Re: Athena(i) Re: Transcription exercise

Philip Newton wrote:
> On 9/26/06, R A Brown <ray@...> wrote:
>
>> It would seem that in modern Greek there is a feminine noun
>> υπογεγραμμένη meaning "iota hypogegrammenon/subscript"; and Googling on
>> υπογεγραμμένη clearly confirms this.
>
>
> It looks like a participle to me, adjectival in form; I wonder what
> the understood noun is that it's intended
That's all correct. Yes, it is the feminine of a participle with some
noun understood

> to modify, since in modern Greek, letter names are neuter as well.
Yes, the names have always been neuter.

> Or if it's not an adjective
> with understood noun, why modern Greek use the feminine form.
>
> Maybe by analogy with "psili" and "varia"? Not sure what feminine noun
> those adjectives modify, either.
No, not analogy - all these feminine forms - now used substantively -
have the same feminine noun 'understood', namely προσωδία (or προσῳδία
in Byzantine spelling) which, inter_alia, means "diacritic" (a meaning
found as early as the 4th cent CE)

--
Ray
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ray@carolandray.plus.com
http://www.carolandray.plus.com
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Nid rhy hen neb i ddysgu.
There's none too old to learn.
[WELSH PROVERB}