Φιλομήλη

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From φίλος (phílos, “love”) + μῆλον (mêlon, “apple; fruit; sheep”), but folk-etymologized since at least the time of Ovid as + μέλος (mélos, “song”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /pʰi.lo.mɛ̌ː.lɛː/ → /ɸi.loˈmi.li/ → /fi.loˈmi.li/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /pʰi.lo.mɛ̌ː.lɛː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /pʰi.loˈme̝.le̝/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ɸi.loˈmi.li/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /fi.loˈmi.li/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /fi.loˈmi.li/

Proper noun

Φῐλομήλη • (Philomḗlē) f (genitive Φῐλομήλης); first declension

1. a female given name: Philomela, particularly the sister of Procne who was raped and mutilated by her brother-in-law Tereus
2. (literary zoology, originally) The swallow.
3. (literary zoology, later) The nightingale.

Inflection

First declension of ἡ Φῐλομήλη; τῆς Φῐλομήλης (Attic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ἡ Φῐλομήλη hē Philomḗlē
Genitive	τῆς Φῐλομήλης tês Philomḗlēs
Dative	τῇ Φῐλομήλῃ têi Philomḗlēi
Accusative	τὴν Φῐλομήλην tḕn Philomḗlēn
Vocative	Φῐλομήλη Philomḗlē
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• English: Philomel, Philomela
• French: Philomèle
• Greek: Φιλομήλη (Filomíli)
• Latin: Philomela

Further reading

• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited, page 1,021