σφεῖς
Ancient Greek
Etymology
| PIE word |
|---|
| *swé |
The consonantism began in the dative σφι (sphi), originally the dative of the reflexive pronoun, from Proto-Indo-European *s(e)bʰi. Later the σφ-cluster spread to the rest of the paradigm, and the pronoun acquired a nonreflexive plural sense. The ending -εῖς was added by analogy with other pronominal forms, such as ἡμεῖς (hēmeîs). The σφ-cluster also spread to the third-person dual pronoun σφωέ (sphōé) and the second-person dual pronoun σφώ (sphṓ).[1]
Pronunciation
- (5th BCE Attic) IPA(key): /spʰêːs/
- (1st CE Egyptian) IPA(key): /spʰis/
- (4th CE Koine) IPA(key): /sɸis/
- (10th CE Byzantine) IPA(key): /sfis/
- (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA(key): /sfis/
Pronoun
σφεῖς • (spheîs)
- (personal pronoun, third person) they
- (reflexive, third person) themselves
Usage notes
Oblique cases (not nominative) used frequently by Homer. In Attic, the plurals of αὐτός (autós) and ἑαυτοῦ (heautoû) are more commonly used as personal pronoun and reflexive. For the singular forms, see οὗ (hoû).
Inflection
Irregular declension of —; σφείων (Epic)
| Case / # | Plural | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | — | ||||||||||||
| Genitive | σφείων / σφέων / σφεων† / σφῶν spheíōn / sphéōn / spheōn† / sphôn | ||||||||||||
| Dative | σφῐ́σῐ / σφῐ́σῐν / σφῐσῐ / σφῐσῐν† / σφῐν† sphísi(n) / sphisi(n)† / sphin† | ||||||||||||
| Accusative | σφέᾰς / σφεᾰς† / σφε† sphéas / spheas† / sphe† | ||||||||||||
| Vocative | — | ||||||||||||
| Notes: |
| ||||||||||||
| Case / # | Plural | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | σφεῖς spheîs | ||||||||||||
| Genitive | σφέων / σφεων† sphéōn / spheōn† | ||||||||||||
| Dative | σφῐ́σῐ / σφῐ́σῐν / σφῐσῐ / σφῐσῐν† / σφῐ / σφῐν sphísi(n) / sphisi(n)† / sphi / sphin | ||||||||||||
| Accusative | σφέᾰς / σφεᾰς† / σφεᾰ† (neuter) sphéas / spheas† / sphea† (neuter) | ||||||||||||
| Vocative | — | ||||||||||||
| Notes: |
| ||||||||||||
Irregular declension of —; σφείων (Doric)
Descendants
- Tsakonian: σι (si)
References
- Rix, Helmut (1976) Historische Grammatik des Griechischen: Laut- und Formenlehre (in German), Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, →ISBN, §193, pages 180–81
Further reading
- “σφεῖς”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- σφεῖς in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
- Frisk, Hjalmar (1970) “σφεῖς”, in Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume II, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, page 829
- Chantraine, Pierre (1974) “σφεῖς”, in Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque (in French), volume III, Paris: Klincksieck, pages 1075–76
- J. B. Hofmann, Ετυμολογικόν Λεξικόν της Αρχαίας Ελληνικής, 1974, p. 414;
- Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 1429
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