σύ

Forms

σῠ́ (sú) ^[1] Doric (and Aeolic according to the grammarians) τύ (tú), Boeotian τού, epic τύνη (tū́nē), Laconian τούνη.^[2][3][4] Accusative σέ (enclitic σε), Doric τέ; dative σοί (enclitic σοι, τοι); genitive Attic σοῦ, Homeric σεῖο, σέο, σεῦ, σέθεν, Doric τέο, τεῦ.^[2][3][4] Dual σφῶϊ, σφώ “you two”; plural ὑμεῖς (hūmeîs).^[3][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *tú, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *túh₂ (“you (singular)”).^[1][2] Cognate with Latin tū, German du, Lithuanian tù, Sanskrit त्वम् (tvam) and Old English þū.^[2][1][6]

The Doric form τύ keeps the old initial /t/; the /s/ of σύ was taken over from the oblique cases, where σέ (sé) comes regularly from *twé, since *tw- became /s/ in Greek.^[2][7][1] The epic τύνη (tū́nē) has an added particle, like ἐγώνη (egṓnē) beside ἐγώ (egṓ).^[2][7] The possessive σός (sós) and Doric τεός (teós) come from *t(e)wos, like tuus.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is the second-person pronoun from the Iliad on, one of the most frequent words in the language.^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

In Greek the nominative was used for emphasis or contrast, and the non-enclitic forms of the other cases to draw attention or after prepositions.^[4][9] Combined with γε it meant “you at least, for your part”, frequent in Homer and Attic.^[3] Herodotus has σύ with an infinitive in the sense of a command.^[3]

In the New Testament the nominative often stresses a contrast between persons, and sometimes renders a Hebrew phrase such as “you are my son”.^[10][9] In medieval Greek it took an initial ε- after ἐγώ (egṓ), giving Modern Greek εσύ (esý), beside the unstressed σύ.^[11][12] Tsakonian continues it as εκιού (ekioú).^[1]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad has σύ and the epic τύνη, with the genitives σεῖο, σέο and σέθεν.^[3][2]
• 5th century BC – Pindar uses the Doric τύ.^[3][13]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses σύ with an infinitive as a command.^[3][13]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses the nominative to stress contrast between persons.^[10]
• Middle Ages – The pronoun takes an initial ε- by analogy with ἐγώ, which gives Modern Greek εσύ (esý).^[11][12]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. You, thou: the pronoun of the second person singular, the nominative being used for emphasis or contrast.^[3][4]
2. With γε or περ: you at least, you for your part.^[3]
3. With an infinitive, as a command to the person addressed.^[3]

Word family

• σός (sós)
• τεός (teós)
• τύνη (tū́nē)

Related words

• ἐγώ (egṓ)
• ὑμεῖς (hūmeîs)
• Latin tū

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli
6. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
7. ^ a b Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
8. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
9. ^ a b Abbott-Smith, G. (1922), A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark
10. ^ a b Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
11. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
12. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
13. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge