ὕλη

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *sew- (“juice, liquid”). Compare to Latvian sula, Old English sylian, Old High German sullen, Modern German sühlen, Old Saxon sulwian, Norwegian søyla, Sanskrit सार (sāra, “substance”), Avestan hurā, Modern Persian گيلان (gilān). Note however Latin silva.

Pronunciation

• (5th BC Attic): IPA: /hy͜ýlɛ͜ɛ/

• (1st BC Egyptian): IPA: /hýːleː/

• (4th AD Koine): IPA: /ýli/

• (10th AD Byzantine): IPA: /ýli/

• (15th AD Constantinopolitan): IPA: /íli/

Noun

ὕλη (genitive ὕλης) f, first declension; (hūlē)

1. wood, trees, forest
2. timber, firewood
3. stuff, material, substance,
4. matter

Inflection

First declension of ὕλη, ὕλης

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ ὕλη	τὼ ὕλᾱ	αἱ ὕλαι
Genitive	τῆς ὕλης	τοῖν ὕλαιν	τῶν ὑλῶν
Dative	τῇ ὕλῃ	τοῖν ὕλαιν	ταῖς ὕλαις
Accusative	τὴν ὕλην	τὼ ὕλᾱ	τὰς ὕλᾱς
Vocative	ὕλη	ὕλᾱ	ὕλαι

Descendants

• Latin: hȳlē
• Old Armenian: հիւղէ (hiwłē)
  • Armenian: հյուլե (hyule)
• Middle English: hyle, yle, ylem
  • English: hyle

References

• LSJ
• BDAG
• Strong’s concordance number: G5208