Prepositions

Table of contents

  1. Prepositional Phrases
  2. Prepositions and Object Cases
    1. Case Directions
  3. Prepositional Phrase Placement
  4. Elisions and Breathings
  5. Compound Verbs

Prepositional Phrases

A preposition is a bridge word that either relates one noun to another noun or qualifies the action of the verb. The preposition takes a prepositional object, and the whole unit (preposition plus object) is called a prepositional phrase.

Here are examples of prepositional phrases that qualify nouns:

  • I found the mistake in the essay.
  • The dog behind the window is very cute.

In these examples, the prepositional phrase tells us more about a noun by answering the question “which one”?

  • I found the mistake. – Which mistake? The one in the essay (as opposed to a mistake anywhere else).
  • The dog is very cute. – Which dog? The one behind the window (as opposed to the one in the park or the one under the blanket).

Compare this against prepositional phrases that function adverbially, to answer questions like “where”, “when” or “how”:

  • We are standing on the platform. (Where are we standing? On the platform.)
  • The clock chimes on the hour. (When does it chime? On the hour, every hour.)

In all of these examples, the preposition (e.g., “in”, “behind”, “on”) serves as a bridge word that relates the prepositional object either to another noun or to the verb’s action.

Prepositions and Object Cases

In Greek, a preposition usually has some sort of core location or direction inherent in its definition. To take some examples from the Exam 2 Vocabulary:

  • αἱ κόραι ἐκ τῆς οἰκίας ἦλθον. The girls came out of the house.
  • ὁ κόρος τὸ δῶρον ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ ηὗρεν. The boy found the gift in the house.
  • οἱ στρατιῶται εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν ἔφυγον. The soldiers fled into the house.

ἐκ embodies the sense that a noun is moving out of / away from something; ἐν embodies the sense that a noun is in a location; and εἰς embodies the sense that a noun is moving into a location. Other prepositions indicate different directions or locations; for example, πρός indicates motion to or toward something, while παρά indicates that something is near or next to something else.

In Greek, prepositional objects can be in one of the oblique cases (meaning the genitive, dative, or accusative). Some prepositions take only one case as an object. For example, note how εἰς in the Exam 2 Vocabulary is followed by (+ acc.). This means that εἰς tends to be used only with the accusative case. Similarly, ἐν takes the dative, while ἐκ and ἀπό take the genitive.

Other prepositions, however, can take a noun in any of the oblique cases as an object. The differences in using one case over another can vary from small semantic differences to entirely discrete translations. Take, for example, μετά in the Exam 2 Vocabulary. When its object is in the accusative case, μετά means “after”:

  • ὁ κόρος μετὰ τὸν ἵππον ἦλθεν. The boy came after the horse.

However, when the object of μετά is in the genitive case, μετά means “with”:

  • ὁ κόρος μετὰ τοῦ ἵππου ἦλθεν. The boy came with the horse.

So, you must both know what the preposition means and pay attention to the case of its object; the case of the object can change that definition, the meaning of the prepositional phrase, and the idea being communicated by the sentence.

Case Directions

With prepositions that can take any of the three oblique cases, there is often a rationale to the use of one case versus another. We’ve discussed how each preposition has a location or direction inherent in its definition, but the case of a prepositional object also has a direction or location inherent in it:

  • The accusative usually indicates motion toward the prepositional object.
  • The dative usually indicates a static location for the prepositional object.
  • The genitive usually indicates motion away from the prepositional object.

When we combine the case of the prepositional object with the direction/location in the preposition, we can create specific and interesting pictures about how a verbal action works. Note, for example, the difference in the following two sentences:

  • ἦλθον κατὰ τοῦ δένδρου.
    • They came down from the tree.
  • ἦλθον κατὰ τὸ δένδρον.
    • They came down to the tree.

The direction of “down” is inherent in the preposition κατά, and it indicates in what direction the subject is coming (ἦλθον κατά - they came down). The object of the preposition, then, fills out the picture further. If we use the genitive, which indicates motion away from the object, the image that we get is of the subject climbing down from the tree, presumably from a high branch to the ground below: ἦλθον κατὰ τοῦ δένδρου, they came down from (κατά + gen.) the tree. However, if we use the accusative, which indicates motion toward the object, the image that we get is of the subject approaching the tree, presumably from higher ground to the tree on a lower level: ἦλθον κατὰ τὸ δένδρον, they came down to (κατά + acc.) the tree. These nuances draw a more detailed and complete picture of how a verbal action occurs.

