orthotone?

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Constantinus Philo
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orthotone?

Post by Constantinus Philo »

I do not understand why it is kept orthotone in οὐ πολλῷ τινὶ ὑποδεέστερον πόλεμον ἀνῃροῦντο ἢ τὸν πρὸς Πελοποννησίους. (Thuc. 6,1,1) Should it not be rather τινι?, since it is preceded by a perispomenon. I have checked the Loeb editions, and another edition from 1897, everywhere it is written τινι, which is correct. In CGCG (Cambridge Grammar of Classical Greek) and on Perseus, it is accentuated.
Anyways, i have read a hundred pages of syntax so far from CGCG, and I should say Smythe is much better and more detailed by far.
Semper Fidelis

mwh
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Re: orthotone?

Post by mwh »

First off, τινὶ is not orthotone. That would be τίνι. I think you mean oxytone.

But to your point, concerning the accentuation of the enclitic here: οὐ πολλῷ τινὶ ὑποδεέστερον.
Short answer: What difference does it make?
Long answer: The enclitic cannot throw its accent back to πολλῷ, whose final syllable already carries an accent. In such circumstances it’s quite in order for a disyllabic enclitic to be accented as it is here. (Ancient dogma and modern editorial practice both vary, but note that if τινὶ were printed accentless, that would result in a string of five consecutive syllables without accentual discrimination, a theoretical abomination.)

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Constantinus Philo
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Re: orthotone?

Post by Constantinus Philo »

thanks a lot
Semper Fidelis

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