Crasis

Attic more than any other dialect disliked the immediate succession of two vowel sounds in adjoining syllables. To avoid such succession, which often arose in the formation and inflection of words, various means were employed: contraction (48 ff.), when the vowels collided in the middle of a word; or, when the succession occurred between two words (hiatus), by crasis (62 ff.), elision (70 ff.), aphaeresis (76), or by affixing a movable consonant at the end of the former word (134).

Crasis.—In crasis, the first word (as less important) loses its accent: τᾱ̓γαθά for τὰ ἀγαθά, τᾱ̓ν for τὰ ἐν, κᾱ̓γώ for καὶ ἐγώ.

a. If the second word is a dissyllabic paroxytone with short ultima, it is uncertain whether, in crasis, the paroxytone remains or changes to properispomenon. In this book τοὔργον, τᾱ̓́λλα are written for τὸ ἔργον, τὰ ἄλλα; but many scholars write τοὖργον, τἆλλα.

The Intensive Pronoun αὐτός.—αὐτός self is declined thus:

αὐτός is declined like ἀγαθός (287), but there is no vocative and the neuter nominative and accusative have no -ν. But ταὐτόν the same is common (328 N.).

αὐτός is a definite adjective and a pronoun. It has three meanings:

a. self: standing by itself in the nominative, αὐτὸς ὁ ἀνήρ or ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτός the man himself, or (without the article) in agreement with a substantive or pronoun; as ἀνδρὸς αὐτοῦ of the man himself.

b. him, her, it, them, etc.: standing by itself in an oblique case (never in the nominative). The oblique cases of αὐτός are generally used instead of οὗ, οἷ, ἕ, etc., as ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ his father, οἱ παῖδες αὐτῶν their children.

c. same: when it is preceded by the article in any case: ὁ αὐτὸς ἀνήρ the same man, τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἀνδρός of the same man.

N.—The article and αὐτός may unite by crasis (68 a): αὑτός, αὑτή, ταὐτό or ταὐτόν; ταὐτοῦ, ταὐτῆς; ταὐτῷ, ταὐτῇ, etc. Distinguish αὑτή the same f. from αὕτη this f.; ταὐτά the same n. from ταῦτα these things n.; ταὐτῇ from ταύτῃ.

Other indefinite pronominal adjectives are: ἕτερος, -ᾱ, -ον: with article, the other, one of two, the one (Lat. alter, alteruter); without article, other, another, a second (alius). By crasis (69) ᾱ̔́τερος, θᾱ́τερον, etc. ἑκάτερος, -ᾱ, -ον: each (of two) uterque; pl. either party, both parties, as utrique. ἕκαστος, -η, -ον: each, each one, every, every one, used of more than one (quisque). μόνος, -η, -ον: alone, only, sole. πᾶς (299): all, entire, every. The negatives οὐδείς, μηδείς (349 b) no one (poetical οὔτις, μήτις, in prose only οὔτι, μήτι, declined like τὶς; accent 186), Lat. nemo, nullus. οὐδέτερος, μηδέτερος neither of two (Lat. neuter).