I have temporarily disabled lesson 23 (Imperfect Middle and Passive) pending revisions. Thanks to Carl Conrad for pointing out to me by email some clear ways to improve the lesson. I hope it will serve users of the grammar much better after a few key changes.
Lesson 23: Imperfect Middle and Passive
I’ve uploaded lesson 23: “Imperfect Middle and Passive” to my online grammar. It has six vocabulary exercises, but is still missing a couple of practice exercises for recognizing imperfect middle/passive forms that I will add over the next few days.
The vocabulary exercises consist of a flashcard set, four brief drag and drop vocabulary games, and a practice vocabulary quiz.
Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you notice any typographical error or other problem.
Stephen Carlson's Blog
I have added Stephen Carlson’s blog, Hypotyposeis, to the blogs page at Greek-Language.com. While the focus of his blog is Christian origins, he has included significant content of relevance to Greek Linguistics.
Correction to exercise 2, lesson 22
I have corrected a typographical error in exercise 2 for lesson 22 (“third person” for “second person”). I’m sorry for any confusion the mistake may have caused.
You can see the exercise at
http://greek-language.com/grammar/22_Resources/Exercise_2_MI_Conjugation.htm
Rutger Allan: The Middle Voice in Ancient Greek: A Study of Polysemy
Thanks to Mike Aubrey for making me aware of the free download of Rutger J. Allan’s dissertation on the Middle Voice in Ancient Greek. You can download the whole dissertation or individual chapters here.
While Dr. Allan was dealing with Homeric and Classical Greek, many of his observations and conclusions appear to be very applicable to the hellenistic period as well.
I have added the published version as well as the dissertation to my online bibliography.
A Little More on the Middle / Passive
In each of the lessons dealing with the middle and passive voices, I have taken the opportunity to introduce a little more detail needed for a clear understanding of the functions of these voice categories. In lesson 22 I have included an unusually long discussion of transitivity as it relates to the passive voice.
While I think understanding transitivity is crucial for correctly understanding Greek voice, I’m unsure about how helpful my discussion of it is for beginning students. I would love to hear candid remarks on how helpful this discussion is or how obscure, confusing, or problematic you consider it to be.
I have thick skin. I can take criticism. I want the grammar to be useful to as many students as possible, so I don’t mind hearing recommendations for change!
Lesson 22: The Present Middle and Passive
Lesson 22: The Present Middle and Passive is now up and running. It has exercises for recognizing both Ω conjugation and ΜΙ conjugation verbs as well as several vocabulary exercises.
Exercises for Lesson 21
I have added six short exercises to lesson 21: More on the Aorist Middle and Passive. The exercises provide practice recognizing the aorist middle/passive forms of the following six verbs:
If you learn the aorist middle/passive forms of these six verbs you will be able to recognize the aorist middle and passive forms of all verbs in the New Testament.
Additions to Lesson 20
I’ve added a couple of new exercises to lesson 20: one for practice recognizing 1st aorist middle forms, and one for recognizing 2nd aorist middle forms.
Updates to Lesson 19: Semantic Roles and Voice
I have added three drag-and-drop vocabulary exercises and a vocabulary practice quiz to lesson 19: Semantic Roles and Voice.