Self Intro and Request for Help

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MCH59
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Self Intro and Request for Help

Post by MCH59 »

My Name is Mick Hughes and I am a French and Latin graduate (Manchester, UK)who retired from teaching some time ago. One of my retirement "projects" was to try and learn a little ancient Greek. I've been using Peter Jones' book( I am about half way through), and have hit a snag: on page 112 there is a quotation from a poem by Anacreon:
( I'll have to use Ariel as the message board won't let me change the font to "Symbol"):
" h gh melaina pinei,
pinei ta dendrea d'auten,"
The translation is given as "The black earth drinks it, the trees drink it". I can't see why in the second line the verb is 3rd person singular whilst the subject seems to be a neuter nominative plural. The only thing I could come up with is that "gh" in the first line is still the subject of pinei and that dendrea is a neuter plural accusative.
I would be very grateful for any assistance.
Thanks, MH



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seneca2008
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Re: Self Intro and Request for Help

Post by seneca2008 »

Welcome to Textkit.

The poem is
ἡ γῆ μέλαινα πίνει,
πίνει δένδρεα δ᾿ αὐτήν.

Frequently a neuter plural takes 3rd person singular. I am sure this will be in your textbook which I don’t have to hand but there was another thread recently where this came up.

See here viewtopic.php?f=2&t=69269&hilit=Neuter+plural
Persuade tibi hoc sic esse, ut scribo: quaedam tempora eripiuntur nobis, quaedam subducuntur, quaedam effluunt. Turpissima tamen est iactura, quae per neglegentiam fit. Et si volueris attendere, maxima pars vitae elabitur male agentibus, magna nihil agentibus, tota vita aliud agentibus.

wilberfloss
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Re: Self Intro and Request for Help

Post by wilberfloss »

Hi, Mick. Just to back up what seneca2008 has said, the information you require is contained in Chapter 9, Neutered! Section 9b, of the Peter Jones' book (June 1998).

MCH59
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Joined: Sun Jun 02, 2019 3:31 pm

Re: Self Intro and Request for Help

Post by MCH59 »

To Seneca2008 and Wilberfloss,
Thank you both for taking the time to reply. It was very kind. I have checked back and found the relevant passage in CH 9.
Thanks again, Mick H

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