ἀφύη

Ancient Greek

Etymology

A derivation from ᾰ̓- (a-, “un-”) +‎ φύω (phúō, “to grow”) seems folk-etymological, but is defended by Meier-Brügger, suggesting Proto-Indo-European *n̥-bʰúH-o- (“without growth”), which is a recent formation compared with Sanskrit अभ्व (abhva, “monster”). However, DELG keeps open the possibility of a substrate word.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /a.pʰý.ɛː/ → /aˈɸy.i/ → /aˈfi.i/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /a.pʰý.ɛː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /aˈpʰy.e̝/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /aˈɸy.i/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /aˈfy.i/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /aˈfi.i/

Noun

ἀφῠ́η • (aphúē) f (genitive ἀφῠ́ης); first declension

1. small fry of various fish

Inflection

First declension of ἡ ἀφῠ́η; τῆς ἀφῠ́ης (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ ἀφῠ́η hē aphúē	τὼ ἀφῠ́ᾱ tṑ aphúā	αἱ ἀφῠ́αι hai aphúai
Genitive	τῆς ἀφῠ́ης tês aphúēs	τοῖν ἀφῠ́αιν toîn aphúain	τῶν ἀφῠ́ων tôn aphúōn
Dative	τῇ ἀφῠ́ῃ têi aphúēi	τοῖν ἀφῠ́αιν toîn aphúain	ταῖς ἀφῠ́αις taîs aphúais
Accusative	τὴν ἀφῠ́ην tḕn aphúēn	τὼ ἀφῠ́ᾱ tṑ aphúā	τᾱ̀ς ἀφῠ́ᾱς tā̀s aphúās
Vocative	ἀφῠ́η aphúē	ἀφῠ́ᾱ aphúā	ἀφῠ́αι aphúai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• ἀφῠ́δῐον (aphúdion)
• ἀφῠώδης (aphuṓdēs)
• μεμβρᾰφῠ́ᾱ (membraphúā)

 

Descendants

• → Hebrew: עַפְיָן (afyan)
• → Latin: aphyē (see there for further descendants)

Further reading

• “ἀφύη”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἀφύη”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ἀφύη in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἀφύη in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ἀφύη”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 180