Pronouns and Pronominal Adjectives
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Pronouns and Pronominal Adjectives
In this unit, we will introduce another part of speech into our lexicon, which currently consists of verbs, nouns, prepositions, adjectives, and adverbs. The pronoun is a word that can take the place of a noun. We’ve already been working with pronouns; think, for example, of the subjects of the verbs that we’ve been supplying in the absence of a nominative noun:
- λέγει τὰ βιβλία. She reads the books.
A pronoun like “she” often is used in the context of a longer narrative or conversation in which the noun that “she” replaces can be intuited from context. For example:
- The doctor came into the room. She reads the books.
Because of the context of the preceding sentence, we can understand that the pronoun “she” refers to “the doctor.” The noun that a pronoun replaces is called an antecedent; so, “the doctor” is the antecedent of the pronoun “she.”
There are a few different kinds of pronouns, and we’ll discuss only a few kinds in this unit. All share some characteristics in common:
- a pronoun typically replaces a noun, which is called the pronoun’s antecedent
- the pronoun must match its antecedent in gender and number, but not necessarily case (more on this later)
- some pronouns can also function as (pronominal) adjectives, wherein they modify explicit nouns (more on this later)
Definite Articles
One kind of pronoun that you’ve already interacted with without realizing it is the definite article. We’ve technically used it in its capacity as a pronominal adjective, a word that matches with an explicit noun in gender, case, and number:
- ὁ λόγος ὑπὸ τῆς γυναικὸς λέγεται. The word is said by the woman.
The article can also be used as a pronoun in specific sentence structures, primarily involving a μέν … δέ construction or simply δέ.
μέν … δέ
The pronominal definite article can be used with μέν … δέ to indicate a difference of activity between two subjects. Often, you’ll need the gender and number of the articles to supply your own words in translation to make the juxtaposition make sense, as we learned with substantive adjectives. In particular, with this construction:
- singular forms of the article can be translated as “one … the other”
- plural forms of the article can be translated as “some … (the) other(s)”
Note that there is a lot of variation in how to translate μέν … δέ constructions like this, and it’s often up to you how best to render the Greek in an idiomatic, grammatically-sound way in English. Take a look at the following Greek examples and the various ways in which they can be translated into English:
- ἡ μὲν εἶπεν, ἡ δὲ ἤκουσεν.
- One person spoke, but the other person listened.
- One woman spoke, and the other woman listened.
- One spoke, while the other listened.
- οἱ μὲν τοὺς παῖδας ἤγαγον, οἱ δὲ ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ ἦσαν.
- Some people led the children, while the other people were in the house.
- Some men led the children, but the other men were in the house.
- Some led the children, and the others were in the house.
δέ
The pronominal article can also be used with just δέ to mark a new subject for a sentence. You can usually find its antecedent in the preceding sentence, often in a different case. Remember that a pronoun must agree with its antecedent in gender and number, but not necessarily case, especially if the antecedent and the pronoun fulfill different functions within their respective clauses. For example:
- οἱ πολῖται τὴν γυναῖκα ἔβλεψαν· ἡ δὲ τοῖς πολίταις οὐκ εἶπεν.
- The citizens saw the woman, but she did not speak to the citizens.
Notice that the pronominal article ἡ is feminine nominative singular, and its antecedent is τὴν γυναῖκα (feminine accusative singular) in the previous sentence. While the article serves as the nominative subject of its clause, its antecedent serves as the accusative direct object of its clause, but we can tell that τὴν γυναῖκα is the antecedent of ἡ because the gender and number of the article ἡ (feminine singular) matches with the gender and number of τὴν γυναῖκα (feminine singular). The other possibility for an antecedent, οἱ πολῖται, is masculine nominative plural, so it cannot possibly serve as an antecedent for ἡ.
Demonstratives
Demonstrative pronouns (derived from the Latin verb demonstrare, “to show” or “to point out”) are words that point out something that is nearby or far away from the speaker of a sentence. In English, pronouns like “this” (singular) or “these” (plural) often indicate nearness, while pronouns like “that” (singular) or “those” (plural) often indicate distance.
There are three major demonstrative pronouns in Greek that can both indicate proximity or distance and also mean different things when used in certain contexts.
Note that these demonstratives that we are about to discuss share some features in common:
- each demonstrative can be used as a pronoun, meaning that it stands on its own and replaces a previously-mentioned noun, or as an adjective, meaning that it modifies an explicit noun in the sentence.
- when used as an adjective, the demonstrative is usually placed in predicative position.
ὅδε, ἥδε, τόδε
The first demonstrative, ὅδε, ἥδε, τόδε, usually indicates that something is near the speaker and can be translated as “this” or “these.” Note that its declined forms, produced in full in the paradigm chart below, are basically a combination of the definite article with the suffix -δε.
