σφωέ

Ancient Greek

Etymology
PIE word
*swé

A conflation of the consonantism of σφεῖς (spheîs, “they”) with the vocalism of νώ (nṓ, “we two”), suffixed with the dual ending -ε.[1]

Pronunciation
 

Pronoun

σφωέ • (sphōé)

  1. Epic enclitic third person dual personal pronoun: they two, the two of them, both of them, these two
    • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 1.8:
      τίς τ’ ἄρ σφωε θεῶν ἔριδι ξυνέηκε μάχεσθαι;
      tís t’ ár sphōe theôn éridi xunéēke mákhesthai?
      So which one of the gods brought these two [Achilles and Agamemnon] together to fight in a quarrel?

Inflection
Irregular declension of σφωέ; σφωῐ̈ν (Epic)
Case / # Dual
Nominative σφωέ
sphōé
Genitive σφωῐ̈ν
sphōïn
Dative σφωῐ̈ν
sphōïn
Accusative σφωέ
sphōé
Vocative σφωέ
sphōé
Notes:
  • Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

References
  1. Rix, Helmut (1976) Historische Grammatik des Griechischen: Laut- und Formenlehre (in German), Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, →ISBN, §193, page 180

Further reading
  • “σφωέ”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • σφωέ in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
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