σιγή

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• σῑγᾱ́ (sīgā́) — Doric

Etymology

From earlier *σϝίγ- (*swíg-), probably of imitative origin. Has been connected to Proto-West Germanic *swīgā (“silence”) (whence German schweigen (“to keep quiet”)); however, the Germanic term would reflect a Proto-Indo-European *sweygʰ-, which would yield Greek *εἱχ- (*heikh-), making inheritance from basic sound laws impossible. Probably not related to σιωπή (siōpḗ, “silence”), despite the resemblance.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /siː.ɡɛ̌ː/ → /siˈʝi/ → /siˈʝi/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /siː.ɡɛ̌ː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /siˈɡe̝/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /siˈʝi/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /siˈʝi/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /siˈʝi/

Noun

σῑγή • (sīgḗ) f (genitive σῑγῆς); first declension

1. silence
2. undertone, whisper

Inflection

First declension of ἡ σῑγή; τῆς σῑγῆς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ σῑγή hē sīgḗ	τὼ σῑγᾱ́ tṑ sīgā́	αἱ σῑγαί hai sīgaí
Genitive	τῆς σῑγῆς tês sīgês	τοῖν σῑγαῖν toîn sīgaîn	τῶν σῑγῶν tôn sīgôn
Dative	τῇ σῑγῇ têi sīgêi	τοῖν σῑγαῖν toîn sīgaîn	ταῖς σῑγαῖς taîs sīgaîs
Accusative	τὴν σῑγήν tḕn sīgḗn	τὼ σῑγᾱ́ tṑ sīgā́	τᾱ̀ς σῑγᾱ́ς tā̀s sīgā́s
Vocative	σῑγή sīgḗ	σῑγᾱ́ sīgā́	σῑγαί sīgaí
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• σῑγᾰ́ω (sīgáō)
• σῑγῇ (sīgêi, “silently”, adverb)

Related terms

• σῖγος (sîgos)

Further reading

• “σιγή”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• σιγή in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• σιγή in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• G4602 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • hush idem, page 412.
  • peace idem, page 600.
  • quiet idem, page 667.
  • reticence idem, page 706.
  • secrecy idem, page 747.
  • secretiveness idem, page 747.
  • silence idem, page 775.
  • stillness idem, page 817.
  • taciturnity idem, page 851.

Greek

Noun

σιγή • (sigí) f (usually uncountable, plural σιγές)

1. silence, quiet

Declension

Declension of σιγή

	singular	plural
nominative	σιγή •	σιγές •
genitive	σιγής •	σιγών •
accusative	σιγή •	σιγές •
vocative	σιγή •	σιγές •

Related terms

• ασίγαστος (asígastos, “unsilenceable”, adjective)
• ασίγητος (asígitos, “unsilenceable, unsung”, adjective)
• σιγά (sigá, “slowly, quietly”, adverb)
• σιγαστήρας m (sigastíras, “silencer”)
• σιγώ (sigó, “to remain silent”)

Further reading

• “σιγή”, in Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής [Dictionary of Standard Modern Greek], Triantafyllidis Foundation, 1998