ὄϊς

Forms

ὄῐ̈ς (óïs) m or f (genitive ὄῐ̈ος); third declension^[1] Attic always contracts it: nominative οἶς (oîs), genitive οἰός (oiós), plural οἶες (oîes).^[2][3] Homer already has the contracted οἰός (oiós) and οἰῶν (oiôn) beside ὄϊος (óïos).^[2][4][3] Argive ὄϝις (ówis) (5th century BC) and the accusative plural ὄϝινς (owins) keep the old /w/.^[2][5] Cretan has οἶις (oîis) beside οις (ois).^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *ówis,^[1] inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₃éwis (“sheep”), the old name of the sheep found in nearly all Indo-European languages.^[6][7][5] Wiktionary reconstructs the root with a different laryngeal, *h₂ówis.^[1] The accusative ὄϊν (óïn) matches Sanskrit अवि (ávim) and the genitive ὄϊος (óïos) matches Sanskrit अव्यः (ávyaḥ); the adjective οἴεος (oíeos) corresponds to Sanskrit अव्यय (ávyaya-), probably as a parallel innovation.^[6][7][5]

Cognate with Latin ovis, Lithuanian avìs, Old Irish oí, Old High German ouwi, Old English ēowu (the English word ewe), Gothic 𐌰𐍅𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍂 (awistr, “sheepfold”) and Luwian ḫawi-.^[6][5][7] Lycian χawa- (χawa-) moved to the a-declension, and Beekes takes its χ- as evidence for the initial laryngeal /h₃/, which is also supported by the short first vowel of the Sanskrit word.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses it for a sheep, ram or ewe alike, adding a word when the sex matters (“a ewe”, “a ram”); sheep are offered in sacrifice and counted as wealth.^[2][4][3] The Iliad also speaks of the cry of lambs.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Hesiod and the poets kept it, but in prose it gave way to πρόβατον (próbaton), whose wider sense “cattle” narrowed in Attic prose to “sheep”, while μῆλον (mêlon) meant small livestock in general.^[2][5][7] Attic used only the contracted forms, as in Sophocles, Euripides, Xenophon and Aristotle.^[2][3] Sheep were valued for their fleece, wool, meat and milk, and the Odyssey mentions sheep gut used to string a bow.^[3]

Its rare compounds name herdsmen: οἰονόμος (oionómos) “shepherd” (Delphi, 4th century BC) and οἰοπόλος (oiopólos) “tending sheep”, in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes and Pindar.^[5]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for sheep.^[4][2]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses the accusative plural with a long ī.^[2][8]
• 5th century BC – An Argive inscription has the form ὄϝινς (owins).^[2][5]
• 5th century BC – Sophocles and Euripides use the Attic contracted forms.^[2][3][8]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it in his works on animals.^[2][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sheep, ram or ewe.^[2][3][4]
2. (plural) Flocks of sheep as a sign of wealth.^[3]

Word family

• οἰονόμος (oionómos)
• οἰοπόλος (oiopólos)
• οἴεος (oíeos)

Related words

• Latin ovis
• English ewe

Usage notes

In prose the usual word for “sheep” is πρόβατον (próbaton), and this word is chiefly poetic, Epic and Ionic.^[2][1][5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
5. ^ a b c d e f g h 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
6. ^ a b c d 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 d Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
8. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge