φερνή

Pronunciation

• IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /pʰer.nɛ̌ː/^[1]
• IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ɸerˈni/^[1]
• IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ferˈni/^[1]

Forms

φερνή (phernḗ) f (genitive φερνῆς); first declension^[1] Aeolic φέρενα, Doric φερνά.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is derived from φέρω (phérō, “to bring, carry”) with the nasal suffix -νή (-nḗ): “what is brought”.^[2][1] The same suffix is found in Old Armenian բեռն (beṙn, “burden”), Lithuanian bernas (“lad, farmhand”), and with o-grade in Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐍂𐌽 (barn, “child”), literally “what is borne”.^[2][1] Aeolic ⟨φέρενα⟩ has the two-syllable stem also seen in φέρετρον (phéretron).^[2]

Φέρω is from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to carry”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Aeschylus and Herodotus use it for a dowry, the property a woman brings to her marriage.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In Euripides it can also be the bride's trousseau, gifts of clothes and the like.^[4] A Doric inscription from Epidaurus of the 5th or 4th century BC uses φερνά for the god's share of a sacrifice.^[2] The Septuagint uses it both for a dowry and for the bride price paid by the groom, as in Genesis.^[5] Hesychius glosses it with its synonym προίξ (proíx), and Ammonius distinguishes it from φέρνιον, a fisherman's basket.^[6][7] Later Greek formed the diminutive φερνάριον and the verb φερνίζω “to give a dowry”.^[2]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it for a dowry.^[4]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus and Euripides use it, Euripides also for a trousseau.^[4]
• 5th–4th century BC – An inscription from Epidaurus uses φερνά for the god's share of a sacrifice.^[2]
• 3rd–1st century BC – The Septuagint uses it for a dowry and a bride price.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A dowry.^[4][1]
2. Gifts for a bride, a trousseau.^[4]
3. (Septuagint) A bride price.^[5]
4. (Doric) The god's share of a sacrifice.^[2]

Related words

• φέρω (phérō)
• προίξ (proíx)
• παράφερνα (parápherna)
• English paraphernalia

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 Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ a b c Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
6. ^ Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)
7. ^ [Ammonius], De adfinium vocabulorum differentia, ed. K. Nickau (Leipzig: Teubner, 1966)