φήμη

Pronunciation

• IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /pʰɛ̌ː.mɛː/^[1]
• IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈɸi.mi/^[1]
• IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈfi.mi/^[1]

Forms

φήμη (phḗmē) f (genitive φήμης); first declension^[1] Aeolic and Doric φάμα (phámā).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *pʰā́mā,^[1] from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂-meh₂, a noun from *bʰeh₂- (“to speak”); within Greek it is the full-grade noun of φημί (phēmí) “to say”.^[1][4][5] It corresponds exactly to Latin fāma (“talk, rumour, reputation”).^[4]

Frisk notes that this root is identical in sound with *bʰeh₂- “to shine”, the root of φαίνω (phaínō), and that the two can be united in meaning, as in “to declare, make clear”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Odyssey it is a chance saying that carries a meaning the speaker does not intend, an omen: Telemachus rejoices at such a word, and Odysseus prays to Zeus for a φήμη and hears one spoken by a woman in the house.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

Classical Greek extended it to any prophetic or divinely prompted utterance: an oracle, the message of a dream (Herodotus), the voices of seers (Sophocles, Euripides), and Plato and Xenophon list φῆμαι with oracles, dreams and the signs of birds.^[2][3][5] It also meant ordinary speech and naming, sayings and legends, and above all news, report and rumour, often false, and the word of mouth that Hesiod and Aeschines personify.^[3][5] From report came reputation and renown (Herodotus, Euripides, the orators), and Bacchylides personifies Fame.^[3]

In the New Testament it is the news that spread through a region (Matthew 9:26, Luke 4:14).^[7] It continues as Modern Greek φήμη (fími), a learned word for rumour and reputation.^[8] The compound εὐφημισμός (euphēmismós), the use of a word of good omen in place of an ill-omened one, is the source of English euphemism.^[9]

Timeline

• Homer – the Odyssey: a chance remark taken as an omen.^[6][2]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod personifies Rumour.^[3][10]
• 7th–6th century BC – Sappho uses it for a report.^[3][10]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for the message of a dream, and Sophocles for an oracle.^[2][3][10]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato and Xenophon list φῆμαι with oracles and dreams.^[2][5][10]
• 1st century AD – the Gospels: the news spread.^[7]
• Modern Greek – φήμη, rumour and reputation.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A prophetic pronouncement, oracle, the message of a dream, and (personified) a goddess (Plutarch).^[3][2]
2. An auspicious utterance, a chance remark taken as an omen.^[3][6]
3. Utterance, speech, song; a name.^[3]
4. A saying or proverb; a story or legend.^[3][5]
5. News, a message; a report or rumour.^[3][7]
6. Word of mouth, popular talk, and (personified) Rumour.^[3]
7. Reputation, renown.^[3][5]

Word family

• εὔφημος (eúphēmos)
• εὐφημισμός (euphēmismós)
• εὐφημία (euphēmía)
• δυσφημία (dusphēmía)
• βλάσφημος (blásphēmos)
• περίφημος (períphēmos)

Related words

• φημί (phēmí)
• φῆμις (phêmis)
• Latin fāma
• English euphemism

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ a b c d e f Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Βασικό Λεξικό της Αρχαίας Ελληνικής, Portal for the Greek Language, https://www.greek-language.gr
6. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
7. ^ a b c 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
8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge