-της

See also: της, τῆς, and -τής

Ancient Greek

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /tɛːs/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /tes/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /tis/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /tis/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /tis/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Hellenic *-tāts, from Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ts. Cognate with Latin -tās, from which English -ity.

Suffix

-της • (-tēs) f (genitive -τητος); third declension

Forms nouns representing a state of being

Declension

Third declension of -της; -τητος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	-της -tēs	-τητε -tēte	-τητες -tētes
Genitive	-τητος -tētos	-τητοιν -tētoin	-τητων -tētōn
Dative	-τητῐ -tēti	-τητοιν -tētoin	-τησῐ́(ν) -tēsí(n)
Accusative	-τητᾰ -tēta	-τητε -tēte	-τητᾰς -tētas
Vocative	-της -tēs	-τητε -tēte	-τητες -tētes
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 *-ts.

Synonyms

-ίᾰ (-ía), -ίᾱ (-íā), -σύνη (-súnē), -άς (-ás), -ος (-os) (neuter)

References

Smyth, Herbert Weir (1920), “Part III: Formation of Words”, in A Greek grammar for colleges, Cambridge: American Book Company, § 840

Etymology 2

From Proto-Hellenic *-tās (whence also Mycenaean Greek 𐀑𐀴𐀲 (ki-ti-ta /ktitā(s)/, κτίτης)), probably a masculine formation from Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂, feminine of *-tos. Originally used in adjectival compounds, the suffix's narrowing to agentivity may be by analogy to -τήρ (-tḗr) and -τωρ (-tōr).^[1]

Alternative forms

-τής (-tḗs) – agent noun

Suffix

-της • (-tēs) m (genitive -του); first declension

Added to noun stems to form masculine nouns of the person concerned with a thing
Added to verb stems to form masculine agent nouns: -er
Added to place names to form masculine demonyms: -ian

Declension

First declension of -της; -του (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	-της -tēs	-τᾱ -tā	-ται -tai
Genitive	-του -tou	-ταιν -tain	-τῶν -tôn
Dative	-τῃ -tēi	-ταιν -tain	-ταις -tais
Accusative	-την -tēn	-τᾱ -tā	-τᾱς -tās
Vocative	-τᾰ -ta	-τᾱ -tā	-ται -tai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Synonyms

(person concerned): -τίς (-tís) (feminine), -εύς (-eús), -ειᾰ (-eia) (feminine), -ίς (-ís) (feminine), -ττᾰ (-tta) (feminine), -σσᾰ (-ssa) (feminine), -αινᾰ (-aina) (feminine)
(agent noun): -τίς (-tís) (feminine), -τήρ (-tḗr), -τειρᾰ (-teira) (feminine), -τωρ (-tōr), -τρός (-trós), -τρίᾱ (-tríā) (feminine), -τρίς (-trís) (feminine)
(demonym): -τίς (-tís) (feminine), -ίς (-ís) (feminine), -ιος (-ios), -κός (-kós), -ικός (-ikós), -ᾱνός (-ānós) -ηνός (-ēnós), -ῖνος (-înos)

Derived terms

(by reanalysis) -ῑ́της (-ī́tēs)

References

↑ Sihler, Andrew L. (1995) New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, § 267

Smyth, Herbert Weir (1920), “Part III: Formation of Words”, in A Greek grammar for colleges, Cambridge: American Book Company, §§ 839.1, 843.2, 844.2