lesson 6 index    printable pages

6.2b:   Augment

If a verb begins with a vowel, to give it augment we need to lengthen the duration of that vowel. (Actually, such extension results from the combination of  ἐ + the initial vowel of the stem.  This is known as contraction, an effect we will study later.)  For now, the following rule of thumb will suffice:

For augment, all vowels except  α lengthen into their natural long, for which  ε and  ο have special letters, while  ι and  υ  do not.  Sometimes only the context will allow us to distinguish an imperfect from a present, for instance in the first and second persons of the plural, where the endings are the same! So, if we find a form such as  ἱδρύομεν, we cannot tell wheter it is present, without augment, or imperfect, with iota lengthened for augment.  Depending on the context, it will mean "we establish" or "we were establishing, used to establish.”

EXAMPLES of augment in verbs beginning with a vowel:

Note 1:  When a verb begins with a diphthong including ι, such as αι,  ει,  οι,  the first vowel is lengthened and ι becomes subscript, resulting in ῃ, ῃ, ῳ, respectively.

Augment in compound verbs:

In English we may not be aware that we use innumerable compound verbs (a preposition, now more accurately called a preverb,  has been set in front of a simple verb), e.g. postdate, overcompensate (modern coinages) or derivatives from Latin or Greek compound verbs, e.g. introduce, impose. When a Greek compound verb is conjugated in a past tense such as the Imperfect, augment is applied between the preverb and the simple verb. A preposition used as a preverb that ends in a vowel loses this vowel unless it is ι.

EXAMPLES of compound verbs based on the simple verb  βαίνω (come or go):  δια-βαίνω (cross);  παρα-βαίνω (walk along),  ἀνα-βαίνω (go up / embark)