Terminology

In all there are five different possibilities for placing an accent. The terms used by the ancient Greek grammarians were:^[2]

• Oxytone (ὀξύτονος): acute on the final syllable (e.g. πατήρ 'father')
• Paroxytone (παροξύτονος): acute on the penultimate (e.g. μήτηρ 'mother')
• Proparoxytone (προπαροξύτονος): acute on the antepenultimate (e.g. ἄνθρωπος 'person')
• Perispomenon (περισπώμενος): circumflex on the final (e.g. ὁρῶ 'I see')
• Properispomenon (προπερισπώμενος): circumflex on the penultimate (e.g. σῶμα 'body')

The word barytone (βαρύτονος) refers to any word which has no accent (either acute or circumflex) on the final syllable, that is the 2nd, 3rd and 5th possibilities above.^[3]

General evidence

It is generally agreed that the ancient Greek accent was primarily one of pitch or melody rather than of stress.^[18] Thus in a word like ἄνθρωπος ánthrōpos 'man', the first syllable was pronounced on a higher pitch than the others, but not necessarily any louder. As long ago as the 19th century it was surmised that in a word with recessive accent the pitch may have fallen not suddenly but gradually in a sequence high–middle–low, with the final element always short.^[19]

The evidence for this comes from various sources. The first is the statements of Greek grammarians, who consistently describe the accent in musical terms, using words such as ὀξύς oxús 'high-pitched' and βαρύς barús 'low-pitched'.

According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus (1st century BC), the melody of speech is confined to an interval 'of about a 5th'. This statement has been interpreted in different ways, but it is usually supposed that he meant not that it was always a fifth, but that this was the maximum normal difference between high and low syllables. It is thought probable that occasionally, especially at the end of a sentence, the interval was much smaller.^[20] Dionysius also describes how a circumflex accent combines high and low pitch on the same syllable, whereas with an acute accent the high and low pitches are in separate syllables.^[21]

Another indication that the accent was melodic or tonal is that in the classical period the accents of the words seem to have played no part at all in poetic metres, unlike in languages such as English which have stress-accents.^[22] It was not until the 4th century AD that poems began to be written in which the accent played a role (see below).

Evidence from music

An important indication of the melodic nature of the Greek accent comes from the surviving pieces of Greek music, especially the two Delphic hymns (2nd century BC), the Seikilos epitaph (1st century AD), and the hymns of Mesomedes (2nd century AD). An example is the prayer to Calliope and Apollo written by Mesomedes, court musician to the Emperor Hadrian:

Mesomedes' Prayer to Calliope and Apollo transcribed into modern musical notation; adapted from Landels, John G. 1999. Music in Ancient Greece and Rome, p. 255. The words read: "Wise Calliope, leader of the delightful Muses, and you, wise initiator into the mysteries, Leto's son, Delian Healer, favour me with your presence." (For a recording, see External links below.)

(Further examples of ancient Greek music can be found in the articles Delphic Hymns and Mesomedes.)

As can be seen, the accented syllable of a word generally has the highest note within that word, although sometimes the syllables preceding or following the accent are also high.

When the accent is a circumflex, the music often shows a fall from a higher note to a lower one within the syllable itself, exactly as described by Dionysius of Halicarnassus; examples are the words Μουσῶν Mousôn 'of the Muses' and εὐμενεῖς eumeneîs 'favourable' in the prayer illustrated above. However, sometimes there is no fall within the accented syllable, but the circumflex is set to a single note, as in τερπνῶν terpnôn 'delightful' or Λατοῦς Latoûs 'of Leto' above.

If the accent is a grave, there is often no rise in pitch, or else only a small one, as in σοφὲ sophè above.

In this practice of closely imitating the tones of word accents in the melodies of songs, Ancient Greek resembles many living Asian and African languages that have tonal accents. For this reason, the American scholars A.M. Devine and Laurence Stephens have argued that the rises and falls found in Greek music probably give a reasonably good indication of what happened when the words were spoken.^[23]

It seems, however, that the music did not always follow the accent exactly. Dionysius of Halicarnassus gives an example from the music written by Euripides for his play Orestes. In the lines which in our modern editions are written as σῖγα, σῖγα, λεπτὸν ἴχνος ἀρβύλας // τίθετε, μὴ κτυπεῖτ᾽ (sîga, sîga, leptòn íkhnos arbúlas // títhete, mḕ ktupeît᾽) 'Quietly, quietly! Place the tread of your shoe lightly, don't make a noise!',^[24] Dionysius reports that in the first three words and the last there was no raised pitch, while in both ἀρβύλας arbúlas 'of the shoe' and τίθετε títhete 'place' there was a low note followed by two high ones, despite the accent on the first syllable of τίθετε títhete.^[25]

However, although the fragments of earlier music sometimes show a mismatch, the Delphic hymns in particular appear to show a very close relationship between the music and the word accents, with all but three of the 180 analysable words matching.^[26]

Some more details of the way in which accents were set to music are given below. Note that in the musical examples the pitch is conventional, dating back to a publication by Friedrich Bellermann in 1840. In performance the pitch would have been at least a minor third lower.^[27]

Acute accent

When the signs for the notes in Greek music are transcribed into modern musical notation, it can be seen that an acute accent is generally followed by a fall, sometimes extending over two syllables. Usually the fall is only a slight one, as in θύγατρες thúgatres 'daughters', Ὄλυμπον Ólumpon 'Olympus' or ἔτικτε étikte 'she gave birth to' below. Sometimes, however, there is a sharp drop, as in μέλψητε mélpsēte 'you may sing' or νηνέμους nēnémous 'windless':

A selection of five words from Greek music showing the fall after an acute accent

