Φίννος
Ancient Greek edit
Etymology edit
Probably from Proto-Germanic *finnaz. Compare Old Norse Finnr (“a Sami”), Latin Fenni. The name as used by Tacitus is unclear about whom it actually describes. More at Fenni.
Pronunciation edit
- (5th BCE Attic) IPA(key): /pʰín.nos/
- (1st CE Egyptian) IPA(key): /ˈpʰin.nos/
- (4th CE Koine) IPA(key): /ˈɸin.nos/
- (10th CE Byzantine) IPA(key): /ˈfin.nos/
- (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA(key): /ˈfi.nos/
Noun edit
Φῐ́ννος • (Phínnos) m (genitive Φῐ́ννου); second declension
Usage notes edit
The Latin Fennus (as mentioned by Tacitus) and the Ancient Greek term Φίννος (Phínnos) (as mentioned by Ptolemy) have ambiguous ancient meanings. The Finnish and broader Baltic Finnic peoples as they are known today were not well documented at the time, and it is unlikely that Φίννος (Phínnos) refers to them specifically. Rather, the term more likely referred to the Sami people (who at the time occupied most of what is now Finland), or more vaguely to far northern Europeans in general.
However, Finns as an ethnicity became far better documented (especially in Viking chronicles) during the Middle Ages. Today, the modern Greek term Φίννος (Fínnos) specifically refers to the Finnish people.
Inflection edit
Case / # | Singular | Dual | Plural | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nominative | ὁ Φῐ́ννος ho Phínnos |
τὼ Φῐ́ννω tṑ Phínnō |
οἱ Φῐ́ννοι hoi Phínnoi | ||||||||||
Genitive | τοῦ Φῐ́ννου toû Phínnou |
τοῖν Φῐ́ννοιν toîn Phínnoin |
τῶν Φῐ́ννων tôn Phínnōn | ||||||||||
Dative | τῷ Φῐ́ννῳ tôi Phínnōi |
τοῖν Φῐ́ννοιν toîn Phínnoin |
τοῖς Φῐ́ννοις toîs Phínnois | ||||||||||
Accusative | τὸν Φῐ́ννον tòn Phínnon |
τὼ Φῐ́ννω tṑ Phínnō |
τοὺς Φῐ́ννους toùs Phínnous | ||||||||||
Vocative | Φῐ́ννε Phínne |
Φῐ́ννω Phínnō |
Φῐ́ννοι Phínnoi | ||||||||||
Notes: |
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Descendants edit
- Greek: Φίννος (Fínnos)
References edit
- Tacitus G.45-6
- Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.
- Ptolemy II.11 and III.5
- Ptolemy II.11 and III.5
Further reading edit
- Φίννος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette