βληχή

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• βλᾱχᾱ́ (blākhā́) — Doric

Etymology

An onomatopoeic formation with many parallels, like Czech blekati, German blöken, Latvian blêt.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /blɛː.kʰɛ̌ː/ → /βliˈçi/ → /vliˈçi/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /blɛː.kʰɛ̌ː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ble̝ˈkʰe̝/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /βliˈçi/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /vliˈçi/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /vliˈçi/

Noun

βληχή • (blēkhḗ) f (genitive βληχῆς); first declension

1. bleat, bleating
2. (of infants) wailing

Declension

First declension of ἡ βληχή; τῆς βληχῆς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ βληχή hē blēkhḗ	τὼ βληχᾱ́ tṑ blēkhā́	αἱ βληχαί hai blēkhaí
Genitive	τῆς βληχῆς tês blēkhês	τοῖν βληχαῖν toîn blēkhaîn	τῶν βληχῶν tôn blēkhôn
Dative	τῇ βληχῇ têi blēkhêi	τοῖν βληχαῖν toîn blēkhaîn	ταῖς βληχαῖς taîs blēkhaîs
Accusative	τὴν βληχήν tḕn blēkhḗn	τὼ βληχᾱ́ tṑ blēkhā́	τᾱ̀ς βληχᾱ́ς tā̀s blēkhā́s
Vocative	βληχή blēkhḗ	βληχᾱ́ blēkhā́	βληχαί blēkhaí
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• βληχηθμός (blēkhēthmós)
• βλήχημᾰ (blḗkhēma)
• βληχητά (blēkhētá)
• βληχώδης (blēkhṓdēs)
• βληχᾰ́ομαι (blēkháomai)
• βληχᾰ́ς (blēkhás)

 

Further reading

• “βληχή”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• βληχή in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• βληχή in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “βληχή”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 221