Before the accent the rise on average is less than the fall afterwards.^[28] There is sometimes a jump up from a lower note, as in the word μειγνύμενος meignúmenos 'mingling' from the second hymn; more often there is a gradual rise, as in Κασταλίδος Kastalídos 'of Castalia', Κυνθίαν Kunthían 'Cynthian', or ἀνακίδναται anakídnatai 'spreads upwards':

Four words from ancient Greek music showing the rise before the accent

In some cases, however, before the accent instead of a rise there is a 'plateau' of one or two notes the same height as the accent itself, as in Παρνασσίδος Parnassídos 'of Parnassus', ἐπινίσεται epinísetai 'he visits', Ῥωμαίων Rhōmaíōn 'of the Romans', or ἀγηράτῳ agērátōi 'ageless' from the Delphic hymns:

Four words from the Delphic hymns illustrating a plateau preceding the accent

Anticipation of the high tone of an accent in this way is found in other pitch-accent languages, such as some varieties of Japanese,^[29] Turkish,^[30] or Serbian,^[31] where for example the word papríka 'pepper' can be pronounced pápríka. It would not be surprising therefore to find that it was a feature of Greek speech also. Devine and Stephens, however, quoting Dionysius's statement that there is only one high tone per word, argue that the norm in Greek words was for unaccented syllables to be low-pitched.^[32]

When an acute accent occurs on a long vowel or diphthong, it is generally assumed that the high pitch was on the second mora of the vowel, that is to say, that there was a rising pitch within the syllable.^[33][34] The Greek music sometimes shows exactly this, as with the word αἴθει aíthei 'it burns' in the 1st Delphic hymn, or φαίνου phaínou 'shine!' in the Seikilos epitaph, or Σελάνα Selána 'the Moon' in the Hymn to the Sun, in which the syllable with the acute is set to a melism of two or three notes rising gradually.

Three examples of a rising tone in Ancient Greek music

More frequently, however, on an accented long vowel in the music there is no rise in pitch, and the syllable is set to a level note, as in the words Ἅφαιστος Háphaistos 'Hephaestus' from the 1st Delphic hymn or ἐκείνας ekeínas 'those' or Ῥωμαίων Rhōmaíōn 'of the Romans' from the 2nd hymn:

Three examples of a level tone from Ancient Greek music

Because this is so common, it is possible that at least sometimes the pitch did not rise on a long vowel with an acute accent but remained level. Another consideration is that although the ancient grammarians regularly describe the circumflex accent as 'two-toned' (δίτονος) or 'compound' (σύνθετος) or 'double' (διπλοῦς), they usually do not make similar remarks about the acute. There are apparently some, however, who mention a 'reversed circumflex', presumably referring to this rising accent.^[2]

Tonal assimilation

Devine and Stephens note that occasionally at the end of a word, the pitch rises again, as though leading up to or anticipating the accent in the following word. They refer to this as a "secondary rise". Examples are ἔχεις τρίποδα ékheis trípoda 'you have a tripod' or μέλπετε δὲ Πύθιον mélpete dè Púthion 'sing the Pythian' in the 2nd Delphic hymn. According to Devine and Stephens, it "probably reflects a genuine process of pitch assimilation in fluent speech".^[35]

Two phrases from the 2nd Delphic Hymn illustrating secondary upturn at the end of a word

In the great majority of cases in the music, the pitch falls on the syllable immediately following an acute accent. However, there are some exceptions. One situation where this can happen is when two words are joined in a plateau or near-plateau, as in the phrases ἵνα Φοῖβον hína Phoîbon 'so that Phoebus' (1st Hymn) and πόλει Κεκροπίᾳ pólei Kekropíāi 'in the city of Cecrops' in the 2nd Delphic Hymn:

Two phrases from the Delphic hymns illustrating a plateau between accents.

Tonal assimilation or tone sandhi between neighbouring tones is commonly found in tonal languages. Devine and Stephens, citing a similar phenomenon in the music of the Nigerian language Hausa, comment: "This is not a mismatch but reflects a feature of phrase intonation in fluent speech."^[36]

Circumflex accent

A circumflex was written only over a long vowel or diphthong. In the music, the circumflex is usually set to a melisma of two notes, the first higher than the second. Thus in the first Delphic Hymn the word Φοῖβον Phoîbon 'Phoebus' is set to the same musical notes as θύγατρες thúgatres 'daughters' earlier in the same line, except that the first two notes fall within one syllable instead of across two syllables. Just as with the acute accent, a circumflex can be preceded either by a note on the same level, as in ᾠδαῖσι ōidaîsi 'with songs', or by a rise, as in μαντεῖον manteîon 'oracular':

Examples of circumflex accents from the 1st Delphic Hymn

The circumflex therefore appears to have been pronounced in exactly the same way as an acute, except that the fall usually took place within one syllable.^[37] This is clear from the description of Dionysius of Halicarnassus (see above), who tells us that a circumflex accent was a blend of high and low pitch in a single syllable, and it is reflected in the word ὀξυβάρεια oxubáreia 'high-low' (or 'acute-grave'), which is one of the names given to the circumflex in ancient times.^[38] Another description was δίτονος dítonos 'two-toned'.^[39]

Another piece of evidence for the pronunciation of the circumflex accent is the fact that when two vowels are contracted into one, if the first one has an acute, the result is a circumflex: e.g. ὁρά-ω horá-ō 'I see' is contracted to ὁρῶ horô with a circumflex, combining the high and low pitches of the previous vowels.