Prepositional Phrase Placement

We will discuss the placement of prepositional phrases in much more depth when we discuss attributive and predicative position in a few units’ time, but for now, the following rules will suffice:

  • If the prepositional phrase applies to a verb’s action, it can go anywhere in the sentence except for between a noun and its definite article.
  • If the prepositional phrase specifically describes a noun, it should go between its noun and its definite article.

So, for example:

  • ὁ κόρος τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ ἔγραψεν.
    • The boy wrote the letter in the house. (The placement of the prepositional phrase answers the question, where did the action of writing take place? In the house.)
  • ὁ κόρος τὸ ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ δῶρον ἔβλεψεν.
    • The boy saw the gift [which was] in the house. (The placement of the prepositional phrase answers the question, which gift are we talking about? Specifically the one that is physically in the house, as opposed to, for example, under the tree or on top of a table.)

Elisions and Breathings

Elision is the act of replacing a vowel with an apostrophe, particularly when the vowel comes at the end of a word that is then followed by a word that begins with a vowel or diphthong. We saw this at work in the last module with certain conjunctions like τε, δέ, and ἀλλά:

  • ὁ ἵππος ὅ τ’ ἄνθρωπος, the horse and the person (where the epsilon in τε is elided because of the α of ἄνθρωπος)
  • ἡ θάλασσα ὅ θ’ ἥλιος, the sea and the sun (where the epsilon in τε is elided because of the η of ἥλιος, and the remaining τ is aspirated into θ because of the rough breathing on ἥλιος)
  • ἦλθεν, τῆς δ’ ἀληθείας ἤκουσεν. He came, and he heard the truth. (where the epsilon in τε is elided because of the α of ἀληθείας)
  • ἦλθεν, ἀλλ’ οὐχ ηὗρε τὸ δῶρον. He came, but he did not find the gift. (where the alpha in ἀλλά is elided because of the ου in οὐχ)

Note in particular the second example: after the elision of the epsilon in τε because of the η in ἥλιος, the remaining τ (t) becomes θ (th) because of the rough breathing on ἥλιος. To represent this in our regular alphabet: hē thalassa ho t’ hēlios -> the rough breathing on hēlios adds an “h” to the preceding “t”, creating a “th” (θ) -> hē thalassa ho th’ hēlios

Certain prepositions will also have an elision of their final vowel if the next word begins with a vowel. The possible elisions are listed in the Exam 2 Vocabulary in parentheses:

  • ἀνά -> ἀν’
  • κατά -> κατ’, καθ’
  • ὑπό -> ὑπ’, ὑφ’
  • μετά -> μετ’, μεθ’
  • παρά -> παρ’
  • ἀπό -> ἀπ’, ἀφ’
  • ἐπί -> ἐπ’, ἐφ’

If the elision results in a leftover consonant that can be aspirated (for example, τ (t) -> θ (th); π (p) -> φ (ph)), then that leftover consonant will be aspirated if followed by a word that begins with a vowel/diphthong with a rough breathing. For example:

  • καθ’ ἥμεραν, “by day”

Compound Verbs

Many verbs in Greek may be prefixed with a preposition to form new verbs. For example, we can combine δείκνυμι, “to show”, with the preposition ἐπί, “to” or “toward”, to form the verb ἐπιδείκνυμι:

  • ἐπιδείκνυμι, ἐπιδείξω, ἐπέδειξα, ἐπιδέδειχα, ἐπιδέδειγμαι, ἐπεδείχθην, “to demonstrate, prove”

A verb without a prepositional prefix is called a simple verb or simplex verb. A verb with a prepositional prefix is called a complex verb or compound verb.

Note how we simply attach the ἐπί to the front of the verb, but its ι drops off in forms that begin with a vowel through elision (ἐπιδείκνυμι in the first principal part, but ἐπέδειξα in the third principal part). If the prepositional prefix is one of the prepositions listed below that can be elided and/or aspirated, it will act in the same way before being attached to the root verb. For example, as we’ll see with the core four -μι verbs that we’ll discuss at the end of this module, the prepositions ἀπό, ἐπί, and κατά can be prefixed onto the root verb ἵστημι, “to stand”, after following the rules of elision and aspiration and create verbs with new meanings:

  • ἵστημι - to stand
  • ἀφίστημι (ἀπό + ἵστημι) - to stand away from -> to revolt
  • ἐφίστημι (ἐπί + ἵστημι) - to stand for -> to be in charge of
  • καθίστημι (κατά + ἵστημι) - to make stand down -> to establish

We’ll explore these compound verbs and their meanings later this semester.

All material developed by Daniel Libatique and available under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license CC BY-SA 4.0

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