Elementary New Testament Greek, 2014a

Prepositions (2) Allowing Three Cases to Follow:
[878] takes the genitive on, near, toward near the crowd
takes the dative on, near, toward near the crowd
takes the accusative on, near, toward near the crowd
[191] takes the genitive out from out from the crowd
takes the dative beside beside the crowd
takes the accusative along side alongside the crowd
Some Changes in the Appearance of
Prepositions
Fortunately, Greek prepositions themselves don’t need to change their own spellings
to show case, number or gender. They are not inected. They are exactly what they
are! But several prepositions are slightly modied to ease the pronunciation of
the following word. English uses a similar shift to ease the pronunciation of words
following the indenite article:
The indenite article when
followed by a consonant:
The indenite article when
followed by a vowel:
I gave my teacher a cake for
Christmas.
I gave my teacher an apple for
Christmas.
Similarly, Greek prepositions ending in a vowel are sensitive to a following vowel,
especially vowels with rough breathing. Notice the various appearances possible
for some prepositions as their nal vowel has elided, and (perhaps) the exposed
consonant has been aspirated. Below are all 17 Greek prepositions and the various
changes that may take place. You will likely be able to recognize them even when
they have undergone a touch of cosmetic surgery.
Dictionary
Form
Possible
Variations
Dictionary
Form
Possible
Variations
μ μ μ
No change No change
No change No change
No change
No change
No change
6: Prepositions
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