In the majority of examples in the Delphic hymns, the circumflex is set to a melisma of two notes. However, in Mesomedes' hymns, especially the hymn to Nemesis, it is more common for the circumflex to be set to a single note. Devine and Stephens see in this the gradual loss over time of the distinction between acute and circumflex.^[40]

One place where a circumflex can be a single note is in phrases where a noun is joined with a genitive or an adjective. Examples are μῆρα ταύρων mêra taúrōn (1st Delphic Hymn) 'thighs of bulls', Λατοῦς γόνε Latoûs góne 'Leto's son' (Mesomedes' Prayer to Calliope and Apollo), γαῖαν ἅπασαν gaîan hápasan 'the whole world' (Mesomedes' Hymn to the Sun). In these phrases, the accent of the second word is higher than or on the same level as that of the first word, and just as with phrases such as ἵνα Φοῖβον hína Phoîbon mentioned above, the lack of fall in pitch appears to represent some sort of assimilation or tone sandhi between the two accents:

Three phrases from Greek music illustrating circumflex tones

When a circumflex occurs immediately before a comma, it also regularly has a single note in the music, as in τερπνῶν terpnôn 'delightful' in the Mesomedes' Invocation to Calliope illustrated above. Other examples are κλυτᾷ klutâi 'famous', ἰοῖς ioîs 'with arrows' in 2nd Delphic hymn, ζῇς zêis 'you live' in the Seikilos epitaph, and θνατῶν thnatôn, ἀστιβῆ astibê and μετρεῖς metreîs in Mesomedes' Hymn to Nemesis.^[41]

Another place where a circumflex sometimes has a level note in the music is when it occurs in a penultimate syllable of a word, with the fall only coming in the following syllable. Examples are παῖδα paîda, πᾶσι pâsi (1st Delphic hymn), λῆξε lêxe, σῷζε sôize, and Φοῖβον Phoîbon (2nd Delphic hymn), and χεῖρα kheîra, πῆχυν pêkhun (Hymn to Nemesis).

Four words from the Delphic hymns showing a level note for a circumflex

Grave accent

The third accentual mark used in ancient Greek was the grave accent, which is only found on the last syllable of words e.g. ἀγαθὸς ἄνθρωπος agathòs ánthrōpos 'a good man'. Scholars are divided about how this was pronounced; whether it meant that the word was completely accentless or whether it meant a sort of intermediate accent is unclear.^[42] In some early documents making use of written accents, a grave accent could often be added to any syllable with low pitch, not just the end of the word, e.g. Θὲόδὼρὸς.^[6]

Some scholars, such as the Russian linguist Nikolai Trubetzkoy, have suggested that because there is usually no fall after a grave accent, the rise in pitch which was heard at the end of a clause was phonologically not a true accent, but merely a default phrasal tone, such as is heard in languages like Luganda.^[43] Other scholars, however, such as Devine and Stephens, argue that on the contrary the grave accent at the end of a word was a true accent, but that in certain contexts its pitch was suppressed.^[44]

In the music, a word with a grave frequently has no accent at all, and is set to a single level note, as in these examples from the 2nd Delphic hymn, ὃν ἔτικτε Λατὼ μάκαιρα hòn étikte Latṑ mákaira 'whom blessed Leto bore' and τότε λιπὼν Κυνθίαν νᾶσον tóte lipṑn Kunthían nâson 'then, leaving the Cynthian island', in which the words Λατὼ Latṑ 'Leto' and λιπὼν lipṑn 'having left' have no raised syllables:

Phrases from the 2nd Delphic hymn illustrating the grave accent

However, occasionally the syllable with the grave can be slightly higher than the rest of the word. This usually occurs when the word with a grave forms part of a phrase in which the music is in any case rising to an accented word, as in καὶ σοφὲ μυστοδότα kaì sophè mustodóta 'and you, wise initiator into the mysteries' in the Mesomedes prayer illustrated above, or in λιγὺ δὲ λωτὸς βρέμων, αἰόλοις μέλεσιν ᾠδὰν κρέκει ligù dè lōtòs brémōn, aiólois mélesin ōidàn krékei 'and the pipe, sounding clearly, weaves a song with shimmering melodies' in the 1st Delphic hymn:

A line from the 1st Delphic Hymn showing the pronunciation of the grave accent.

In the Delphic hymns, a grave accent is almost never followed by a note lower than itself. However, in the later music, there are several examples where a grave is followed by a fall in pitch,^[45] as in the phrase below, 'the harsh fate of mortals turns' (Hymn to Nemesis), where the word χαροπὰ kharopà 'harsh, grey-eyed' has a fully developed accent:^[46]

A phrase from Mesomedes' Hymn to Nemesis illustrating the grave accent

When an oxytone word such as ἀγαθός agathós 'good' comes before a comma or full stop, the accent is written as an acute. Several examples in the music illustrate this rise in pitch before a comma, for example Καλλιόπεια σοφά Kalliópeia sophá 'wise Calliope' illustrated above, or in the first line of the Hymn to Nemesis ('Nemesis, winged tilter of the scales of life'):

Example from Mesomedes Hymn to Nemesis showing an accent at the end of a clause

There are almost no examples in the music of an oxytone word at the end of a sentence except the following, where the same phrase is repeated at the end of a stanza. Here the pitch drops and the accent appears to be retracted to the penultimate syllable:

Phrase from Mesomedes' Hymn to Nemesis illustrating an oxytone word at the end of a sentence

This, however, contradicts the description of the ancient grammarians, according to whom a grave became an acute (implying that there was a rise in pitch) at the end of a sentence just as it does before a comma.^[47]

General intonation

Devine and Stephens also note that it is also possible from the Delphic hymns to get some indication of the intonation of Ancient Greek. For example, in most languages there is a tendency for the pitch to gradually become lower as the clause proceeds.^[48] This tendency, known as downtrend or downdrift, seems to have been characteristic of Greek too. For example, in the second line of the 1st Delphic Hymn, there is a gradual descent from a high pitch to a low one, followed by a jump up by an octave for the start of the next sentence. The words (mólete sunómaimon hína Phoîbon ōidaîsi mélpsēte khruseokóman) mean: 'Come, so that you may hymn with songs your brother Phoebus, the Golden-Haired':

A line of music from the 1st Delphic Hymn, showing how the accents gradually descend in pitch in the course of the sentence. The words read: 'Come, so that you may hymn with songs your brother Phoebus, the Golden-Haired.'

