γῆ

See also: γη, Γη, Γῆ, and Appendix:Variations of "ge"

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

γᾶ (gâ) — Doric
ζᾶς (zâs) — Arcadocypriot

Etymology

From a pre-Indo-European Pre-Greek substrate; the proto-form was likely something similar to *gaya, which contracted to *gā at a very early date. The names Δημήτηρ (Dēmḗtēr) and Ποσειδῶν (Poseidôn) also Mycenaean Greek 𐀁𐀚𐀯𐀅𐀃𐀚 (e-ne-si-da-o-ne, “earthshaking (epithet of Poseidon)”) point to an alternative form *δᾶ (*dâ).^[1]

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ɡɛ̂ː/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ɡe̝/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ʝi/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ʝi/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ʝi/

Noun

γῆ • (gê) f (genitive γῆς); first declension

Declension

First declension of ἡ γῆ; τῆς γῆς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ γῆ hē gê	τὼ γᾶ tṑ gâ	αἱ γαῖ / γέαι hai gaî / géai
Genitive	τῆς γῆς tês gês	τοῖν γαῖν toîn gaîn	τῶν γῶν / γεῶν tôn gôn / geôn
Dative	τῇ γῇ tēî gēî	τοῖν γαῖν toîn gaîn	ταῖς γεαῖς taîs geaîs
Accusative	τὴν γῆν tḕn gên	τὼ γᾶ tṑ gâ	τᾱ̀ς γᾶς / γέᾱς tā̀s gâs / géās
Vocative	γῆ gê	γᾶ gâ	γαῖ / γέαι gaî / géai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

First declension of ᾱ̔ γᾶ; τᾶς γᾶς (Laconian)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ᾱ̔ γᾶ hā gâ	τὼ γᾶ tṑ gâ	ταὶ γαῖ taì gaî
Genitive	τᾶς γᾶς tâs gâs	τοῖν γαῖν toîn gaîn	τᾶν γᾶν tân gân
Dative	τᾷ γᾷ tāî gāî	τοῖν γαῖν toîn gaîn	ταῖς γαῖς taîs gaîs
Accusative	τᾱ̀ν γᾶν tā̀n gân	τὼ γᾶ tṑ gâ	τᾱ̀ς γᾶς tā̀s gâs
Vocative	γᾶ gâ	γᾶ gâ	γαῖ gaî
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Derived terms

Ἀνδρόγεως (Andrógeōs)
γαῖα (gaîa, “earth”)
γεωγραφία (geōgraphía)
γεωμετρία (geōmetría)
γεωργός (geōrgós, “farmer”)
εὔγειος (eúgeios)
εὔγεως (eúgeōs)

Related terms

γαῖα (gaîa, “earth”)

Descendants

Greek: γη (gi)

References

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “γῆ”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 269-70

“γῆ”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“γῆ”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
“γῆ”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
γῆ in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
γῆ in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
γῆ in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
G1093 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- asia idem, page 44.
- assume idem, page 47.
- country idem, page 178.
- domain idem, page 246.
- dominion idem, page 247.
- earth idem, page 259.
- field idem, page 317.
- gaea (earth regarded as a goddess) idem, page 351.
- glebe idem, page 361.
- globe idem, page 362.
- ground idem, page 375.
- land idem, page 475.
- messene idem, page 527.
- mould idem, page 543.
- persia idem, page 607.
- simois (river) idem, page 776.
- soil idem, page 791.
- terra firma idem, page 863.
- territory idem, page 863.
- teucri idem, page 863.
- world idem, page 989.
γῆ, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011

[1] Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “γῆ”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 269-70

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