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nom. Sg. | ὅδε | ἥδε | τόδε |
| Gen. Sg. | τοῦδε | τῆσδε | τοῦδε |
| Dat. Sg. | τῷδε | τῇδε | τῷδε |
| Acc. Sg. | τόνδε | τήνδε | τόδε |
| Nom. Pl. | οἵδε | αἵδε | τάδε |
| Gen. Pl. | τῶνδε | τῶνδε | τῶνδε |
| Dat. Pl. | τοῖσδε | ταῖσδε | τοῖσδε |
| Acc. Pl. | τούσδε | τάσδε | τάδε |
As mentioned above, this demonstrative can serve either as an adjective (in predicative position) when modifying a noun:
- τόδε τὸ ποιῆμα ὑπὸ τῶνδε τῶν παιδῶν ἐγράφη.
- This poem was written by these children.
Or it can stand as a pronoun on its own, in the same way that the pronominal article was used above (matching an antecedent in gender and number):
- ἡ γυνὴ λέγει τοὺς λόγους, καὶ οἵδε ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἀκούονται.
- The woman is saying the words, and these (words) are heard by the man.
Notice how in this example, the demonstrative pronoun οἵδε matches with its antecedent τοὺς λόγους in gender and number (masculine plural) but not in case, since each is used in different ways within its respective clauses: the pronoun serves as the nominative subject of the second clause, while the antecedent serves as the accusative direct object of the first clause.
There is also another common use for ὅδε, ἥδε, τόδε: when used in the context of a longer story or narrative, ὅδε, ἥδε, τόδε often points forward to the parts of the narrative yet to come. As a result, it can often mean “the following”, especially to introduce a direct speech.
- ὁ πολίτης τάδε εἶπεν· “ἐπὶ τῇ ὁδῷ οἱ ἵπποι.”
- The citizen said the following (things, words): “The horses are on the road.”
οὗτος, αὕτη, τοῦτο
οὗτος, αὕτη, τοῦτο also indicates that something is close to the speaker, though not as close as ὅδε. It can be translated with either “this/these” or “that/those.”
Its declined forms are less regular than other substantives that we’ve seen so far. Note how the stem alternates between τουτ- and ταυτ-, with a few forms (e.g. the masc. and fem. nom. sg. and pl.) beginning with diphthongs with rough breathings instead.
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nom. Sg. | οὗτος | αὕτη | τοῦτο |
| Gen. Sg. | τούτου | ταύτης | τούτου |
| Dat. Sg. | τούτῳ | ταύτῃ | τούτῳ |
| Acc. Sg. | τοῦτον | ταύτην | τοῦτο |
| Nom. Pl. | οὗτοι | αὗται | ταῦτα |
| Gen. Pl. | τούτων | τούτων | τούτων |
| Dat. Pl. | τούτοις | ταύταις | τούτοις |
| Acc. Pl. | τούτους | ταύτας | ταῦτα |
Like ὅδε, οὗτος can be used either as an adjective in predicative position or as a pronoun that stands on its own:
- οὗτοι οἱ πολῖται τὰ ὅπλα αἱροῦσιν.
- These citizens are taking the weapons.
- οἱ διδάσκαλοι ἀπὸ τῆς ὁδοῦ ἦλθον, ὁ δὲ μαθητὴς πρὸς τὴν θάλατταν τούτους ἤγαγεν.
- The teachers came from the road, and the student led those (people, men, teachers) toward the sea.
While ὅδε points forward in a narrative, οὗτος points backwards and can mean “the preceding”, especially to summarize or conclude a section of a narrative like a direct speech.
- ἡ σώφρων ταῦτα εἶπεν.
- The wise (person, woman) said the preceding (things, words).
It can also be used in conjunction with ἐκεῖνος to mean “the latter”; more on this in the next section.
ἐκεῖνος, ἐκείνη, ἐκεῖνο
ἐκεῖνος, ἐκείνη, ἐκεῖνο often points to something far away from the speaker and can be translated with “that/those.” Its declension is the most regular of the three, with the exception of the -ο ending for neut. nom./acc. sg. (versus the expected -ον of 2-1-2 adjectives).
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nom. Sg. | ἐκεῖνος | ἐκείνη | ἐκεῖνο |
| Gen. Sg. | ἐκείνου | ἐκείνης | ἐκείνου |
| Dat. Sg. | ἐκείνῳ | ἐκείνῃ | ἐκείνῳ |
| Acc. Sg. | ἐκεῖνον | ἐκείνην | ἐκεῖνο |
| Nom. Pl. | ἐκεῖνοι | ἐκεῖναι | ἐκεῖνα |
| Gen. Pl. | ἐκείνων | ἐκείνων | ἐκείνων |
| Dat. Pl. | ἐκείνοις | ἐκείναις | ἐκείνοις |
| Acc. Pl. | ἐκείνους | ἐκείνας | ἐκεῖνα |
As with ὅδε and οὗτος, ἐκεῖνος can be used as an adjective in predicative position or as a pronoun:
- οἱ παῖδες ἐκείνην τὴν οἰκίαν βλέπουσιν.
- The children see that house.
- οἱ λόγοι ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ· ὁ διδάσκαλος ἐκεῖνο τοῖς μαθηταῖς δείκνυσιν.
- The words are in the book; the teacher shows that (book) to the students.