However, not all sentences follow this rule, but some have an upwards trend, as in the clause below from the first Delphic hymn, which when restored reads τρίποδα μαντεῖον ὡς εἷλ[ες ὃν μέγας ἐ]φρούρει δράκων trípoda manteîon hōs heîl[es hòn mégas e]phroúrei drákōn 'how you seized the prophetic tripod which the great snake was guarding'. Here the whole sentence rises up to the emphatic word δράκων drákōn 'serpent':

A sentence from the 1st Delphic hymn illustrating a rising intonation

In English before a comma, the voice tends to remain raised, to indicate that the sentence is not finished, and this appears to be true of Greek also. Immediately before a comma, a circumflex accent does not fall but is regularly set to a level note, as in the first line of the Seikilos epitaph, which reads 'As long as you live, shine! Do not grieve at all':

A transcription of the 1st half of the Seikilos epitaph

A higher pitch is also used for proper names and for emphatic words, especially in situations where a non-basic word-order indicates emphasis or focus.^[49] An example occurs in the second half of the Seikilos epitaph, where the last two lines read 'It is for a short time only that life exists; as for the end, Time demands it'. In the second sentence, where the order is object – subject – verb, the word χρόνος khrónos 'time' has the highest pitch, as if emphasised:

A transcription of the second half of the Seikilos epitaph

Another circumstance in which no downtrend is evident is when a non-lexical word is involved, such as ἵνα hína 'so that' or τόνδε tónde 'this'. In the music the accent in the word following non-lexical words is usually on the same pitch as the non-lexical accent, not lower than it.^[50] Thus there is no downtrend in phrases such as τόνδε πάγον tónde págon 'this crag' or ἵνα Φοῖβον hína Phoîbon 'so that Phoebus', where in each case the second word is more important than the first:

Phrases from Greek music showing lack of downtrend

Phrases containing a genitive, such as Λατοῦς γόνε Latoûs góne 'Leto's son' quoted above, or μῆρα ταύρων mêra taúrōn 'thighs of bulls' in the illustration below from the first Delphic hymn, also have no downdrift, but in both of these the second word is slightly higher than the first:

A sentence from the 1st Delphic hymn illustrating the way music imitates the accents of words

Strophe and antistrophe

One problem which has been discussed concerning the relationship between music and word accent is what may have happened in choral music which was written in pairs of corresponding stanzas known as strophe and antistrophe. Rhythmically these always correspond exactly but the word accents in the antistrophe generally do not match those in the strophe.^[51] Since none of the surviving music includes both a strophe and antistrophe, it is not clear whether the same music was written for both stanzas, ignoring the word accents in one or the other, or whether the music was similar but varied slightly to account for the accents. The following lines from Mesomedes' Hymn to the Sun,^[52] which are very similar but with slight variations in the first five notes, show how this might have been possible:

Three examples from Mesomedes' Hymn to the Sun showing how melodies match the word accents

Law of Limitation

The accent may not come more than three syllables from the end of a word.

If an accent comes on the antepenultimate syllable, it is always an acute, for example:

• θάλασσα thálassa 'sea'
• ἐποίησαν epoíēsan 'they did'
• ἄνθρωπος ánthrōpos 'person'
• ἄνθρωποι ánthrōpoi 'people'
• βούλομαι boúlomai 'I want'

Exception: ὧντινων hôntinōn 'of what sort of', in which the second part is an enclitic word.^[56]

With a few exceptions, the accent can come on the antepenult only if the last syllable of the word is 'light'. The last syllable counts as light if it ends in a short vowel, or if it ends in a short vowel followed by no more than one consonant, or if the word ends in -οι -oi or -αι -ai, as in the above examples. But for words like the following, which have a heavy final syllable, the accent moves forward to the penultimate:

• ἀνθρώπου anthrṓpou 'of a man'
• ἀνθρώποις anthrṓpois 'for men'
• ἐβουλόμην eboulómēn 'I wanted'

The ending -ει -ei always counts as long, and in the optative mood, the endings -οι -oi or -αι -ai also count as long and cause the accent to move forward in the same way:

• ποιήσει poiḗsei 'he will do'
• ποιήσοι poiḗsoi 'he would do' (future optative)

The accent also cannot come on the antepenultimate syllable when the word ends in -ξ -x or -ψ -ps,^[57] hence the difference in pairs of words such as the following:

• φιλόλογος philólogos 'fond of words', but φιλοκόλαξ philokólax 'fond of flatterers'

Exceptions, when the accent may remain on the antepenult even when the last vowel is long, are certain words ending in -ων -ōn or -ως -ōs, for example:^[57]

• πόλεως póleōs 'of a city', πόλεων póleōn 'of cities' (genitive)
• χρυσόκερως khrusókerōs 'golden-horned', ῥινόκερως rhinókerōs 'rhinoceros'
• ἵλεως híleōs 'propitious',^[58] Μενέλεως Menéleōs 'Menelaus'

σωτῆρα (sōtêra) Law

If the accent comes on the penultimate syllable, it must be a circumflex if the last two vowels of the word are long–short. This applies even to words ending in -ξ -x or -ψ -ps:

• σῶμα sôma 'body'
• δοῦλος doûlos 'slave'
• κῆρυξ kêrux 'herald'
• λαῖλαψ laîlaps 'storm'

This rule is known as the σωτῆρα (sōtêra) Law, since in the accusative case the word σωτήρ sōtḗr 'saviour' becomes σωτῆρα sōtêra.

