Ancient Greek lexicon, word families and derivatives
Record a lexical item with its grammar
A vocabulary entry should include the forms needed to recognise the word in a passage. For nouns, learn gender and genitive; for verbs, important principal parts and governed constructions. For an adjective, identify its actual gender forms instead of assuming every adjective follows a three-ending pattern. Similar-looking words or forms may differ in accent, breathing, stem or function.
Select meaning through context. Λόγος can concern speech, an account, reasoning or another related sense; νόμος commonly concerns a law, custom or convention. Ἀρετή requires interpretation within the relevant ethical, social or literary setting rather than a single modern moral slogan. A dictionary list presents possibilities, not permission to insert all of them into a translation.
Compounds and lexical families
Recognise common elements such as λογ- in words concerning speech or study, γραφ- in words concerning writing and κρατ- in words concerning power. Segment an actual word into meaningful components before proposing an etymology. A similar sound alone does not establish historical relationship. Conversely, a modern technical word can combine inherited classical elements in a newly created formation that no ancient author used in that sense.
Distinguish a Greek source form from its transliteration and a modern derivative. Different languages adapt classical sounds and spelling differently, and transmission may involve Latin, learned borrowing or later scientific coinage. Do not apply a Spanish sound-change mnemonic as though it were a universal rule for German, English, Greek or every Romance language. A real derivative must be attested; an invented intermediate form does not become historical evidence because it looks regular.
Meaning changes through use
Σχολή can refer to leisure or time available for study, while later related forms concern schooling. Ἱστορία concerns inquiry or investigation in important ancient uses; its modern associations with accounts of the past require a history of use, not a claim that every old occurrence means exactly modern history. Discuss the particular passage and period.
Common political terms also change meaning. An etymology connecting democracy with people and power does not prove that ancient and modern political participation are institutionally identical. Separate lexical analysis, historical institutions and present-day evaluation. When a question asks for a lemma, derivative, contextual meaning or grammatical analysis, answer that specific request instead of supplying an impressive but irrelevant word family.