First Declension: Feminine

Singular endings. There are variations in the singular endings of this declension. Some nouns take all alphas in the singular, some take all etas, and a few are mixed. As Croy explains, a first declension noun that has a nominative singular ending in alpha can be either all-alpha, or mixed alpha-eta. If there is a vowel or the letter rho preceding that final alpha, then the noun belongs to the all-alpha declension: βασιλεία, ἐκκλησία, καρδία, ἀλήθεια. If some other letter precedes the alpha, then the noun is mixed alpha-eta: δόξα, θάλασσα.

Plural endings. The plural endings are the same for all three subgroups.

Make sure you practice the paradigms! Also, please read the notes about stress patterns below.

Stress Patterns

Because some first declension endings are short monosyllables and some are long monosyllables, you have to pay careful attention to the stress pattern for the different forms. Croy does not give you all the information you need to follow the stress patterns, so two words have been added to help you see the different stress patterns:σκιά is an example of an alpha-noun with ultimate stress, and κώμη is an eta noun with penultimate stress. Want some more words to practice with? Take a look at this chart of First Declension Feminine Nouns in Croy to see the vocabulary from the textbook arranged according to this scheme.

Stress shifts. Remember: the stress shifts because some of the endings are long vowels and some are short. If an ending changes from short to long, the word cannot have antepenultimate stress, so this means the stress will shift! That means you need to pay special attention to the nouns in the antepenultimate stress column, because their stress pattern shifts when a long ending is added to the word.

Nominative plural: short diphthong! The nominative plural ending is regarded as short, even though it is a diphthong.

Genitive plural circumflex. Note also the circumflex over the omega in the genitive plural ending. The omega of this ending is stressed for every noun in this declension, regardless of where the stress falls in the other forms of the noun.

Traditional Order: Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative - Singular, Plural

This is the traditional way to study noun paradigms - but check below for the transformation patterns, which are a much more effective way to learn the paradigms.

• Singular Nouns: nominative, genitive, accusative. Pay attention to the alpha nouns, the eta nouns, and the nouns that go alpha-eta. Listen for the stress shift in the words with antepenultimate stress: ἀλήθεια and θάλασσα.
• Plural Nouns: nominative, genitive, accusative. Notice that the endings are the same for all of the feminine first declension nouns. Listen for the stress shift in the words with antepenultimate stress: ἀλήθειαι and θάλασσαι.

Transformations. The best way to study a paradigm is in terms of pairs, so that you can see the forms of the Greek words in relation to the other forms. Use these recordings to listen until you can clearly hear the pattern. Then recite together with the recording, so that you can practice pronouncing the words. Then, see if you can fill in the chart provided for both the singular and plural forms.

Singular to Plural Transformations

• Nominative: singular to plural. Notice that there is no shift in stress for the antepenultimate nouns, because the nominative singular and plural endings are both short.
• Genitive: singular to plural. Notice that the genitive plural is always stressed.
• Dative: singular to plural. Notice that there is no shift in stress for the antepenultimate nouns, because the dative singular and plural endings are both long.
• Accusative: singular to plural. Notice that there is a shift in stress for the antepenultimate nouns because the accusative plural ending is long.

Nominative-Accusative, Genitive-Dative

• Nominative to Accusative: singular. Notice that there is no shift in stress or vowel; it's like adding "n" to the end of the word.
• Nominative to Accusative: plural. Notice that there is a shift in stress for the antepenultimate nouns because the accusative plural ending is long.
• Genitive to Dative: singular. Notice that there is no shift in stress for the antepenultimate nouns, because the genitive singular and dative singular are both long.
• Genitive to Dative: plural. This is probably the least interesting of the transformations, but do notice again that the genitive plural is always stressed.