In most cases, a final -οι -oi or -αι -ai counts as a short vowel:

• ναῦται naûtai 'sailors'
• ποιῆσαι poiêsai 'to do'
• δοῦλοι doûloi 'slaves'

Otherwise the accent is an acute:

• ναύτης naútēs 'sailor'
• κελεύει keleúei 'he orders'
• δούλοις doúlois 'for slaves (dative)'

Exception 1: Certain compounds made from an ordinary word and an enclitic suffix have an acute even though they have long vowel–short vowel:^[59]

• οἵδε hoíde 'these', ἥδε hḗde 'this (fem.)' (but τῶνδε tônde 'of these')
• ὥστε hṓste 'that (as a result)', οὔτε oúte 'nor'
• εἴθε eíthe 'if only'
• οὔτις oútis 'no one' (but as a name in the Odyssey, Οὖτις Oûtis)^[60]

Exception 2: In locative expressions and verbs in the optative mood a final -οι -oi or -αι -ai counts as a long vowel:

• οἴκοι oíkoi 'at home' (cf. οἶκοι oîkoi 'houses')
• ποιήσαι poiḗsai 'he might do' (aorist optative, = ποιήσειε poiḗseie) (cf. ποιῆσαι poiêsai 'to do')

Law of Persistence

The third principle of Greek accentuation is that, after taking into account the Law of Limitation and the σωτῆρα (sōtêra) Law, the accent in nouns, adjectives, and pronouns remains as far as possible on the same syllable (counting from the beginning of the word) in all the cases, numbers, and genders. For example:

• ζυγόν zugón 'yoke', pl. ζυγά zugá 'yokes'
• στρατιώτης stratiṓtēs 'soldier', στρατιῶται stratiôtai 'soldiers'
• πατήρ patḗr, pl. πατέρες patéres 'fathers'
• σῶμα sôma, pl. σώματα sṓmata 'bodies'

But an extra syllable or a long ending causes accent shift:

• ὄνομα ónoma, pl. ὀνόματα onómata 'names'
• δίκαιος díkaios, fem. δικαίᾱ dikaíā 'just'
• σῶμα sôma, gen.pl. σωμάτων sōmátōn 'of bodies'

Exceptions to the Law of Persistence

There are a number of exceptions to the Law of Persistence.

Exception 1: The following words have the accent on a different syllable in the plural:

• ἀνήρ anḗr, pl. ἄνδρες ándres 'men'
• θυγάτηρ thugátēr, pl. θυγατέρες thugatéres (poetic θύγατρες thúgatres) 'daughters'
• μήτηρ mḗtēr, pl. μητέρες mētéres 'mothers'

The accusative singular and plural has the same accent as the nominative plural given above.

The name Δημήτηρ Dēmḗtēr 'Demeter' changes its accent to accusative Δήμητρα Dḗmētra, genitive Δήμητρος Dḗmētros, dative Δήμητρι Dḗmētri.

Exception 2: Certain vocatives (mainly of the 3rd declension) have recessive accent:

• Σωκράτης Sōkrátēs, ὦ Σώκρατες ô Sṓkrates 'o Socrates'
• πατήρ patḗr, ὦ πάτερ ô páter 'o father'

Exception 3: All 1st declension nouns, and all 3rd declension neuter nouns ending in -ος -os, have a genitive plural ending in -ῶν -ôn. This also applies to 1st declension adjectives, but only if the feminine genitive plural is different from the masculine:

• στρατιώτης stratiṓtēs 'soldier', gen.pl. στρατιωτῶν stratiōtôn 'of soldiers'
• τὸ τεῖχος tò teîkhos 'the wall', gen.pl. τῶν τειχῶν tôn teikhôn 'of the walls'

Exception 4: Some 3rd declension nouns, including all monosyllables, place the accent on the ending in the genitive and dative singular, dual, and plural. (This also applies to the adjective πᾶς pâs 'all' but only in the singular.) Further details are given below.

• πούς poús 'foot', acc.sg. πόδα póda, gen.sg. ποδός podós, dat.sg. ποδί podí

Exception 5: Some adjectives, but not all, move the accent to the antepenultimate when neuter:

• βελτίων beltíōn 'better', neuter βέλτιον béltion
• But: χαρίεις kharíeis 'graceful', neuter χαρίεν kharíen

Exception 6: The following adjective has an accent on the second syllable in the forms containing -αλ- -al-:

• μέγας mégas, pl. μεγάλοι megáloi 'big'

Oxytone words

Oxytone words, that is, words with an acute on the final syllable, have their own rules.

Accentless words

The following words have no accent, only a breathing:^[59]

• the forms of the article beginning with a vowel (ὁ, ἡ, οἱ, αἱ ho, hē, hoi, hai)
• the prepositions ἐν en 'in', εἰς (ἐς) eis (es) 'to, into', ἐξ (ἐκ) ex (ek) 'from'
• the conjunction εἰ ei 'if'
• the conjunction ὡς hōs 'as, that' (also a preposition 'to')
• the negative adverb οὐ (οὐκ, οὐχ) ou (ouk, oukh) 'not'.

However, some of these words can have an accent when they are used in emphatic position. ὁ, ἡ, οἱ, αἱ ho, hē, hoi, hai are written ὃ, ἣ, οἳ, αἳ when the meaning is 'who, which'; and οὐ ou is written οὔ if it ends a sentence.

