A grammar of the Homeric dialect - Wilbourhall.org

IT3-] NOUN FORMATION. 99
CHAPTER VI.
FORMATION OF NOUNS.
113.]
Nominal Stems. Some Nouns are formed with Stems
identical with Verb-Stems ; Trrv^-es folds (TTTT^O-O-CO for -Tiri^-to)),
o-n'x-e? ranks (o-reixco, e-o-rt^-oi;), A.o' flame (ojAeyo)), Trrok-a
cowering (777-77 o-o-co, -7rraK-o^), 8co house, for 8a>//, cp. Sa- (dm) in
6), pa>y-a? clefts,
openings (pr\y-vv^i), 0a>? jackal (0ea>),
O7r-a tw'00 (Ft*-), pt, 6p(,
2r?j. In these Nouns the Stem is usually either in the weak
form or in the O-form ( 38).
Originally the Stem was long (and accented) in the Nom. and Ace., weak
(with the accent on the Case-Ending) in the Gen. and Dat. Instances of this
variation have been given in 106 ; cp. 114*.
Commonly however a Nominal Stem is formed from a Verb-
Stem by means of one or more Suffixes, which we may call
Nominal Suffixes. These are of two kinds :
j. Primary, by which Nouns are formed from Verb-Stems ;
as -o in ay-o'-s leader, -TI in (a-rt-s saying. Nouns so formed
are called Primitive (sometimes Verbal : but this term is better
known in a more restricted sense, 84).
2. Secondary, by which Nouns are formed from other Nouns ;
-eu in iTTTr-ev-j horseman. These Nouns
as -10 in Si/ca-io-s- just,
are called Denominative.
The Suffixes which mark the Feminine Gender might be
classified as Secondary thus
;
the Stem KaXrj- might be said to
be formed by a fresh suffix from KaXo-, the Stem S/^reipa- (for
bfjLT]-Tp-La) from 8/0177 -rep-, &c. But it is more convenient to
treat the Feminine Endings as mere inflexions, along with
the corresponding Masc. forms.
In the same way we might treat Suffixes like -rpo (in Irj-rpo-s
healer, apo-Tpo-v plough) as compounded of -TTJP or -Tp (tTj-TTJp
healer, apo-TTJp ploughman), and a secondary -o. Practically,
however, -rpo is a single Primary Suffix : and this applies also
to -fjii/o (in ptXt-^vo-v dart), which might be resolved into fxo + ev + o,
and to many similar cases. H 2