I suppose that what I'm about to say is pretty obvious and probably doesn't
really answer your question, Rod. Nevertheless: I think that since hHKW is
normally a present tense with a perfective force ("to have arrived"), and
since it has a Kappa as a root/stem-consonant, it is here given an
anomalous 3d pl. perfect-tense termination. So how to parse it? At this
point, parsing becomes a silly sort of game we play of pigeonholing in
terms of form rather than in terms of meaning (as when we term HDUNHQHN an
aorist "passive deponent" 1 sg. indic.). How does one parse OIDA: as a
present 1st sg. or as a perfect 1st sg.? Isn't this a morphologist's
nightmare? I can't complain of the fact that the textbook I use to teach
Classical Attic (JACT _Reading Greek_) teaches OIDA as a present tense,
just warning the student to memorize its conjugation. Oh, if only we could
ignore morphology! Greek would be so easy if its verb morphology were not a
great morass--but that's what it is. In sum, I think I'd say that the form
hHKASI is (a) present tense 3d plural, and (b) probably should be termed a
solecism. I also would have to say that the curve ball you threw us a few
months back about IATAI as a perfect passive belongs here (almost as
effective as Kevin Brown's curve ball against the Braves last night!).
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics/Washington University
One Brookings Drive/St. Louis, MO, USA 63130/(314) 935-4018
Home: 7222 Colgate Ave./St. Louis, MO 63130/(314) 726-5649
cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu OR cconrad@yancey.main.nc.us
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/