μάλκη

Ancient Greek

Etymology

A convincing explanation is still lacking. There have been attempts to connect this word with Lithuanian mùlkis (“blockhead”), Proto-Slavic *mьlčati (“to be silent”) and other words of doubtful origin. The connection with Ancient Greek μαλακός (malakós, “soft”) is unconvincing. According to Beekes, maybe from Pre-Greek.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /mál.kɛː/ → /ˈmal.ci/ → /ˈmal.ci/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /mál.kɛː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈmal.ke̝/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈmal.ci/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈmal.ci/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈmal.ci/

Noun

μᾰ́λκη • (málkē) f (genitive μᾰ́λκης); first declension

1. numbness from cold, especially in hands and feet
2. (pathology) chilblain

Inflection

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ μᾰ́λκη hē málkē	τὼ μᾰ́λκᾱ tṑ málkā	αἱ μᾰ́λκαι hai málkai
Genitive	τῆς μᾰ́λκης tês málkēs	τοῖν μᾰ́λκαιν toîn málkain	τῶν μᾰλκῶν tôn malkôn
Dative	τῇ μᾰ́λκῃ têi málkēi	τοῖν μᾰ́λκαιν toîn málkain	ταῖς μᾰ́λκαις taîs málkais
Accusative	τὴν μᾰ́λκην tḕn málkēn	τὼ μᾰ́λκᾱ tṑ málkā	τᾱ̀ς μᾰ́λκᾱς tā̀s málkās
Vocative	μᾰ́λκη málkē	μᾰ́λκᾱ málkā	μᾰ́λκαι málkai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

First declension of ἡ μᾰ́λκη; τῆς μᾰ́λκης (Attic)

Derived terms

• μάλκιον (málkion)
• μαλκίω (malkíō)

 

Further reading

• “μάλκη”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• μάλκη in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN