural, are short. All other endings are long (S 231; GPH p. 5).

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	-ος	-οι
Genitive	-ου	-ων
Dative	-ῳ	-οις
Accusative	-ον	-ους

λόγος –ου ὁ word

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ὁ λόγος	οἱ λόγοι
Genitive	τοῦ λόγου	τῶν λόγων
Dative	τῷ λόγῳ	τοῖς λόγοις
Accusative	τὸν λόγον	τοὺς λόγους

νῆσος -ου ἡ island

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ἡ νῆσος	αἱ νῆσοι
Genitive	τῆς νήσου	τῶν νήσων
Dative	τῇ νήσῳ	ταῖς νήσοις
Accusative	τὴν νῆσον	τὰς νήσους

ἀδελφός -οῦ ὁ brother

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ὁ ἀδελφός	οἱ ἀδελφοί
Genitive	τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ	τῶν ἀδελφῶν
Dative	τῷ ἀδελφῷ	τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς
Accusative	τὸν ἀδελφόν	τοὺς ἀδελφούς

κίνδυνος -ου ὁ danger

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ὁ κίνδυνος	οἱ κίνδυνοι
Genitive	τοῦ κινδύνου	τῶν κινδύνων
Dative	τῷ κινδύνῳ	τοῖς κινδύνοις
Accusative	τὸν κίνδυνον	τοὺς κινδύνους

 

2. Accent of Second Declension Nouns

Like some FIRST DECLENSION nouns, e.g. τιμή -ῆς, second declension nouns can have a persistent accent on the ultima of all inflected forms. When this happens, a CIRCUMFLEX is used on the genitive and dative, singular and plural; an ACUTE accent falls on the nominative and accusative, singular and plural.

Unlike the first declension, the accent of the GENITIVE PLURAL of second declension nouns is not inevitably drawn to the ultima.

 

3. Neuter 

Second declension NEUTER nouns follow the NEUTER LAWS that we learned earlier during our study of third declension nouns. Namely:

1. The NOMINATIVE and ACCUSATIVE SINGULAR must be IDENTICAL.
2. The NOMINATIVE and ACCUSATIVE PLURAL also must be IDENTICAL, and end in a short –α.
3. Whenever any NEUTER noun is the subject of a verb, the verb is regularly 3rd PERSON SINGULAR, even if the neuter subject is plural!

ACCENT RULES for neuter nouns follow those of masculine second declension nouns (S 231; GPH p. 5):

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	-ον	-α
Genitive	-ου	-ων
Dative	-ῳ	-οις
Accusative	-ον	-α

ἔργον -ου τό deed, work

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	τὸ ἔργον	τὰ ἔργα
Genitive	τοῦ ἔργου	τῶν ἔργων
Dative	τῷ ἔργῳ	τοῖς ἔργοις
Accusative	τὸ ἔργον	τὰ ἔργα

πρόσωπον -ου τό face, mask, person

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	τὸ πρόσωπον	τὰ πρόσωπα
Genitive	τοῦ προσώπου	τῶν προσώπων
Dative	τῷ προσώπῳ	τοῖς προσώποις
Accusative	τὸ πρόσωπον	τὰ πρόσωπα

σημεῖον -ου τό sign

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	τὸ σημεῖον	τὰ σημεῖα
Genitive	τοῦ σημείου	τῶν σημείων
Dative	τῷ σημείῳ	τοῖς σημείοις
Accusative	τὸ σημεῖον	τὰ σημεῖα

 

4. ναῦς, νοῦς, and νεώς

In Classical Greek, it is easy to confuse these three nouns:

• ναῦς, νεώς ἡ ship
• νοῦς, νοῦ ὁ mind
• νεώς, νεώ ὁ temple

Let us take a look at how each can be distinguished from the others.

 

1. ναῦς, νεώς ἡ ship

Recall that we have already learned the inflection of this third declension noun. It is the most irregular of the three, due to its long history of sound changes in Attic Greek.

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ἡ ναῦς	αἱ νῆες
Genitive	τῆς νεώς	τῶν νεῶν
Dative	τῇ νηί	ταῖς ναυσί
Accusative	τὴν ναῦν	τὰς ναῦς

 

2. νοῦς, νοῦ ὁ mind

This is a regular second declension noun in MOST DIALECTS, and is inflected as follows in those dialects.

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	νόος	νόοι
Genitive	νόου	νόων
Dative	νόῳ	νόοις
Accusative	νόον	νόους

As you may suspect by now, ATTIC GREEK contracts the όο/όω combinations, and accents the results accordingly (S 235; GPH p. 6). Note the circumflexes!

νοῦς, νοῦ ὁ mind (Classical Attic)

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ὁ νοῦς	οἱ νοῖ
Genitive	τοῦ νοῦ	τῶν νῶν
Dative	τῷ νῷ	τοῖς νοῖς
Accusative	τὸν νοῦν	τοὺς νοῦς

 

3. νεώς, νεώ ὁ temple

This noun is one of a handful of second declension nouns with a nominative singular ending in –εως. These nouns in other GREEK DIALECTS actually end in –ηος or –ᾱος.

For example, in Homer, the noun declines as follows:

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ὁ νηός	οἱ νηοί
Genitive	τοῦ νηοῦ	τῶν νηῶν
Dative	τῷ νηῷ	τοῖς νηοῖς
Accusative	τὸν νηόν	τοὺς νηούς

For Doric and other dialects, including Koine, the noun declines as follows:

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ὁ ναός	οἱ ναοί
Genitive	τοῦ ναοῦ	τῶν ναῶν
Dative	τῷ ναῷ	τοῖς ναοῖς
Accusative	τὸν ναόν	τοὺς ναούς

 

In ATTIC GREEK, however, TRANSFERENCE OF QUANTITY led to the length of the two adjoining vowels (long η/α and short ο) being switched (short ε and long ω). So while the Athenians would say and write νεώς, almost every other Greek in the Mediterranean would say and write νηός or νᾱός. This change in pronunciation is so peculiar to the Athenians and their Attic dialect that SECOND DECLENSION –εως nouns are called ATTIC DECLENSION NOUNS (S 237-238).

Only two words on our vocabulary list belong to the ATTIC DECLENSION: νεώς, νεώ and λεώς, λεώ. Both inflect the same (S 238; GPH p. 7). While studying their inflection, note the following characteristics:

• The original noun stem vowel (long η/α) shortens to ε.
• ο and ου become ω
• οι becomes ῳ
• The accent of the nominative singular – acute on the ultima – is kept throughout all forms!

νεώς, νεώ ὁ temple (Classical Greek)

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ὁ νεώς	οἱ νεῴ
Genitive	τοῦ νεώ	τῶν νεών
Dative	τῷ νεῴ	τοῖς νεῴς
Accusative	τὸν νεών	τοὺς νεώς

 

– τὸ τέλος –

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