Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς

Ancient Greek

Etymology

μεγᾰ́λη (megálē), feminine of μέγας (mégas, “great”) & Ἑλλᾰ́ς (Hellás, “Greece”), calque of Latin Magna Graecia (literally “Great Greece”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /meˈɣa.li elˈlas/ → /meˈɣa.li eˈlas/

• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /meˈɡa.le̝ (h)elˈlas/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /meˈɣa.li elˈlas/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /meˈɣa.li elˈlas/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /meˈɣa.li eˈlas/

Proper noun

Μεγᾰ́λη Ἑλλᾰ́ς • (Megálē Hellás) f (genitive Μεγᾰ́λης Ἑλλᾰ́δος); third declension (Koine, Byzantine)

1. (history) Magna Graecia; Hellenic parts of southern Italy and Sicily extensively settled by Ancient Greek colonists in such vast numbers that the Ancient Romans came to refer to the region as Great Greece

   2nd century BCE - Polybius, Ἱστορίαι [Historiae], Theodorus Büttner-Wobst after L. Dindorf. Leipzig. Teubner. 1893-. 2.39.1

   ἐν τοῖς κατὰ τὴν Ἰταλίαν τόποις κατὰ τὴν Μεγάλην Ἑλλάδα τότε προσαγορευομένην

   en toîs katà tḕn Italían tópois katà tḕn Megálēn Helláda tóte prosagoreuoménēn

   at the places of Italy, the then called Great Hellas

Declension

Third declension of ἡ Μεγᾰ́λη Ἑλλᾰ́ς; τῆς Μεγᾰ́λης Ἑλλᾰ́δος (Koine, Byzantine, Attic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ἡ Μεγᾰ́λη Ἑλλᾰ́ς hē Megálē Hellás
Genitive	τῆς Μεγᾰ́λης Ἑλλᾰ́δος tês Megálēs Helládos
Dative	τῇ Μεγᾰ́λῃ Ἑλλᾰ́δῐ têi Megálēi Helládi
Accusative	τὴν Μεγᾰ́λην Ἑλλᾰ́δᾰ tḕn Megálēn Helláda
Vocative	Μεγᾰ́λη Ἑλλᾰ́ς Megálē Hellás
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

• Greek: Μεγάλη Ελλάδα (Megáli Elláda)

Further reading

• “Ἑλλάς”, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, 2011