ἀλκυών

Ancient Greek

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Kingfisher

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Alternative forms

• ἁλκυών (halkuṓn)
• αὐκυών (aukuṓn) — Cretan

Etymology

Unknown, apparently from Pre-Greek. Already in Ancient Greek, this non-Indoeuropean origin produced a folk etymology and the corresponding alternative spelling ἁλκυών (halkuṓn) based on the imagined derivation from ἅλς (háls, “salt”) + κυέω (kuéō, “I conceive”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /al.ky.ɔ̌ːn/ → /al.cyˈon/ → /al.ciˈon/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /al.ky.ɔ̌ːn/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /al.kyˈon/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /al.cyˈon/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /al.cyˈon/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /al.ciˈon/

Noun

ἀλκυών • (alkuṓn) f (genitive ἀλκυόνος); third declension

1. kingfisher, halcyon
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 9.562–564:

     οὕνεκ᾽ ἄρ᾽ αὐτῆς / μήτηρ ἀλκυόνος πολυπενθέος οἶτον ἔχουσα / κλαῖεν

     because her / mother, having the fate of the much-suffering kingfisher, / wept.

   • 5th c. C.E., Hesychius of Alexandria, Γλώσσαι, Α:

     ἀλκυών· εἶδος ὀρνέου

     alkuṓn; eîdos ornéou

     alkuṓn: a species of bird

2. a divinity among the Laconians
   • 5th c. C.E., Hesychius of Alexandria, Γλώσσαι, Α:

     ἀλκυών· (...) καὶ δαίμων τις <παρὰ Λάκωσι>

     alkuṓn; (...) kaì daímōn tis <παρὰ Λάκωσι>

     alkuṓn: (...) also, a divinity <among the Laconians>

Inflection

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ ἀλκῠών hē alkuṓn	τὼ ἀλκῠόνε tṑ alkuóne	αἱ ἀλκῠόνες hai alkuónes
Genitive	τῆς ἀλκῠόνος tês alkuónos	τοῖν ἀλκῠόνοιν toîn alkuónoin	τῶν ἀλκῠόνων tôn alkuónōn
Dative	τῇ ἀλκῠόνῐ têi alkuóni	τοῖν ἀλκῠόνοιν toîn alkuónoin	ταῖς ἀλκῠόσῐ / ἀλκῠόσῐν taîs alkuósi(n)
Accusative	τὴν ἀλκῠόνᾰ tḕn alkuóna	τὼ ἀλκῠόνε tṑ alkuóne	τᾱ̀ς ἀλκῠόνᾰς tā̀s alkuónas
Vocative	ἀλκῠών alkuṓn	ἀλκῠόνε alkuóne	ἀλκῠόνες alkuónes
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Third declension of ἡ ἀλκῠών; τῆς ἀλκῠόνος (Attic)

Descendants

• → Classical Syriac: ܐܠܩܐܘܢ (/⁠ʾlqʾwn⁠/)
• → Latin: alcēdō, halcyōn (see there for further descendants)
• → Old Armenian: աղկիոն (ałkion), աղկիովն (ałkiovn)
• → Old Georgian: ალკჳონი (alḳwioni)
  • Georgian: ალკუნი (alḳuni)
• → Old East Slavic: алкионъ (alkionŭ)

Further reading

• “ἀλκυών”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἀλκυών”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ἀλκυών”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ἀλκυών in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἀλκυών in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• ἀλκυών in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• “ἀλκυών”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • king-fisher idem, page 470.