The definite article

The definite article in the nominative singular and plural masculine and feminine just has a rough breathing, and no accent:

• ὁ θεός ho theós 'the god'
• οἱ θεοί hoi theoí 'the gods'

Otherwise the nominative and accusative have an acute accent, which in the context of a sentence, is written as a grave:

• τὸν θεόν tòn theón 'the god' (accusative)
• τὰ ὅπλα tà hópla 'the weapons'

The genitive and dative (singular, plural and dual), however, are accented with a circumflex:

• τῆς οἰκίας tês oikías 'of the house' (genitive)
• τῷ θεῷ tôi theôi 'for the god' (dative)
• τοῖς θεοῖς toîs theoîs 'for the gods' (dative plural)
• τοῖν θεοῖν toîn theoîn 'of/to the two goddesses' (genitive or dative dual)

1st and 2nd declension oxytones, such as θεός theós, are accented the same way as the article, with a circumflex in the genitive and dative.

Nouns

Adjectives

Compound nouns and adjectives

Ordinary compounds, that is, those which are not of the type 'object+verb', usually have recessive accent:

• ἱπποπόταμος hippopótamos 'hippopotamus' ('horse of the river')
• Τιμόθεος Timótheos 'Timothy' ('honouring God')
• σύμμαχος súmmakhos 'ally' ('fighting alongside')
• φιλόσοφος philósophos 'philosopher' ('loving wisdom')
• ἡμίονος hēmíonos 'mule' ('half-donkey')

But there are some which are oxytone:

• ἀρχιερεύς arkhiereús 'high priest'
• ὑποκριτής hupokritḗs 'actor, hypocrite'

Compounds of the type 'object–verb', if the penultimate syllable is long or heavy, are usually oxytone:

• στρατηγός stratēgós 'general' ('army-leader')
• γεωργός geōrgós 'farmer' ('land-worker')
• σιτοποιός sitopoiós 'bread-maker'

But 1st declension nouns tend to be recessive even when the penultimate is long:

• βιβλιοπώλης bibliopṓlēs 'book-seller'
• συκοφάντης sukophántēs 'informer' (lit. 'fig-revealer')

Compounds of the type 'object+verb' when the penultimate syllable is short are usually paroxytone:

• βουκόλος boukólos 'cowherd'
• δορυφόρος doruphóros 'spear-bearer'
• δισκοβόλος diskobólos 'discus-thrower'
• ἡμεροσκόπος hēmeroskópos 'look-out man' (lit. 'day-watcher')

But the following, formed from ἔχω ékhō 'I hold', are recessive:

• αἰγίοχος aigíokhos 'who holds the aegis'
• κληροῦχος klēroûkhos 'holder of an allotment (of land)'

Adverbs

Adverbs formed from barytone adjectives are accented on the penultimate, as are those formed from adjectives ending in -ύς -ús; but those formed from other oxytone adjectives are perispomenon:^[84]

• ἀνδρεῖος andreîos 'brave', ἀνδρείως andreíōs 'bravely'
• δίκαιος díkaios 'just', δικαίως dikaíōs 'justly'
• ἡδύς hēdús, 'pleasant', ἡδέως hēdéōs 'with pleasure'
• καλός kalós, 'beautiful', καλῶς kalôs 'beautifully'
• ἀληθής alēthḗs, 'true', ἀληθῶς alēthôs 'truly'

Adverbs ending in -κις -kis have penultimate accent:^[85]

• πολλάκις pollákis 'often'

Numbers

The first three numbers have mobile accent in the genitive and dative:^[86]

• εἷς heîs 'one (m.)', acc. ἕνα héna, gen. ἑνός henós 'of one', dat. ἑνί hení 'to or for one'
• μία mía 'one (f.)', acc. μίαν mían, gen. μιᾶς miâs, dat. μιᾷ miâi
• δύο dúo 'two', gen/dat. δυοῖν duoîn
• τρεῖς treîs 'three', gen. τριῶν triôn, dat. τρισί trisí

Despite the circumflex in εἷς heîs, the negative οὐδείς oudeís 'no one (m.)' has an acute. It also has mobile accent in the genitive and dative:

• οὐδείς oudeís 'no one (m.)', acc. οὐδένα oudéna, gen. οὐδενός oudenós 'of no one', dat. οὐδενί oudení 'to no one'

The remaining numbers to twelve are:^[86]

• τέσσαρες téssares 'four', πέντε pénte 'five', ἕξ héx 'six', ἐπτά eptá 'seven', ὀκτώ oktṓ 'eight', ἐννέα ennéa 'nine', δέκα déka 'ten', ἕνδεκα héndeka 'eleven' δώδεκα dṓdeka 'twelve'

Also commonly found are:

• εἴκοσι eíkosi 'twenty', τριάκοντα triákonta 'thirty', ἑκατόν hekatón 'a hundred', χίλιοι khílioi 'a thousand'.

Ordinals all have recessive accent, except those ending in -στός -stós:

• πρῶτος prṓtos 'first', δεύτερος deúteros 'second', τρίτος trítos 'third' etc., but εἰκοστός eikostós 'twentieth'

Pronouns

The personal pronouns are the following:^[87]

• ἐγώ egṓ 'I', σύ sú 'you (sg.)', ἕ hé 'him(self)'
• νῴ nṓi 'we two', σφώ sphṓ 'you two'
• ἡμεῖς hēmeîs 'we', ὑμεῖς humeîs 'you (pl.)', σφεῖς spheîs 'they'

The genitive and dative of all these personal pronouns has a circumflex, except for the datives ἐμοί emoí, σοί soí, and σφίσι sphísi:

• ἐμοῦ emoû 'of me', ὑμῖν humîn 'for you (pl.)', οἷ hoî 'to him(self)'
• ἐμοί emoí 'for me', σοί soí 'for you', and σφίσι sphísi 'for them(selves)'

