φημί

Forms

φημῐ́ (phēmí) ^[1] Present φημί, φῄς, φησί, plural φαμέν, φατέ, φασί; the present indicative is enclitic except the second person singular.^[2][3] Imperfect ἔφην, also used as an aorist; future φήσω; later aorist ἔφησα; infinitive φάναι, participle φάς.^[2][4][5] Homer has middle past forms ἐφάμην, ἔφατο and the infinitive φάσθαι, but not φάναι.^[4] Doric φᾱμί, third person singular φᾱτί, plural φαντί.^[2][3] Aeolic φᾶμι, φαῖσθα, φαῖσι.^[2][3] Mycenaean pa-si, the third person singular.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *pʰā́mi,^[1] inherited from Proto-Indo-European *bʰéh₂ti (“to speak”), an athematic root present of Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to say”).^[1][6][7] The Armenian verb for “say” that introduces direct speech is nearly the same formation.^[6][4][7]

Cognate with Latin fātur (“speaks”) and perhaps Old English bōian (“to boast”).^[6][7] Nouns of the same root are φάτις (phátis), φήμη (phḗmē) (matching Latin fāma) and φωνή (phōnḗ).^[6][4] Beekes and Chantraine think the root may be the same as the root meaning “to shine” of φαίνω (phaínō), “say” coming from “make clear”.^[6][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The third person singular is already on the Mycenaean tablets, as pa-si.^[4] In Homer it means “say, declare”, and also “think, suppose”.^[2] Beekes calls it perfective in sense, against λέγω (légō) “speak, talk”.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

In classical Greek it is the common verb for asserting something, with the accusative and infinitive or, in Attic orators and Plato, with ὅτι or ὡς.^[2] It also meant “say yes, assent”, and its negative οὔ φημι meant “deny” or “refuse”.^[2] The New Testament uses φησίν to introduce direct speech.^[5]

The verb did not survive in everyday Modern Greek; it lives on in the learned phrase αυτός έφα (aftós éfa) “he himself said it”, an authority beyond dispute, from the Pythagoreans' way of citing their master.^[8]

Timeline

• Mycenaean period – The Linear B tablets have the form pa-si.^[4]
• Homer – The Iliad uses the present, the past ἔφην and the middle ἔφατο.^[4][2]
• 6th–5th century BC – Simonides and Aeschylus use the newer aorist ἔφησα.^[4][9]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus and Sophocles use it for saying yes, and οὔ φημι for refusing.^[2][9]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses φησίν to introduce direct speech.^[5]
• Modern Greek – It survives in the learned phrase αυτός έφα (aftós éfa).^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To say, assert, declare; often parenthetic, “he says”, “they say”.^[2][3]
2. To speak of, mention.^[2]
3. To say yes, agree; with a negative, to deny or refuse.^[2]
4. To think, suppose, deem.^[2]

Word family

• ἀντίφημι (antíphēmi)
• ἀπόφημι (apóphēmi)
• κατάφημι (katáphēmi)
• πρόσφημι (prósphēmi)
• σύμφημι (súmphēmi)

Related words

• Εὐφημία (Euphēmíā)
• εὐφημισμός (euphēmismós)
• φάτις (phátis)
• φήμη (phḗmē)
• φῆμις (phêmis)
• φωνή (phōnḗ)
• φάσκω (pháskō)
• ἄφατος (áphatos)
• προφήτης (prophḗtēs)
• Latin fāma
• Latin fābula

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d e f 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
7. ^ a b c Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
8. ^ a b Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
9. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge