ἀμφί

See also: αμφι-, and αμφί-

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• ἀμφ’ (amph’) — apocopic
• ἀμφίς (amphís)

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *ampʰí, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂m̥bʰi (“round about, around”). Beekes argues that the Indo-European term originated as a case form of *h₂ent- (“face”), which is the source of ἀντί (antí).^[1]

Cognate with Old English ymb-, Middle English umbe, Latin ambi-, Sanskrit अभि (abhí, “towards, over, upon”), Old Persian 𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎹 (abiy, “towards, against, upon”), Old High German umbi, Old Irish imb (“around”) and the first part of Old Armenian ամբ-ողջ (amb-ołǰ, “whole”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /am.pʰí/ → /amˈɸi/ → /amˈfi/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /am.pʰí/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /amˈpʰi/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /amˈɸi/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /amˈfi/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /amˈfi/

Preposition

ἀμφί • (amphí) (governs the genitive, dative, and accusative)

1. [with genitive]
   1. for, for the sake of
   2. about, concerning
   3. around
2. [with dative]
   1. by, near, around, with
   2. about, on account of, for the sake of
   3. regarding, concerning
3. [with accusative]
   1. about, around

References

1. Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ἀμφί”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 94-5

Further reading

• “ἀμφί”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἀμφί”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ἀμφί”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ἀμφί in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἀμφί in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• ἀμφί in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• “ἀμφί”, 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.
  • about idem, page 2.
  • around idem, page 40.
  • concerning idem, page 155.
  • fear idem, page 312.
  • for idem, page 334.
  • near idem, page 553.
  • nearly idem, page 553.
  • of idem, page 569.
  • round idem, page 722.
  • towards idem, page 884.