τίς
Ancient Greek
Pronunciation
- (5th BCE Attic) IPA(key): /tís/
- (1st CE Egyptian) IPA(key): /tis/
- (4th CE Koine) IPA(key): /tis/
- (10th CE Byzantine) IPA(key): /tis/
- (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA(key): /tis/
Etymology 1
From Proto-Indo-European *kʷís. Cognates include Latin quis and Hittite [script needed] (kuiš). Compare its indefinite form τις (tis, “anyone, anything”).[1]
In Attic, the labiovelar *kʷ- becomes τ- before the front vowel ι and by analogy also before ου, ῳ in the genitive and dative singular, but π- before the rounded back vowel ο in most of the related interrogatives listed below.
Gen. sg. τοῦ < τέο < *kʷésyo (then basis for dat. sg. τῷ and gen. pl. τέων) and the paradigm change to n-stem must have started with *τίν < *kʷím elaborated with consonant stem ending, -ᾰ.[2]
Alternative forms
Pronoun
τῐ́ς • (tĭ́s) (interrogative)
- (substantive)
- (masculine, feminine) who?
- (neuter) what?
- (adjective) what? which? what kind?
Usage notes
- The neuter nominative/accusative τί (tí) is never elided, but a hiatus is allowed in Attic Greek.
- The stem iota remains short in every declined form.
Declension
| Number | Singular | Dual | Plural | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Case/Gender | Masculine / Feminine | Neuter | Masculine / Feminine | Neuter | Masculine / Feminine | Neuter | ||||||||
| Nominative | τῐ́ς tĭ́s |
τῐ́ tĭ́ |
τῐ́νε tĭ́ne |
τῐ́νε tĭ́ne |
τῐ́νες tĭ́nes |
τῐ́νᾰ tĭ́nă | ||||||||
| Genitive | τῐ́νος / τοῦ tĭ́nos / toû |
τῐ́νος / τοῦ tĭ́nos / toû |
τῐ́νοιν tĭ́noin |
τῐ́νοιν tĭ́noin |
τῐ́νων tĭ́nōn |
τῐ́νων tĭ́nōn | ||||||||
| Dative | τῐ́νῐ / τῷ tĭ́nĭ / tōî |
τῐ́νῐ / τῷ tĭ́nĭ / tōî |
τῐ́νοιν tĭ́noin |
τῐ́νοιν tĭ́noin |
τῐ́σῐ / τῐ́σῐν tĭ́sĭ(n) |
τῐ́σῐ / τῐ́σῐν tĭ́sĭ(n) | ||||||||
| Accusative | τῐ́νᾰ tĭ́nă |
τῐ́ tĭ́ |
τῐ́νε tĭ́ne |
τῐ́νε tĭ́ne |
τῐ́νᾰς tĭ́năs |
τῐ́νᾰ tĭ́nă | ||||||||
| Vocative | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| Derived forms | Adverb | Comparative | Superlative | |||||||||||
| τῐ́ tĭ́ |
— | — | ||||||||||||
| Notes: |
| |||||||||||||
| Number | Singular | Dual | Plural | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Case/Gender | Masculine / Feminine | Neuter | Masculine / Feminine | Neuter | Masculine / Feminine | Neuter | ||||||||
| Nominative | τῐ́ς tĭ́s |
τῐ́ tĭ́ |
τῐ́νε tĭ́ne |
τῐ́νε tĭ́ne |
τῐ́νες tĭ́nes |
τῐ́νᾰ tĭ́nă | ||||||||
| Genitive | τέο / τεῦ / τέου téo / teû / téou |
τέο / τεῦ / τέου téo / teû / téou |
τῐ́νοιν / τῐ́νοιῐν tĭ́noi(ĭ)n |
τῐ́νοιν / τῐ́νοιῐν tĭ́noi(ĭ)n |
τέων / τέ͜ων téōn / té͜ōn |
τέων / τέ͜ων téōn / té͜ōn | ||||||||
| Dative | τέῳ / τῷ / τῐ́νῐ téōi / tōî / tĭ́nĭ |
τέῳ / τῷ / τῐ́νῐ téōi / tōî / tĭ́nĭ |
τῐ́νοιν / τῐ́νοιῐν tĭ́noi(ĭ)n |
τῐ́νοιν / τῐ́νοιῐν tĭ́noi(ĭ)n |
τῐ́σῐ / τῐ́σῐν / τοῖσῐ / τοῖσῐν / τέοισῐ / τέοισῐν tĭ́sĭ(n) / toîsĭ(n) / téoisĭ(n) |
τῐ́σῐ / τῐ́σῐν / τοῖσῐ / τοῖσῐν / τέοισῐ / τέοισῐν tĭ́sĭ(n) / toîsĭ(n) / téoisĭ(n) | ||||||||
| Accusative | τῐ́νᾰ tĭ́nă |
τῐ́ tĭ́ |
τῐ́νε tĭ́ne |
τῐ́νε tĭ́ne |
τῐ́νᾰς tĭ́năs |
τῐ́νᾰ tĭ́nă | ||||||||
| Vocative | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| Derived forms | Adverb | Comparative | Superlative | |||||||||||
| τῐ́ tĭ́ |
— | — | ||||||||||||
| Notes: |
| |||||||||||||
Synonyms
- (interrogative adjective): ποῖος (poîos)
Derived terms
- τῐ́ (tĭ́)
Related terms
- τῐς (tĭs)
Related terms
Ancient Greek correlatives (edit)
Descendants
Etymology 2
See τις (tis).
Pronoun
τίς • (tís)
- oxytone form of τις (tis, “someone, anyone”)
Usage notes
Used before another enclitic:
- 386 BCE – 367 BCE, Plato, Meno 70b:
- καὶ δὴ καὶ τοῦτο τὸ ἔθος [Γοργίας] ῡ̔μᾶς εἴθικεν, ἀφόβως τε καὶ μεγαλοπρεπῶς ἀποκρῑ́νεσθαι ἐᾱ́ν τίς τι ἔρηται.
- kaì dḕ kaì toûto tò éthos [Gorgías] hūmâs eíthiken, aphóbōs te kaì megaloprepôs apokrī́nesthai eā́n tís ti érētai.
- And furthermore, [Gorgias] has also accustomed you to the habit of answering fearlessly and magnificently if someone asks you something.
- καὶ δὴ καὶ τοῦτο τὸ ἔθος [Γοργίας] ῡ̔μᾶς εἴθικεν, ἀφόβως τε καὶ μεγαλοπρεπῶς ἀποκρῑ́νεσθαι ἐᾱ́ν τίς τι ἔρηται.
References
- ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “τίς”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 1487
- ^ Sihler, Andrew L. (1995), New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, § 382
Further reading
- “τις, τι”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “τίς”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
- “τίς”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891), A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
- τίς 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
- τίς in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
- “τίς”, in Slater, William J. (1969), Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
- G5100 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.
- announce idem, page 30.
- inconsistency idem, page 430.
- which idem, page 976.
- who idem, page 977.
Greek
Pronoun
τίς • (tís)
- Older polytonic spelling of τις (tis#Etymology_2) interrogative in old set phrases like
- τίς πταίει; ― tís ptaíei? ― who is at fault?
- τίς εἶ; (military, recognition) ― tís eí? ― who are you?
- τίνι τρόπῳ; ― tíni trópo? ― in what way?