Chapter 4: Other Parts of Speech

This chapter covers the remaining parts of speech: pronouns, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, articles, particles, and interjections.

Note on classification: Traditional grammar recognises eight parts of speech, a system originating with Dionysius Thrax (2nd century BCE). This guide adds articles and particles as separate categories for clarity. See the Introduction for the historical background and the distinction between open and closed word classes.

Pronouns

Definition

A pronoun substitutes for a noun or noun phrase. It refers to an entity without naming it directly.

The soldier fought bravely. He was wounded. — He refers back to the soldier.

Pronoun Categories

Personal Pronouns

Definition: Refers to the speaker (1st person), addressee (2nd person), or others (3rd person).

English Personal Pronouns

Latin Personal Pronouns

First person:

Second person:

Third person: Latin uses demonstrative pronouns (is, ea, id or ille, illa, illud) for third person reference.

Greek Personal Pronouns

First person:

Second person:

Note: The shorter forms (με, μου, μοι, etc.) are enclitic — unstressed and attached to the preceding word.

Demonstrative Pronouns

Definition: Points to a specific referent, distinguishing by proximity to speaker or addressee.

Latin hic, haec, hoc (this)

Latin ille, illa, illud (that)

Note: Ille is the ancestor of the Romance definite articles (el, le, il, lo) and third-person pronouns (él, il, lui).

Relative Pronouns

Definition: Introduces a relative clause and refers back to a noun (the antecedent) in the main clause.

The book which I read was excellent. — which refers to book.

Latin quī, quae, quod (who, which)

Agreement rule: The relative pronoun agrees with its antecedent in gender and number, but takes its case from its function in the relative clause.

Greek ὅς, ἥ, ὅ (who, which)

Interrogative Pronouns

Definition: Used to ask questions.

Latin quis, quid (who? what?)

Note: Quis is the substantive (used alone); quī is the adjective (modifies a noun). - Quis vēnit? — Who came? - Quī vir vēnit? — Which man came?

Reflexive Pronouns

Definition: Refers back to the subject of the clause.

Latin Third-Person Reflexive

Note: Sē is the same for singular and plural: Sē vident = They see themselves.

Indefinite Pronouns

Definition: Refers to non-specific persons or things.

The Impersonal “One”

English has an impersonal pronoun one for general statements about people: - One should always be polite. - One does not simply walk into Mordor.

This is formal/literary in English, but other languages use impersonal pronouns more frequently:

Note: French on is extremely common in everyday speech (often replacing nous for “we”). German man is similarly frequent. English one sounds formal; colloquial English often uses you or they instead: You never know / They say it’s true.

Latin and Greek lack a dedicated impersonal pronoun but express the same idea through: - Passive constructions: Latin Dīcitur… (It is said…) - Indefinite quis/τις: Sī quis hoc dīcat… (If one should say this…)

Adverbs

Definition

An adverb modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. It typically answers questions like how?, when?, where?, or to what extent?

He ran quickly. — modifies the verb ran She is very tall. — modifies the adjective tall He spoke quite softly. — modifies the adverb softly

Adverb Categories

Adverb Formation

Latin Adverb Formation

Comparison of Adverbs

Adverbs have comparative and superlative forms:

Note: The Latin comparative adverb is identical to the neuter singular comparative adjective.

Prepositions

Definition

A preposition is a function word that combines with a noun (or pronoun) to form a prepositional phrase, indicating relationships such as location, direction, time, or manner.

The book is on the table. — location He walked to the city. — direction She arrived before noon. — time

Prepositions and Case

In inflected languages, prepositions govern (require) specific cases:

Latin Prepositions

With Accusative

With Ablative

Note: In and sub take accusative for motion, ablative for location: - in urbem = into the city (motion → accusative) - in urbe = in the city (location → ablative)

Greek Prepositions

Greek prepositions take different cases with different meanings:

Conjunctions

Definition

A conjunction connects words, phrases, or clauses.

Types of Conjunctions

Coordinating Conjunctions

Latin -que: Enclitic “and” attached to the second word: senātus populusque = the senate and people.

Subordinating Conjunctions

Articles

Definition

An article is a word that marks a noun as definite or indefinite.

Modern terminology: Linguists group articles with demonstratives (this, that), possessives (my, your), and quantifiers (some, many) under the broader category of determiners — words that specify or limit nouns. Traditional grammar treated many of these as adjectives. See the Introduction for more on this distinction.

Types

Languages Without Articles

Latin has no articles. Definiteness is determined by context: - Rex vēnit. = The king came. / A king came.

The Greek Article

Greek has a definite article but no indefinite article.

Important functions of the Greek article: 1. Marks attributive position (see Chapter 3: Adjectives) 2. Turns anything into a noun: τὸ καλόν = the beautiful (thing), beauty 3. Marks the subject in sentences with linking verbs: θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος = the word was God (not “God was the word”)

German Articles

Definite article:

Indefinite article (singular only):

Particles

Definition

A particle is a small, uninflected word that adds meaning or emphasis but does not fit neatly into other categories.

Greek is particularly rich in particles. They are crucial for understanding Greek prose.

Greek Particles (Selection)

Postpositive particles: Never stand first in their clause. They come second (or later).

ὁ γὰρ ἀνὴρ ἦλθεν. — For the man came. (γάρ is second, after ὁ)

Latin Particles

Interjections

Definition

An interjection is an exclamation expressing emotion. It stands outside the grammatical structure of the sentence.

Note: In Latin and Greek, Ō with a noun in the vocative is used for addressing someone: Ō Marce! (O Marcus!)

Summary Table: Parts of Speech

Previous: Chapter 3: Adjectives

Next: Chapter 5: Phrases