Editing Movable nu

In [[Ancient Greek]] grammar, '''movable nu''', '''movable N''' or '''ephelcystic nu''' (νῦ ἐφελκυστικόν ''nû ephelkustikón'', literally "nu dragged onto" or "attracted to") is a letter [[nu (letter)|nu]] (written ν; the Greek equivalent of the letter ''n'') placed on the end of some grammatical forms in [[Attic Greek|Attic]] or [[Ionic Greek]]. It is used to avoid two vowels in a row ([[Hiatus (linguistics)|hiatus]]) and to create a [[syllable weight|long syllable]] in poetic [[meter (poetry)|meter]].

==Grammatical forms==
Movable nu may appear at the end of certain forms of verbs, nouns, and adjectives. In grammatical [[paradigm]]s, it is usually written with a parenthesis to indicate that it is optional.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="3" | third person plural present and future
|-
| λέγουσι(ν)<br>τιθέασι(ν) || "they say"<br>"they place" || present
|-
| λέξουσι(ν) || "they will say" || future
|-
! colspan="3" | third person singular perfect and past
|-
| τέθνηκε(ν) || "he has died", "is dead" || perfect
|-
| ἔλεγε(ν) || "he was saying" || imperfect
|-
| εἶπε(ν) || "he said" || aorist
|-
| ἐτεθνήκει(ν) || "he had died", "was dead" || pluperfect
|-
! colspan="3" | third person singular present<br>(athematic verbs)
|-
| τίθησι(ν) || colspan="2" | "he places"
|-
| ἐστί(ν) || colspan="2" | "it is"
|-
! colspan="3" | [[third declension]] [[dative case|dative]] plural
|-
|  Ἕλλησι(ν) || colspan="2" | "to Greeks"
|-
| πᾶσι(ν) || colspan="2" | "to all"
|}

==Usage==
Movable nu is used before words starting in a vowel to prevent [[hiatus (linguistics)|hiatus]].

* πᾶσι'''ν''' ἔλεγε'''ν''' ἐκεῖνα "he said those things to everyone"

It is omitted before consonants.

* πᾶσι λέγουσι ταῦτα "they say these things to everyone"

It is often used at the end of clauses or verses.

==See also==
* [[Nu (letter)]]
* [[Ancient Greek]]
** [[Attic Greek]]
** [[Ionic Greek]]
* [[Eifeler Regel]]{{-}}a similar rule in [[German dialects]]

==Sources==
* [[Herbert Weir Smyth]], ''A Greek Grammar'', [http://www.ccel.org/s/smyth/grammar/html/smyth_1e_uni.htm#134 par. 134].

[[Category:Ancient Greek language]]
[[Category:Greek letters]]
[[Category:Koine Greek]]

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