LESSON II
Cases, Genitive and Dative
The genitive case signifies the source from which a thing comes and to which it belongs, as the folly of fools, the fool’s folly, the folly that comes from the fool. The dative case means either the secondary or more distant object of an action, as I gave the book to the boy; or it signifies rest or residence in a thing, for which in English there is no special form; also in Greek it signifies the instrument with which, or by which, a thing is done, as to cut with a knife. In Greek masculines in ος have the genitive in ου and the dative in ῳ; feminines in ρᾱ or ρᾰ and ίᾱ have the genitive in ας and the dative in ᾳ; other feminines in α—as τράπεζᾰ, a table—and feminines in η have ης in the genitive and ῃ in the dative.
ὁρῶ νεφέλην ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, I see a cloud in the sky.
θαυμάζω τὴν σοφίαν τὴν ἐν τῷ σῷ ἀδελφῷ,
I admire the wisdom that is in your brother.
δὸς τῷ ἀδελφῷ τὸν κάλαμον τόνδε, give your brother this pen.
καὶ τὸ καλαμάριον, and the inkstand.
ὁ ἀδελφὸς ὁ σὸς θαυμάζει τὸ λευκὸν ῥόδον τὸ ἐν τῷ κήπῳ,
your brother admires the white rose in the garden.
ἀκούεις τῆς τοῦ ποταμοῦ βροντῆς;
do you hear the thunder of the river?
ἡ βία τοῦ ἀνέμου ταράττει τὸν κῆπον,
the violence of the wind disturbs the garden.
καὶ τόν γε πέτασον ἐπὶ τῇ ἐμῇ κεφαλῇ,
yes, and the hat on my head.
κ́ῑνει τὸ πῦρ τῷ σκαλεύθρῳ,
stir the fire with the poker.
ὁρᾷς τὴν ἕδραν τὴν τοῦ ἐπισκόπου;
do you see the bishop’s seat?
ἰσχυρός ἐστι· ἐσθίει τὸν τῶν πονούντων ἄρτον,
he is strong; he eats the bread of labour.
δός μοι τὸν κάλαμον τὸν τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ,
give me your brother’s pen.
φέρε τὸ καλαμάριον τὸ τῆς ἀδελφῆς,
bring your sister’s inkstand.
κόπτε τὸν κάλαμον τῇ μαχαίρᾳ,
cut the pen with the knife.
English Affinities
Bishop. Kinetics. Seat. Cathedral. Hydrocephalus.