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9.5a: 1) Conjugation of the First Aorist Indicative Active and Middle

2) The Aorist of consonantal stems  

To repeat the point with which we concluded 9.3:

1) Now we need to understand how this First Aorist is formed. Both in the Active and in the Middle voices (for those verbs that have a middle voice) the Indicative Aorist is a past tense.  Thus it will be formed with the following elements: augment ( ε ) +   present stem  ( παυ-)  +  tense suffix  (-σα-)  + secondary or historical endings.  I will note where they differ from the secondary endings we applied earlier to the Imperfect.

Notes:

1) No ending in the first person singular.  Note the expected drop of the dental before  σ

2) The α of the tense suffix changes to ε in the third person singular.

3) The original ending of the 2nd person sg in the Middle voice was actually the same for Imperfect and First Aorist: -σο.   But  between vowels σ tended to be dropped.  When it dropped in the Imperfect, the following transformation took place (it is known as vowel contraction):

ἐ-παύ-ε-σο  > ἐ-παύ-ε- ο  >  ἐ-παύ-ου       ( ου is the normal phonetic result of   ε + ο).

In contrast, when it dropped in the Aorist, the α of the tense suffix gave a different result:

ἐ-παύ-σα-σο > ἐ-παύ-σα-ο > ἐ-παύ-σω    ( ω is the normal phonetic result of  α + ο).

2) The Aorist of consonantal stems

When the present stem of a verb ends in a consonant, the regular first aorist produces an encounter of that consonant with  s , and therefore the phonetic results are the same as those that occur in the regular future. Let us see some examples.

Dental stems: the dental drops.  κολάζω, κολάσω, ἐκόλασα. 

Labial stems: the consonants combine into  ψ:  γράφω, γράψω, ἔγραψα (to draw, write)  λείβω, λείψω, ἔλειψα  (to pour), etc.

Palatal stems: the consonants combine into  ξ:   τήκω, τήξω, ἔτηξα (to melt) ;   πράσσω (Attic πράττω),  πράξω, ἔπραξα  (to carry out), etc.  

Liquid stems are those ending in the present in   μ ν λ ῥ.   When they encounter   -σα in the aorist,  σ drops, but α  remains.  Thus results in a "first aorist without σ , or asigmatic."  For example, the aorist of  κρίνω  (to judge), is:

ἔκρινα   ἔκρινας   ἔκρινε   ἐκρίναμεν   ἐκρίνατε   ἔκριναν

Similarly, in the middle voice of  ἀποκρίνομαι (to answer), we have:

ἀπεκρινάμην   ἀπεκρίνω   ἀπεκρίνατο   ἀπεκρινάμεθα   ἀπεκρίνασθε   ἀπεκρίναντο

Note 4:  The palatal consonant in a few verbs is "disguised" in the present, on account of  phonetic transformations.

 Go to  9.5b  for EXAMPLES