ἐγώ

See also: εγώ

Ancient Greek

first person pronoun ^(edit)

case	singular		dual	plural
	str.	encl.	str.	str.
nominative	ἐγώ		νώ, νῶϊ	ἡμεῖς
genitive	ἐμοῦ	μου	νῷν	ἡμῶν
dative	ἐμοί	μοι	νῷν	ἡμῖν
accusative	ἐμέ	με	νώ, νῶϊ	ἡμᾶς
adjective	ἐμός		νωΐτερος	ἡμέτερος

Alternative forms

• ἐγών (egṓn)
• ῐ̓ώ (ĭṓ), ῐ̓ών (ĭṓn) — Boeotian
• ἔγω (égō) — Aeolic

Etymology

Cf. Homeric Greek ἐγών (egṓn). From Proto-Indo-European *eǵóH, *eǵh₂óm. Compare for example Latin ego, Sanskrit अहम् (ahám).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /e.ɡɔ̌ː/ → /eˈɣo/ → /eˈɣo/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /e.ɡɔ̌ː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /eˈɡo/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /eˈɣo/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /eˈɣo/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /eˈɣo/

Pronoun

ἐγώ • (egṓ) (Epic, Attic, Ionic, Thessalian, Koine)

1. first person singular personal pronoun: I, me, my

Usage notes

• ἐγών (egṓn) is used in Epic (mostly before vowels) and Doric (also before consonants).
• The dual and plural are νώ (nṓ) and ἡμεῖς (hēmeîs).

Declension

Irregular declension of ἐγώ / ἔγωγε‡; ἐμοῦ / μου† / ἐμοῦγε‡ (Attic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ἐγώ / ἔγωγε‡ egṓ / égōge‡
Genitive	ἐμοῦ / μου† / ἐμοῦγε‡ emoû / mou† / emoûge‡
Dative	ἐμοί / μοι† / ἔμοιγε‡ emoí / moi† / émoige‡
Accusative	ἐμέ / με† / ἐμέγε‡ emé / me† / emége‡
Vocative	—
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension. †enclitic ‡emphatic

Irregular declension of ἐγώ / ἐγών; ἐμεῖο / ἐμέο / ἐμεῦ / μευ† / ἐμέθεν (Epic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ἐγώ / ἐγών egṓ(n)
Genitive	ἐμεῖο / ἐμέο / ἐμεῦ / μευ† / ἐμέθεν emeîo / eméo / emeû / meu† / eméthen
Dative	ἐμοί / μοι† emoí / moi†
Accusative	ἐμέ / με† emé / me†
Vocative	—
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution. †enclitic ‡emphatic

Irregular declension of ἐγώ; ἐμέο / ἐμεῦ / μευ† (Ionic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ἐγώ egṓ
Genitive	ἐμέο / ἐμεῦ / μευ† eméo / emeû / meu†
Dative	ἐμοί / μοι† emoí / moi†
Accusative	ἐμέ / με† emé / me†
Vocative	—
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution. †enclitic ‡emphatic

Irregular declension of ἐγών / ἐγώνγᾱ‡; ἐμέος / ἐμοῦς / ἐμεῦς / ἐμέθεν (Doric)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ἐγών / ἐγώνγᾱ‡ egṓn / egṓngā‡
Genitive	ἐμέος / ἐμοῦς / ἐμεῦς / ἐμέθεν eméos / emoûs / emeûs / eméthen
Dative	ἐμῐ́ν / μοι† / ἐμῐ́νγᾱ‡ emĭ́n / moi† / emĭ́ngā‡
Accusative	ἐμέ / με† emé / me†
Vocative	—
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution. †enclitic ‡emphatic

Irregular declension of ἔγω; ἔμεθεν / ἐμεῖο / μεθέν (Aeolic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ἔγω égō
Genitive	ἔμεθεν / ἐμεῖο / μεθέν émethen / emeîo / methén
Dative	ἔμοι / μοι† émoi / moi†
Accusative	ἔμε / με† éme / me†
Vocative	—
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution. †enclitic ‡emphatic

Irregular declension of ῐ̓ώ / ῐ̓ών / ῐ̓ώνγᾱ‡ / ῐ̓ώνει‡ / ῐ̓ώγᾱ‡; ἐμοῦς / ἐμῶς / ἐμῐ́ο / ἐμῐ́ω / ἐμῐ́ως (Boeotian)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ῐ̓ώ / ῐ̓ών / ῐ̓ώνγᾱ‡ / ῐ̓ώνει‡ / ῐ̓ώγᾱ‡ ĭṓ / ĭṓn / ĭṓngā‡ / ĭṓnei‡ / ĭṓgā‡
Genitive	ἐμοῦς / ἐμῶς / ἐμῐ́ο / ἐμῐ́ω / ἐμῐ́ως emoûs / emôs / emĭ́o / emĭ́ō / emĭ́ōs
Dative	ἐμοί / μοι† emoí / moi†
Accusative	ἐμέ / με† emé / me†
Vocative	—
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution. †enclitic ‡emphatic

Irregular declension of ἐγώ; ἐμοῦ / μου† (Thessalian)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ἐγώ egṓ
Genitive	ἐμοῦ / μου† emoû / mou†
Dative	ἐμοί / μοι† emoí / moi†
Accusative	ἐμέ / με† emé / me†
Vocative	—
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution. †enclitic ‡emphatic

Derived terms

• ἐμός (emós)
• ἔγωγε (égōge)

Descendants

• Greek: εγώ (egó)
• Tsakonian: εζού (ezoú)
• Italiot Greek:

  Greek: εβώ (evó)

  Latin: evò

• Mariupol Greek: го (ho), эго́ (ehó)
• Pontic Greek: εγώ (egó)
• Yevanic: אֶגֿוֹ (ʾeḡo)
• → Old Sicilian: igù

See also

• σύ (sú)
• οὗ (hoû)

Ancient Greek personal pronouns

	first	second	third
singular	ἐγώ (egṓ)	σῠ́ (sŭ́)	αὐτός (autós), οὗ (hoû), ὅς (hós), ὁ (ho), οὗτος (hoûtos), ὅδε (hóde), ἐκεῖνος (ekeînos)
dual	νώ (nṓ)	σφώ (sphṓ)	αὐτώ (autṓ), σφωέ (sphōé), ὥ (hṓ), τώ (tṓ), τούτω (toútō), τώδε (tṓde), ἐκείνω (ekeínō)
plural	ἡμεῖς (hēmeîs)	ῡ̔μεῖς (hūmeîs)	αὐτοί (autoí), σφεῖς (spheîs), οἵ (hoí), οἱ (hoi), οὗτοι (hoûtoi), οἵδε (hoíde), ἐκεῖνοι (ekeînoi)

References

• “ἐγώ”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἐγώ”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ἐγώ”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891), A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ἐγώ in Bailly, Anatole (1935), Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἐγώ in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
• “ἐγώ”, in Slater, William J. (1969), Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G1473 in Strong, James (1979), Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910), English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • i idem, page 413.
• Smyth, Herbert Weir (1920), “Part II: Inflection”, in A Greek grammar for colleges, Cambridge: American Book Company, § 325
• William W. Goodwin, A Greek Grammar. Revised and enlarged, Boston, 1900, p.82f.