The oblique cases of ἐγώ egṓ, σύ sú 'you (sg.)', ἕ hé, and σφεῖς spheîs can also be used enclitically when they are unemphatic (see below under Enclitics), in which case they are written without accents. When enclitic, ἐμέ emé, ἐμοῦ emoû, and ἐμοί emoí are shortened to με me, μου mou, and μοι moi:

• ἔξεστί σοι éxestí soi 'it is possible for you'
• εἰπέ μοι eipé moi 'tell me'
• νόμος γὰρ ἦν οὗτός σφισι nómos gàr ên hoûtós sphisi 'for this apparently was their custom' (Xenophon)

The accented form is usually used after a preposition:

• ἔπεμψέ με Κῦρος πρὸς σέ épempsé me Kûros pròs sé 'Cyrus sent me to you'
• πρὸς ἐμέ pròs emé (sometimes πρός με prós me) 'to me'

The pronouns αὐτός autós 'he himself', ἑαυτόν heautón 'himself (reflexive)', and ὅς hós 'who, which' change the accent to a circumflex in the genitive and dative:

• αὐτόν autón 'him', αὐτοῦ autoû 'of him, his', αὐτῷ autôi 'to him', αὐτοῖς autoîs 'to them', etc.

Pronouns compounded with -δε -de 'this' and -τις -tis are accented as if the second part was an enclitic word. Thus the accent of οἵδε hoíde does not change to a circumflex even though the vowels are long–short:

• οἵδε hoíde 'these', ὧντινων hôntinōn 'of which things'

The demonstratives οὗτος hoûtos 'this' and ἐκεῖνος ekeînos 'that' are both accented on the penultimate syllable. But οὑτοσί houtosí 'this man here' is oxytone.

When τίς tís means 'who?' is it always accented, even when not before a pause. When it means 'someone' or 'a certain', it is enclitic (see below under Enclitics):

• πρός τινα prós tina 'to someone'
• πρὸς τίνα; pròs tína? 'to whom?'

The accent on τίς tís is fixed and does not move to the ending in the genitive or dative.

Prepositions

ἐν en 'in', εἰς (ἐς) eis (es) 'to, into', and ἐκ (ἐξ) ek (ex) 'from, out of' have no accent, only a breathing.

• ἐν αὐτῷ en autôi 'in him'

Most other prepositions have an acute on the final when quoted in isolation (e.g. ἀπό apó 'from', but in the context of a sentence this becomes a grave. When elided this accent does not retract and it is presumed that they were usually pronounced accentlessly:

• πρὸς αὐτόν pròs autón 'to him'
• ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ ap᾽ autoû 'from him'

When a preposition follows its noun, it is accented on the first syllable (except for ἀμφί amphí 'around' and ἀντί antí 'instead of'):^[88]

• τίνος πέρι; tínos péri? 'about what?'^[89]

The following prepositions were always accented on the first syllable in every context:

• ἄνευ áneu 'without', μέχρι mékhri 'until, as far as'

Interrogative words

Interrogative words are almost all accented recessively. In accordance with the principle that in a monosyllable the equivalent of a recessive accent is a circumflex, a circumflex is used on a long-vowel monosyllable:

• πότε; póte? 'when?', πόθεν; póthen? 'where from?', πότερον... ἢ...; póteron... ḕ...? 'A... or B?', ποῖος; poîos? 'what kind of?', πόσος; pósos? 'how much?', πόσοι; pósoi? 'how many?'
• ἆρα...; âra...?, ἦ...; ê...? 'is it the case that...?'
• ποῦ; poû? 'where?', ποῖ; poî? 'where to?', πῇ; pêi? 'which way?'

Two exceptions, with paroxytone accent, are the following:

• πηλίκος; pēlíkos? 'how big?', 'how old?', ποσάκις; posákis? 'how often?'

The words τίς; tís? and τί; tí? always keep their acute accent even when followed by another word.^[90] Unlike other monosyllables, they do not move the accent to the ending in the genitive or dative:

• τίς; tís? 'who? which?', τί; tí? 'what?', 'why?', τίνες; tínes? 'which people?', τίνος; tínos? 'of what? whose?', τίνι; tíni? 'to whom?', τίνος πέρι; tínos péri? 'about what?'

Some of these words, when accentless or accented on the final, have an indefinite meaning:

• τις tis 'someone', τινὲς tinès 'some people', ποτε pote 'once upon a time', etc.

When used in indirect questions, interrogative words are usually prefixed by ὁ- ho- or ὅς- hós-. The accentuation differs. The following are accented on the second syllable:

• ὁπότε hopóte 'when', ὁπόθεν hopóthen 'from where', ὁπόσος hopósos 'how great', ὁπότερος hopóteros 'which of the two'

But the following are accented on the first:

• ὅπου hópou 'where', ὅποι hópoi 'to where', ὅστις hóstis 'who'

Enclitics

Verbs

In verbs, the accent is grammatical rather than lexical; that is to say, it distinguishes different parts of the verb rather than one verb from another. In the indicative mood it is usually recessive, but in other parts of the verb it is often non-recessive.

Except for the nominative singular of certain participles (e.g., masculine λαβών labṓn, neuter λαβόν labón 'after taking'), a few imperatives (such as εἰπέ eipé 'say'), and the irregular present tenses (φημί phēmí 'I say' and εἰμί eimí 'I am'), no parts of the verb are oxytone.

