Νεφελοκοκκυγία

Ancient Greek

FWOTD – 4 January 2013

Etymology

From νεφέλη (nephélē, “cloud”) +‎ κόκκῡξ (kókkūx, “cuckoo”) +‎ -ῐ́ᾱ (-íā).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ne.pʰe.lo.kok.kyː.ɡí.aː/ → /ne.ɸe.lo.ko.cyˈʝi.a/ → /ne.fe.lo.ko.ciˈʝi.a/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ne.pʰe.lo.kok.kyː.ɡí.aː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ne.pʰe.lo.kok.kyˈɡi.a/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ne.ɸe.lo.ko.cyˈʝi.a/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ne.fe.lo.ko.cyˈʝi.a/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ne.fe.lo.ko.ciˈʝi.a/

Proper noun

Νεφελοκοκκῡγῐ́ᾱ • (Nephelokokkūgíā) f (genitive Νεφελοκοκκῡγῐ́ᾱς); first declension

1. cloud-cuckoo-land
   • 414 BCE, Aristophanes, The Birds 819:

     Πισθέταιρος: βούλει Νεφελοκοκκυγίαν?
     Ἔποψ: ἰοὺ ἰού: καλόν γ᾽ ἀτεχνῶς σὺ καὶ μέγ᾽ ηὗρες τοὔνομα!
     Ἐυελπίδης: ἆρ᾽ ἐστὶν αὑτηγὶ Νεφελοκοκκυγία, ἵνα καὶ τὰ Θεογένους τὰ πολλὰ χρήματα τά τ᾽ Αἰσχίνου γ᾽ ἅπαντα?

     • Translation by Ian Johnston

       Pisthetairos: Well, then, how do you like this: Cloudcuckooland?
       Chorus leader: Yes! That’s good! You’ve come up with a name that’s really wonderful—it’s great!
       Euelpides: Hang on, is this Cloudcuckooland the very spot where Theogenes keeps lots of money, and Aeschines hides all his assets?

Inflection

First declension of ἡ Νεφελοκοκκῡγῐ́ᾱ; τῆς Νεφελοκοκκῡγῐ́ᾱς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ἡ Νεφελοκοκκῡγῐ́ᾱ hē Nephelokokkūgíā
Genitive	τῆς Νεφελοκοκκῡγῐ́ᾱς tês Nephelokokkūgíās
Dative	τῇ Νεφελοκοκκῡγῐ́ᾳ têi Nephelokokkūgíāi
Accusative	τὴν Νεφελοκοκκῡγῐ́ᾱν tḕn Nephelokokkūgíān
Vocative	Νεφελοκοκκῡγῐ́ᾱ Nephelokokkūgíā
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Related terms

• Νεφελοκοκκῡγῐεύς (Nephelokokkūgieús)

References

• “Νεφελοκοκκυγία”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “Νεφελοκοκκυγία”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers

---

Greek

Proper noun

Νεφελοκοκκυγία • (Nefelokokkygía) f (uncountable)

1. cloud-cuckoo-land, a utopia, imaginary place with unrealistic or silly people.

Declension

  Νεφελοκοκκυγία

case     \     number	singular
nominative	Νεφελοκοκκυγία •
genitive	Νεφελοκοκκυγίας •
accusative	Νεφελοκοκκυγία •
vocative	Νεφελοκοκκυγία •

See also

• Όρνιθες (κωμωδία) on the Greek Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^el