Greek Grammar: prepositions History Greek prepositions developed
from case-forms of pronouns, articles etc., that served as adverbs,
and came to govern
specific cases to express adverbial ideas (cf. Smyth 1636-8).
Thus for example prepositions that developed from locative adverbs
preserve the locative case (expressed by the Greek dative) -i in p
and per. The increasingly close association of these adverbial
expressions with nouns led to formal prepositions; association with
verbs gave rise to compound verbs.
Smyth 1636-1702 covers all common and many less usual usages;
the following remarks are meant to provide both a
conceptual framework for the prepositions and some observations
on the trickier points of translation. This list is not exhaustive;
thus for instance adverbs can be employed as prepositions almost at
whim.
The logic of the prepositions can usually be understood in the
same terms as the cases. If we consider a target, the
accusative represents motion toward the target, the dative
location at the target, and the genitive motion away from the
target. From the perspective of historical linguistics, the
genitive embraces, by extension, the ablatival source function, and
the dative embraces the instrumental.
Prepositions are accented as written here when the object
follows. However, some of the proper prepositions can be
preceded by their objects, in which case the accent of some
prepositions recedes, a phenomenon known as anastrophe. Example:
okou pri = per okou, around the house.
improper prepositions (dont form compounds with verbs; govern
one case only)
genitive gxi near neu without pnanti opposite, before; against,
contrary to xri until, as far as ggw near khti by means/virtue of,
with the aid of; on account of, for the sake of nntion against neka
(postpositive) for the sake of ntw within nvpin before; in
presence/judgment of jv outside vw until, up to etaj between,
during; afterwards xri until, as far as, as long as,within, during
pran across pln except for plhson near, hard by prrv further into,
advanced in; far from xrin (postpositive) for the sake of xvrw
apart from, far from, without
dative a at the same time, together with o close to, together
with
accusative w up to: personal, as distinguished in fketo w
Perdkkan ka w tn Xalkidkhn he reached Perdikkas in Chalkidike Thuc.
4.79; cf. Lysias 1.10. developed from w p tini/ew tina, and often
gives sense of purpose.
proper prepositions (form compounds) one case only genitive
nt instead of; in exchange: nt onou skfou in exchange for a cup
of wine E Kyk 256 p from, away from j, k out of, from; after
(temporal): j ow, after dawn Hes Th 724 pr before, in front of
FelixDestacar
dative n in, on, at, among temporal: n ti prosyen xrnvi
previously; n kairi at the right moment sn / jn with:
instrumentality, manner sn dk justly; sn yeow with the help of the
gods
accusative ew, w1 to, toward, to the point of, into for: purpose
extent: w plyow, in great numbers temporal: ew panta tn xrnon for
all time; ew t parn for the present
two cases only (the dative case is not governed by two-case-only
prepositions) di + gen through: spatial, as in through and out
means: through the agency of adverbial: di sfaleaw safely
(literally through safety) + acc through: owing to a cause or
person on account of kat + gen under into, on: nxratte kat lyvn, he
carved on stones Plut Them. 9.2 against; in violation of: kat to
kurou, against the Lord Ac 4.26 + acc according to location: down,
along, throughout, opposite route: kat gn, by land distributive:
krn ndraw kat fla, separate the men into squads Il 2.362
concerning: kat tn pada concerning his son Hdt 1.34.1 purpose: kat
yan ken, he came for the purpose of observation Thuc 6.31 in
accordance with: kat oran, in accordance with fate temporal: kat
plon, during the voyage Thuc 3.32 et + gen personal accompaniment2
circumstantial: et fnaiow tw suaxaw, when the alliance was intact
Thuc 1.19 + acc after pr + gen over, above, on behalf of + acc
over, beyond all three cases p +gen on, upon (general relations)
temporal: in time of +dat on (definite relations) on condition that
(cf. proviso clauses) pertaining to personal: under the power of
additive: p tosde, in addition to these things e.g. Eur Kyk 670
causal: p ti pstei to natow ato because of his faith in the name Ac
3:16 purpose: rgrion ddvkaw p sof& you have given money for
wisdom Xen Sym 1.5 +acc onto, over, against temporal: extent of
time quantity, measure: p ikrn, a little for: purpose par +gen from
+dat at, at the house of in the opinion of: w par n kkritai, as I
judged it Theok 6.37 +acc to, toward beyond, contrary to, in
violation of (cf. English paranormal)
1 ew encroaches on n in koine, and supplants it in modern Greek.
2 crowds out sn; eg Thucydides uses et + gen ~10x more often than
sn + dat.
per +gen about, concerning: speaking, writing, thinking +dat
around: clothes, weapons +acc around: motion
concerning: actions specifying: Thuc 1.5.3 per te Lokrow, namely
Lokrians indefinite number, time: per ryron, about dawn
prw +gen in the eyes/name of from by, substituting for p +dat
near, in addition to next to: Xen Ana 1.2.10: prw t [plei] Mus&
xr&, the last [city] next to Mysia +acc toward, looking to, in
respect to against purpose: prw tn lehosnhn kayenow seated for
[receiving] alms Ac 3:10
adverbial: prw totvn wherefore prw totoiw besides, in addition
prw tata by reason of this
p +gen by: personal agent (contrast use of bare dative with
perf, plupf pass, verbal adjective) +dat under: locative; under the
power of +acc under: motion toward on (location): pe o toi par p
odaw Hom. Hymn to Apollo 60 toward: of time