Wheeler's Law

Wheeler's Law, suggested in 1885, refers to a process whereby words with a dactylic ending ( ) (counting endings such as -on, -os, -oi as short), if they were oxytone in Proto-Indo-European, became paroxytone in Greek. It is also known as the "law of dactylic retraction".^[115]

This law is used to explain the paroxytone accent in words such as the following:

• Adjectives such as ποικίλος poikílos 'multicoloured', ἐναντίος enantíos 'opposite', πλησίος plēsíos 'near'
• Names such as Αἰσχύλος Aiskhúlos 'Aeschylus'
• Perfect passive and middle participles such as δεδεγμένος dedegménos 'having received'
• Paroxytone compound words with active meaning such as ἀνδροκτόνος androktónos 'man-slaying', βουκόλος boukólos 'cowherd'
• Dative plurals such as πατράσι patrási 'fathers', ἀνδράσι andrási 'men'

Similar words and endings in Sanskrit are regularly accented on the final syllable, and active compounds which do not have a dactylic rhythm often have final accent, e.g. ψυχοπομπός psukhopompós 'soul-escorting'.

There are numerous exceptions to Wheeler's Law, especially words ending in -ικός -ikós or -ικόν -ikón (for example, ναυτικόν nautikón 'fleet'), which are always oxytone. There are also participles such as δεδομένος dedoménos or feminine δεδομένη dedoménē 'given', which have penultimate accent despite not being dactylic. These exceptions are usually explained as being due to analogical processes.

Bartoli's Law

Bartoli's Law (pronunciation /'bartoli/), proposed in 1930, aims to explain how some oxytone words ending in the rhythm (short–long) have become proparoxytone.^[116] Another name is the "law of iambic retraction". Examples are:

• θυγάτηρ thugátēr 'daughter', presumed to have come from an earlier *θυγατήρ *thugatḗr (compare Vedic duhitá:)
• δεσπότης despótēs 'master', presumed to have come from an earlier *δεσποτής *despotḗs

The existence of such a law has been called into question, however, and it is argued that most or all of the words proposed as examples have other explanations.^[117]

Vendryes's Law

Vendryes's Law (pronunciation /vɑ̃dʁi'jɛs]/), proposed in 1945, describes how words of the rhythm , which had penultimate accent in other dialects, came to be pronounced proparoxytone in Attic (that is, the dialect of Athens).^[118] This change appears to have taken place about 400 BC, and was known to the Greek grammarians who wrote on accentuation. One ancient commentator on Aristophanes wrote: τροπαῖον tropaîon ('trophy') should be read as properispomenon in Aristophanes and Thucydides, but as proparoxytone τρόπαιον trópaion in later poets.᾽^[69]

The law affected words like the following:

• τρόπαιον trópaion, ἕταιρος hétairos 'companion', ἕτοιμος hétoimos 'ready', ὅμοιος hómoios 'like', ἔρημος érēmos 'deserted', βέβαιος bébaios 'firm', which came from an earlier τροπαῖον, ἑταῖρος, ἑτοῖμος, ὁμοῖος, ἐρῆμος, βεβαῖος
• ἔγωγε égōge 'I at any rate', ἔμοιγε émoige 'to me at any rate', which came from an earlier ἐγώ γε, ἐμοί γε

The accent shift described by Vendryes's Law seems to have affected mainly adjectives. Verbs such as ἀπῆλθον apêlthon 'I went away' and participles such as λαβοῦσα laboûsa 'having taken' were unaffected.

Attic

Some peculiarities of Attic, the dialect of Athens, have been noted above under Vendryes's Law.

Aeolic

The Aeolic pronunciation, exemplified in the dialect of the 7th-century BC poets Sappho and Alcaeus from the island of Lesbos, differed in that every major word (but not prepositions or conjunctions) was pronounced recessively, thus:^[119]

• Ζεῦς Zeûs, σόφος sóphos, κάλος kálos, ἔμοι émoi, ὄρανος óranos, Ἄτρευς Átreus, Ἀχίλλευς Akhílleus, Σάπφω Sápphō for Ζεύς, σοφός, καλός, ἐμοί, οὐρανός, Ἀτρεύς, Ἀχιλλεύς, Σαπφώ

But Ἀλκαῖος Alkaîos 'Alcaeus' was apparently pronounced Ἀλκάος Alkáos in Lesbian.^[120]

The Boeotian dialect, although from the same dialect group as Lesbian, did not have this recessive accentuation, and appears not to have differed accentually from common (koine) Greek.^[121]

The grammarians give no details of the Thessalian dialect (another variety of Aeolic) but it has been suggested that the dropping of certain vowels in words on inscriptions indicates that it had a stress accent at the beginning of each word.^[122]

Doric

The Doric dialect also had certain peculiarities. One was that (some) properispomenon words were pronounced paroxytone. The examples given are 3rd declension nominative plural:^[123]

• παίδες paídes 'boys', γυναίκες gunaíkes, αἴγες aíges 'goats' (for παῖδες paîdes, γυναῖκες gunaîkes, αἶγες aîges)

On the other hand, it is reported that the 1st and 2nd declension accusative plural in Doric had a short vowel (-ăs, -ŏs), leading to accentuations such as:^[124]

• τῖμας tîmas 'honours', πᾶσας pâsas 'all' (for τίμας tímas, πάσας pásas)

Another characteristic of Doric was that the endings -οι -oi and perhaps -αι -ai, and in verbs 3rd pl. -ον -on and -αν -an (derived from an earlier *-ont and *-ant) counted as long, leading to a paroxytone accent in:^[125]

• φιλοσόφοι philosóphoi 'philosophers', καλουμένοι kalouménoi 'called', ἐδώκαν edṓkan 'they gave', ἐλέγον elégon 'they said'

Doric speakers also apparently pronounced a circumflex on certain genitive plurals, which were paroxytone in other dialects:^[126]

• παιδῶν paidôn 'of boys', Τρωῶν Trōôn 'of Trojans', παντῶν pantôn 'of all', ἀλλῶν allôn 'of others'

In Doric the future was also accented non-recessively in all verbs:^[127]

• λεξῶ lexô 'I will say', ποιησῶ poiēsô 'I will do'

Notes

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