When a form of ἐκεῖνος and a form of οὗτος appear in the same sentence, ἐκεῖνος can mean “the former” while οὗτος can mean “the latter” when referring to two entitites that were referenced in the previous sentence. If we think about the distance aspects of each demonstrative, these translations make more sense: οὗτος indicates something closer (i.e., the latter of two options) while ἐκεῖνος points to something farther away (i.e., the former of two options).
- ἡ μὲν γυνὴ λέγει, ὁ δὲ δικαστὴς ἀκούει. οὗτος μὲν οὐ λέγει, ἐκείνη δ’ ἀκούεται.
- The woman speaks, and the juror listens. The latter [i.e., the juror] does not speak, while the former [i.e., the woman] is being heard.
αὐτός, αὐτή, αὐτό
αὐτός, αὐτή, αὐτό is a pronoun / pronominal adjective that can fulfill a few different functions depending first on whether it’s being used as a pronoun or an adjective and then, if an adjective, on its position (attributive or predicative).
Here is its declension chart; you’ll notice that like ἐκεῖνος, it declines basically like a 2-1-2 adjective, except with -ο in the neut. nom./acc. sg. (versus the expected -ον).
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nom. Sg. | αὐτός | αὐτή* | αὐτό |
| Gen. Sg. | αὐτοῦ | αὐτῆς | αὐτοῦ |
| Dat. Sg. | αὐτῷ | αὐτῇ | αὐτῷ |
| Acc. Sg. | αὐτόν | αὐτήν | αὐτό |
| Nom. Pl. | αὐτοί | αὐταί* | αὐτά |
| Gen. Pl. | αὐτῶν | αὐτῶν | αὐτῶν |
| Dat. Pl. | αὐτοῖς | αὐταῖς | αὐτοῖς |
| Acc. Pl. | αὐτούς | αὐτάς | αὐτά |
* Be careful about the feminine nominative forms of this pronoun versus the feminine nominative forms of οὗτος (αὕτη, αὗται). The forms of αὐτός have a smooth breathing and are accented on the ultima, while the forms of οὗτος have a rough breathing and are accented on the penult.
Here are the ways in which αὐτός, αὐτή, αὐτό can be used. Remember, you need to determine first whether it’s being used as a pronoun or as an adjective, and then if an adjective, what position it’s in.
Pronoun in Oblique Cases
As a standalone pronoun in the oblique cases (i.e., the genitive, dative, or accusative, and not the nominative), αὐτός, αὐτή, αὐτόν is a 3rd person pronoun meaning him, her, it, or them, depending on the number of the pronoun. For example, let me rewrite one of the examples used above:
- τὴν γυναῖκα οἱ πολῖται ἔβλεψαν· ἡ δὲ αὐτοῖς οὐκ εἶπεν. The citizens saw the woman. But she did not speak to them.
As with the other pronouns we’ve discussed, you must use its gender and number to determine its antecedent. αὐτοῖς is masculine dative plural; thus, its only logical antecedent in the preceding sentence that agrees with it in gender and number is οἱ πολῖται (masculine nominative plural). It cannot be τὴν γυναῖκα, the only other noun, because τὴν γυναῖκα is feminine singular.
Adjective in Predative Position or Nominative Pronoun
As an adjective in predicative position or as a pronoun in the nominative case, it serves as an emphatic or intensive adjective or pronoun. In either case, it adds a special emphasis to the noun being modified or referenced, and it can be translated in a number of ways, either with an intensive pronoun/adjective like “himself, herself, itself, themselves” or a phrase like “the very [noun]”. Take a look at the following examples:
- ἔδειξαν αὐτὸ τὸ βιβλίον.
- They showed the book itself.
- They showed the very book.
In both of these translations, the noun τὸ βιβλίον gets a special emphasis by means of the modification of αὐτό. The “itself” adjective or the “very” modifier figuratively draw an underline or make italicized “the book.”
- αὐτὴ τοὺς ἵππους ἄγει.
- She herself is leading the horses.
In this example, αὐτή is feminine nominative singular, and it occurs as a pronoun (there is no noun nearby it that it can agree with in gender, case, and number, so it stands alone). This pronoun, then, lends emphasis to the subject of the sentence, which we supply from the 3rd person singular number of the verb ἄγει and the feminine gender of the pronoun: “she herself.”
Be aware: if you use the “-self” translation, this is an emphatic or intensive use and NOT a reflexive use of the “-self” pronoun. Note the difference between the following:
- The man himself sees the sea. (emphatic/intensive)
- The man sees himself. (reflexive)
In the first sentence, “himself” emphasizes the noun “man.” In the second sentence, “himself” serves as the direct object of the verb and indicates that the action of the verb “sees” is getting reflected back upon the subject. We’ll learn more about reflexive pronouns next semester.
Adjective in Attributive Position
As an adjective in attributive position, whether modifying an explicit noun or acting as a substantive, it means “the same.”
- οἱ δικασταὶ εἶπον τοὺς αὐτοὺς λόγους. The jurors said the same words.
- ὁ διδάσκαλος ὅ τε μαθητὴς ἐπὶ τῇ ὁδῷ τῇ αὐτῇ ἦσαν. The teacher and the student were on the same road.
- αἱ γυναῖκες τὸ αὐτὸ ἐποίησαν. The women did the same thing.