ἐμύς

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• ἀμύς (amús), ἑμύς (hemús)

Etymology

Unknown. Sommer derives it from ἐμέω (eméō, “to vomit”), because the animal, when breathing out below the surface of water, continuously releases air bubbles. However, Beekes states that -ud- is not an Indo-European suffix, concluding that the word is probably Pre-Greek. The variation ἀ-/ἐ- is also proof of substrate origin.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /e.mýs/ → /eˈmys/ → /eˈmis/

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

Noun

ἐμῠ́ς • (emús) f (genitive ἐμῠ́δος); third declension

1. freshwater tortoise (Emys orbicularis)
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, History of Animals 5.33
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, History of Animals 8.2

Usage notes

This word is primarily feminine but sometimes masculine, as in:

• 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, History of Animals 8.17

Inflection

Third declension of ὁ, ἡ ἐμῠ́ς; τοῦ, τῆς ἐμῠ́δος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ, ἡ ἐμῠ́ς ho, hē emús	τὼ ἐμῠ́δε tṑ emúde	οἱ, αἱ ἐμῠ́δες hoi, hai emúdes
Genitive	τοῦ, τῆς ἐμῠ́δος toû, tês emúdos	τοῖν ἐμῠ́δοιν toîn emúdoin	τῶν ἐμῠ́δων tôn emúdōn
Dative	τῷ, τῇ ἐμῠ́δῐ tôi, têi emúdi	τοῖν ἐμῠ́δοιν toîn emúdoin	τοῖς, ταῖς ἐμῠ́σῐ / ἐμῠ́σῐν toîs, taîs emúsi(n)
Accusative	τὸν, τὴν ἐμῠ́δᾰ tòn, tḕn emúda	τὼ ἐμῠ́δε tṑ emúde	τοὺς, τᾱ̀ς ἐμῠ́δᾰς toùs, tā̀s emúdas
Vocative	ἐμῠ́ς emús	ἐμῠ́δε emúde	ἐμῠ́δες emúdes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension. Nominative singular -ς (-s) arose by reduction of the original cluster *-ds.

Descendants

• → Latin: emys
  • → English: emys
  • → Translingual: Emys

Further reading

• “ἐμύς”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• ἐμύς in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἐμύς in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ἐμύς”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 419