Dionysios Thrax

“ The following terms, expressive of accidents belonging to the noun, are also called Species: proper, appellative, adjective, relative, quasi-relative, homonym, synonym, pheronym, dionym, eponym, national, interrogative, indefinite, anaphoric (also called assimilative, demonstrative, and retributive) , collective, distributive, inclusive, onomatopoetic, general, special, ordinal, numeral, participative, independent.
A Proper noun is one signifying a peculiar substance, [25] as Homer, Sokrates. An Appellative is one that signifies a common substance, as man, horse. ”

“ A General noun is one that can be divided into a number of species, as animal, plant. A Special noun is one of those into which a genus is divided, e.g. ox, horse; vine, olive. An Ordinal is a noun showing order, as first, second, third. A Numeral is a noun signifying number, as one, two, three. ”

“ A Syllable is properly the combination of a vowel [16] with a consonant or consonants, as Κᾶρ, βοῦς. Improperly we speak of a syllable as composed of a single vowel, as ἆ, ἦ.
9. On Long Syllables (μακραὶ συλλαβαί) .
A long syllable may come about in eight ways, three by nature and five by position [17] : by nature, when it is represented by the long elements, as ἥρως—or when one of the doubtful elements is assumed as long, as Ἄρης—or when it contains one of the diphthongs, as Αἴας ”

“ A Pronoun is a word assumed instead of a noun, and indicating definite persons. It has six accidents: Person, Gender, Number, Case, Form, and Species.
22. On Primitive Pronouns.
The Persons of the Primitive Pronouns are ἐνώ, σύ, ἴ; those of the Derivative Pronouns, ἐμός, σός, ὅς. The Genders of the Primitive Pronouns are not expressed in speech, but by the indication which they make, as ἐγώ (I) , whereas the Genders of the Derivatives are expressed in speech, as ὁ ἐμός, ἡ ἐμή, τὸ ἐμόν. The Numbers of the Primitives are—Singular, ἐγώ, σύ, ἴ ”

“ A Relative noun is such as father, son, friend, right (hand) . A quasi-Relative is such as night, day, death, life. A Homonym is a noun predicated homonymously of many things, as of proper nouns, e.g. Telamonian Aias, Oïlean Aias; of aplative nouns, as sea-mouse, land-mouse. A Synonym is a noun which, by several designations, signifies the same thing, as glaive, sword, bludgeon, blade, brand. A Pheronym is a name given from some accident, as Tisamenos and Megapenthes. ”

“ A primitive noun is one which is said according to original imposition, as γῆ (earth) ; a derivative noun is one which derives its origin from another noun, as γαιήιος (earthborn) . There are seven classes of derivatives: Patronymics, Possessives, Comparatives, Diminutives, Nominals, Superlatives, and Verbals. A Patronymic is properly a noun formed from the name of a father, improperly a noun formed from the name of another ancestor, e.g., Achilleus is called both Peleides and Aiakides. Of masculine patronymics there are three forms, one in δης, one in ων and one in άδιος—e.g. ”

“ Noun, Verb, Participle, Article, Pronoun, Preposition, Adverb, and Conjunction. The proper noun, as a species, is subordinate to the noun. [22]
14. On the Noun (ὄνομα) .
A Noun is a declinable part of speech, signifying something either concrete or abstract (concrete, as stone; abstract, as education) ; common or proper (common, as man, horse; proper, as Socrates, Plato) . [23] It has five accidents: genders, species, forms, numbers, and cases.
There are three Genders, the masculine, the feminine, and the neuter. Some add to these two more, the common and the epicene—common, as man, horse ”

“ A Participative is a noun partaking of a certain substance, as golden, silvern. An Independent noun is one which is thought by itself, as God, Reason.
The Dispositions of the noun are two. Activity and Passivity; Activity, as the judge, the judging; Passivity, as judgeable, the judged.
15. On the Verb (ῥῆμα) . [27]
A Verb is an indeclinable word, indicating time, person and number, and showing activity or passivity. The verb has eight accidents: Moods, Dispositions (voices!) , Species, Forms, Numbers, Tenses, Persons, Conjugations. ”

“ Of feminine patronymics there are likewise three forms, one in ις, as Priamis; one in ας, as Pelias; one in νη, as Adrastinê. From the names of mothers, Homer forms no species of patronymics; later authors do. A Possessive is a noun which denotes possession and includes the possessor, as Νηλήιαι ἵπποι (Neleian mares) , Ἑκτόρεος χιτών (Hektorean robe) , Πλατωνικὸν βιβλίον (Platonic book) . A Comparative is a noun making a comparison of one individual with another individual of the same genus, e.g. Achilleus braver than Aias ”

“ Of the consonants, eight are Semivowels, ζ, ξ, ψ, λ, μ, ν, ρ, ς. They are called semivowels because, being less easily sounded than the vowels, when attempted to be pronounced alone, they result in hisses and mumblings. There are nine Mutes, β, γ, δ, θ, κ, π, τ, φ, χ. They are called mutes because they are more disagreeable in sound than the others, just as we say that a tragedian with a disagreeable voice is mute (ἄφωνος = voiceless) . Of these, three are smooth, κ, π, τ; three are rough, θ, φ, χ, and three are medial, β, γ, δ. ”

“ Causatives are those which are taken to express cause: they are these, ἵνα, ὄφρα, ὅπως, ἕνεκα, οὕνεκα, ὅτι, διό, διότι, καθό, καθότι, καθόσον. Dubitatives are those which we are wont to use when we are in doubt; they are these, ἆρα, κἆτα, μῶν. Inferentials are those which lend themselves readily to conclusions and summings-up of demonstrations: they are these, ἄρα, ἀλλά, ἀλλὰ μέν, τοίνυν, τοιγάρτοι, τοιγαροῦν. Expletives are those which are used for the sake of metre or ornament: they are these, δή, ῥά, νύ, ποῦ, τοί, θήν, ἄρ, δῆτα, πέρ, πώ, μήν, ἄν, αὖ, οὖν, κέν, γέ. ”

“ Rossbach und Westphal, Metrik der Griech., vol. ii. pp. 66 sqq. ↑ Aristotle, Poetics, cap. xx., makes three divisions of sounds — τό τε φωνῆεν και τὸ ἡμίφωνον καὶ ἄφωνον — vowels, semivowels, and mutes. Cf. with the whole of Dionysios' classification, Schleicher, Compend. der verg. Grammatik der Indoger. Spr., pp. 54 sqq. et passim ”