§104. Greek Nouns of the First Declension

There are Greek nouns of the 1st declension that appear in English without change in form (other than conventional transliteration into the Roman alphabet). Some are proper names derived from Greek mythology: Aphrodite (’Αφροδιτη), Hera (‘Ηρα), Athene or Athena (’Αθηνη, ’Αθηνα), Daphne (Δαφνη, Apollo’s beloved, transformed into a laurel), Penelope (Πηνελοπη or  Πηνελοπεια, wife of Odysseus), Lethe (Ληθη, the river of forgetfulness). A few others are English common nouns: mania (μανια, “madness”), orchestra (ὀρχηστρα, “dancing place”), psyche (ψυχη, “spirit,” “soul”), acme (ἀκμη, “[highest] point”).^[1] More often, however, Greek nouns entered English after Latin adaptation; their derivative forms may also include suffixes from Greek and/or Latin.

Here is a sampling of 1st declensions nouns ending in -η and -α:

Ancient Greek was a language with many dialects—a reflection of the geographical and political fragmentation of early Greek society. In the epic dialect of Homer and Hesiod, the word for “earth” was γαια (gaia), often personified as Γαια (Gaia) or “Mother Earth.” In Attic (Athenian) dialect, however, the word was γη; and this is the form in which it has influenced English vocabulary. The forms γλωσσα and γλωττα also reflect variations in dialect. In its Latin usage, glossa came to mean an “unusual word”; to gloss a text, therefore, was to explain an unusual word, and a glossary (< L glossarium) was a place in which to find unusual words.

The last two words on the list illustrate the pervasive influence of Latin. From Homer and his successors, Roman poets inherited the concept of the Muse as the source of literary inspiration. (Indeed, there were nine separate Muses, the daughters of Mnēmosynē [Μνημοσυνη], whose name meant “Memory.”) By a standard principle of Latinization (diphthong ου > ū, §101), Greek μουσα became Latin mūsa, and the English root mus- can thus be said to have a Greco-Latin pedigree. Similarly, the Romans borrowed the Greek word σφαιρα as Latin sphaera, with the minor adaptation of diphthong αι > ae.

Among 1st declension Greek masculine nouns in -ης”, many are proper names like Σωκρατης, Περικλης, ’Αριστοφανης, Θουκυδιδης (Socrates, Pericles, Aristophanes, Thucydides). Here are several common nouns that received predictable treatment in Latin:

An Argonaut (< ’Αργοναυτης) was a sailor on Jason’s fabulous ship, the Argo. By analogy, we have the modern coinages cosmonaut and astronaut (a “universe-sailor” and a “star-sailor,” respectively). Latin comēta and planēta entered French as comète and planète, whence their English forms comet and planet.