Ancient Greek/Basic Nouns/First Declension

The first declension consists primarily of feminine nouns, with a few masculines. It is characterized by the recurrence of the letter alpha, and for this reason it is often referred to as the alpha declension, although the alpha was often changed to eta in the Attic dialect.

Accentuation

Nouns of the first declension have persistent accents. This means that, in general, when these nouns are declined, the accent does not move, although it does move if not doing so would violate one of the rules of accentuation, and it changes from an acute to a circumflex or vice versa if required by those rules. (This can happen when the final syllable goes from being short to long or vice versa; note that the terminal αι in the nominative plural is considered short.) In addition, when the accent in the nominative falls on the last syllable, it changes to a circumflex in the genitive and dative singular and plural.

The accent on the genitive plural of a first declension noun always falls on the last syllable.

Feminine nouns

Feminine nouns of the first declension may be further subdivided on the basis of α/η and ᾱ/ᾰ distinctions in the singular. However, in the plural, all nouns of the first declension have the same endings, which consistently have alpha instead of eta. The nominative singular and vocative singular are always identical, as are the nominative plural and vocative plural.

Nouns in eta

In Attic Greek, most feminine nouns of the first declension have eta throughout the singular, because long alpha was usually changed to eta in this dialect, except after epsilon, iota, or rho.

ἡδονή, ἡδονῆς, (hedoné, hedonês) "pleasure"

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡδονή	ἡδονᾱ́	ἡδοναί
Genitive	ἡδονῆς	ἡδοναῖν	ἡδονῶν
Dative	ἡδονῇ	ἡδοναῖν	ἡδοναῖς
Accusative	ἡδονήν	ἡδονᾱ́	ἡδονᾱ́ς
Vocative	ἡδονή	ἡδονᾱ́	ἡδοναί

νίκη, νίκης, (níkē, níkēs) "victory"

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	νῑ́κη	νῑ́κᾱ	νῖκαι
Genitive	νῑ́κης	νῑ́καιν	νῑκῶν
Dative	νῑ́κῃ	νῑ́καιν	νῑ́καις
Accusative	νῑ́κην	νῑ́κᾱ	νῑ́κᾱς
Vocative	νῑ́κη	νῑ́κᾱ	νῖκαι

Note: There is nothing irregular about the accentuation of νῑ́κη. In the nominative and vocative plural, the last syllable becomes short, which forces the acute to change to a circumflex, per the rules of accentuation.

Nouns in long alpha

After epsilon, iota, or rho, the long alpha is retained:

θεᾱ́, θεᾶς, (theá, theâs) "goddess"

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	θεᾱ́	θεᾱ́	θεαί
Genitive	θεᾶς	θεαῖν	θεῶν
Dative	θεᾷ	θεαῖν	θεαῖς
Accusative	θεᾱ́ν	θεᾱ́	θεᾱ́ς
Vocative	θεᾱ́	θεᾱ́	θεαί

χώρᾱ, χώρᾱς (khórā, khórās) "land, country"

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	χώρᾱ	χώρᾱ	χῶραι
Genitive	χώρᾱς	χώραιν	χωρῶν
Dative	χώρᾳ	χώραιν	χώραις
Accusative	χώρᾱν	χώρᾱ	χώρᾱς
Vocative	χώρᾱ	χώρᾱ	χῶραι

δημοκρατίᾱ, δημοκρατίᾱς, (dēmokratíā, dēmokratíās) "democracy"

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	δημοκρατίᾱ	δημοκρατίᾱ	δημοκρατίαι
Genitive	δημοκρατίᾱς	δημοκρατίαιν	δημοκρατιῶν
Dative	δημοκρατίᾳ	δημοκρατίαιν	δημοκρατίαις
Accusative	δημοκρατίᾱν	δημοκρατίᾱ	δημοκρατίᾱς
Vocative	δημοκρατίᾱ	δημοκρατίᾱ	δημοκρατίαι

Nouns in short alpha

Like the more common nouns in long alpha, these have stems ending in epsilon, iota, or rho. The short alpha appears in the nominative, accusative, and vocative singular:

ὑγίειᾰ, ὑγιείᾱς (hygíeia, hygieíās) "health"

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὑγίειᾰ	ὑγιείᾱ	ὑγίειαι
Genitive	ὑγιείᾱς	ὑγιείαιν	ὑγιειῶν
Dative	ὑγιείᾳ	ὑγιείαιν	ὑγιείαις
Accusative	ὑγίειᾰν	ὑγιείᾱ	ὑγιείᾱς
Vocative	ὑγίειᾰ	ὑγιείᾱ	ὑγίειαι

Note the shift in accent resulting from the lengthening of the ending.

Nouns in short alpha and eta

These nouns generally had stems ending in -σσ-, which was changed in Attic to -ττ-. They have short alpha in the nominative, accusative, and vocative singular, and eta in the genitive and dative singular.

θάλαττᾰ, θαλάττης, (thálatta, thaláttēs) "sea"

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	θάλαττᾰ	θᾰλᾰ́ττᾱ	θάλατται
Genitive	θαλάττης	θᾰλᾰ́τταιν	θαλαττῶν
Dative	θαλάττῃ	θᾰλᾰ́τταιν	θαλάτταις
Accusative	θάλαττᾰν	θᾰλᾰ́ττᾱ	θαλάττᾱς
Vocative	θάλαττᾰ	θᾰλᾰ́ττᾱ	θάλατται

Masculine nouns

Masculine nouns of the first declension end in -ης or -ᾱς, with the -ου ending characteristic of the second declension in the genitive singular. Other than that their case endings are the same as those of feminine nouns of the first declension, although the ending of the vocative singular is inconsistent (and may be -ᾱ, -ᾰ, or -η). Note that the vocative plural, however, still matches the nominative plural.

νεᾱνίᾱς, νεᾱνίου, (neāníās, neāníou) "young man"

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	νεᾱνίᾱς	νεᾱνῐ́ᾱ	νεᾱνίαι
Genitive	νεᾱνίου	νεᾱνῐ́αιν	νεᾱνιῶν
Dative	νεᾱνίᾳ	νεᾱνῐ́αιν	νεᾱνίαις
Accusative	νεᾱνίᾱν	νεᾱνῐ́ᾱ	νεᾱνίᾱς
Vocative	νεᾱνίᾱ	νεᾱνῐ́ᾱ	νεᾱνίαι

πολῑ́της, πολῑ́του, (polítēs, polítou) "citizen"

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	πολῑ́της	πολῑ́τᾱ	πολῖται
Genitive	πολῑ́του	πολῑ́ταιν	πολῑτῶν
Dative	πολῑ́τῃ	πολῑ́ταιν	πολῑ́ταις
Accusative	πολῑ́την	πολῑ́τᾱ	πολῑ́τᾱς
Vocative	πολῖτᾰ	πολῑ́τᾱ	πολῖται