ζέρνα

Ancient Greek

Etymology

According to Lewy, from a Semitic source common to Hebrew זֶרַע (zéra‛, “seed”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /zdér.na/ → /ˈzer.na/ → /ˈzer.na/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /zdér.na/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈzer.na/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈzer.na/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈzer.na/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈzer.na/

Noun

ζέρνᾰ • (zérna) f (genitive ζέρνης); first declension

1. galingale (Cyperus longus)

   Synonym: κύπειρον (kúpeiron)

Inflection

First declension of ἡ ζέρνᾰ; τῆς ζέρνης (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ ζέρνᾰ hē zérna	τὼ ζέρνᾱ tṑ zérnā	αἱ ζέρναι hai zérnai
Genitive	τῆς ζέρνης tês zérnēs	τοῖν ζέρναιν toîn zérnain	τῶν ζερνῶν tôn zernôn
Dative	τῇ ζέρνῃ têi zérnēi	τοῖν ζέρναιν toîn zérnain	ταῖς ζέρναις taîs zérnais
Accusative	τὴν ζέρνᾰν tḕn zérnan	τὼ ζέρνᾱ tṑ zérnā	τᾱ̀ς ζέρνᾱς tā̀s zérnās
Vocative	ζέρνᾰ zérna	ζέρνᾱ zérnā	ζέρναι zérnai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Further reading

• “ζέρνα”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• ζέρνα in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Lewy, Heinrich (1895) Die semitischen Fremdwörter im Griechischen (in German), Berlin: R. Gaertner’s Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 33