Accent placement rules in Greek: where to place acute and circumflex accents relative to word end and syllable length; when to write ι vs ει; dialectal notes (Homeric, Attic, Sapphic examples), examples like Homer, Menelaos, Ὅμηρος, Μενέλαος, accent shifts in cases.
δέοντα τόνον ἐπιθείη ταῖς λέξεσι, πειράσομαι παραδοῦναι, προομολογουμένου δηλονότι τοῦ ἐπὶ ποίας ἑκάστη λέξις συλλαβῆς δέχεται τὸν τόνον, καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς τῶν χρόνων δυνάμεως πότε ἐκτείνονται καὶ πότε συστέλλονται, καὶ προσέτι πότε διὰ μόνου τοῦ 'ι' καὶ πότε διὰ τῆς 'ει' διφθόγγου γράφειν ἑκάστην δεήσει λέξιν· πλὴν ὅτι, ἐφ´ ὧν ἂν δυνατὸν εἴη συντομώτερον ὡς πρὸς τὴν παροῦσαν ἐπαγγελίαν καὶ τὴν συλλαβὴν διδάξαι, ἐφ´ ἧς δεήσει τὸν τόνον τιθέναι, καὶ τοῦτο παραδώσομεν ἐκ τῶν τοῦ πολυμαθεστάτου Ἡρωδιανοῦ ἐν ἐπιτομῇ ἐκλεξάμενοι τὰ χρησιμώτερα. ἄρξομαι δὲ ἐντεῦθεν, παρήσω δὲ καὶ τὰ τῶν διαλέκτων ἰδιώματα. Ἡ ὀξεῖα ἢ ἐν τέλει τίθεται ἢ πρὸ μιᾶς τοῦ τέλους ἢ πρὸ δύο· πρὸ τριῶν δὲ οὐκ ἔτι. τὸ γὰρ Μήδεϊα παρὰ Σαπφοῖ πεπονθὸς παραιτούμεθα, ὅτι τὴν 'ει' δίφθογγον διεῖλεν. Ἡ περισπωμένη ἢ ἐν τέλει τίθεται ὡς ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἑρμῆς, Ἡρακλῆς. ἢ πρὸ μιᾶς τοῦ τέλους ὡς ἐπὶ τοῦ κῆπος, μῶλος· πρὸ δύο δὲ οὐκέτι. οὐδέ ποτε ἐπὶ βραχείας τίθεται περισπωμένη οὔτε ἐπὶ θέσει μακρᾶς, ἀλλὰ μόνον ἐπὶ φύσει μακρῶν. Ἰστέον δὲ ὅτι πᾶσα βραχεῖα συλλαβὴ πρὸ βραχείας ἢ πρὸ μακρᾶς ἐφ´ ἑαυτῆς ἔχουσα τὸν τόνον ὀξύνεται· τοῦ μὲν προτέρου φίλος, τοῦ δὲ δευτέρου Ἕκτωρ, ἔρως. πᾶσα συλλαβὴ πρὸ δύο τοῦ τέλους ἐφ´ ἑαυτῆς ἔχουσα τὸν τόνον ὀξύνεται, Ὅμηρος, Μενέλαος. Οὐδέποτε, μακρᾶς οὔσης τῆς ἐπὶ τέλους, τρίτη ἀπὸ τέλους πίπτει ἡ ὀξεῖα· ἔνθεν τῆς εὐθείας τοῦ Ὅμηρος καὶ αἰτιατικῆς καὶ κλητικῆς προπαροξυνομένων, Ὅμηρος Ὅμηρον Ὅμηρε, ἡ γενικὴ καὶ δοτική, τοῦ Ὁμήρου καὶ τῷ Ὁμήρῳ, διὰ τὴν ἐπὶ τέλους μακρὰν παροξύνονται, σεσημειωμένων τῶν Ἀττικῶν, πόλεως, μάντεως. τὸν γὰρ τῶν κοινῶν εὐθειῶν τόνον φυλάττουσι τὰ Ἀττικὰ ἐπὶ πάσης πτώσεως· ὁ ναός ὀξύνεται, διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ νεώς, τοῦ νεώ καὶ αἱ λοιπαὶ πτώσεις ὀξύνονται ὁμοίως. καὶ ἔτι τοῦ Μενέλαος προπαροξυνομένου τὸ Μενέλεως καὶ αἱ λοιπαὶ πτώσεις καὶ οἱ ἀριθμοὶ προπαροξύνονται, κἂν κατὰ γενικὴν μόνην γένηται ἡ ἐπέκτασις ὡς ἐπὶ τοῦ πόλεως καὶ μάντεως. Πᾶσα φύσει μακρὰ πρὸ
I shall try to set forth the proper accent to be placed on the words, it being of course agreed in advance on which syllable each word receives the accent, and, with regard to the force of quantity, when they are lengthened and when they are shortened, and moreover when each word must be written with only ‘ι’ and when with the diphthong ‘ει’; except that, wherever it should be possible, more briefly in accordance with the present undertaking, to teach the syllable on which it will be necessary to place the accent, this too we shall hand down, selecting in epitome the most useful points from the works of the most learned Herodian. I shall begin from here, and I shall also pass over the peculiarities of the dialects. The acute is placed either on the final syllable, or on the penult, or on the antepenult; but not further back than the third from the end. For the Μήδεϊα in Sappho, which has undergone this, we decline, because she has divided the diphthong ‘ει’. The circumflex is placed either on the final syllable, as in Ἑρμῆς, Ἡρακλῆς, or on the penult, as in κῆπος, μῶλος; but not on the antepenult. Nor is a circumflex ever placed on a short syllable, nor on a syllable long by position, but only on syllables long by nature. It must be known that every short syllable, having the accent on itself before a short or before a long syllable, is acuted: of the former, φίλος; of the latter, Ἕκτωρ, ἔρως. Every syllable third from the end, having the accent on itself, is acuted: Ὅμηρος, Μενέλαος. Never, when the final syllable is long, does the acute fall on the third from the end; hence, while the nominative of Ὅμηρος and the accusative and vocative are proparoxytone, Ὅμηρος Ὅμηρον Ὅμηρε, the genitive and dative, τοῦ Ὁμήρου and τῷ Ὁμήρῳ, because of the long final syllable, are paroxytone—except for the Attic forms, πόλεως, μάντεως. For the Attic forms preserve the accent of the common nominatives in every case: ὁ ναός is acuted; therefore ὁ νεώς, τοῦ νεώ, and the remaining cases are likewise acuted. And further, since Μενέλαος is proparoxytone, Μενέλεως and the remaining cases and the numbers are proparoxytone, even if the lengthening occurs only in the genitive, as in πόλεως and μάντεως. Every syllable long by nature be-