κοράλλιον

See also: κοράλιον

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

κοράλιον (korálion), κουράλιον (kourálion), κωράλλιον (kōrállion)

Etymology

Traditionally derived from a univerbation of κόρη (kórē, “girl, maiden”) +‎ ἅλς (háls, “salt; sea”) +‎ -ιον (-ion, diminutive suffix), literally “daughter of the sea”, which would be a calque of a similar Indian expression. However, Lewy suggests a Semitic origin, comparing this word with Hebrew גּוֹרָל (gōrāl, “small pebble”) and Arabic جَرَل (jaral, “small stone”), and Beekes prefers this latter theory, implicitly considering the former as folk etymology.^[1]

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ko.rál.li.on/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /koˈral.li.on/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /koˈral.li.on/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /koˈral.li.on/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /koˈra.li.on/

Noun

κορᾰ́λλῐον • (korắllĭon) n (genitive κορᾰλλῐ́ου); second declension

coral

Inflection

Second declension of τὸ κορᾰ́λλῐον; τοῦ κορᾰλλῐ́ου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ κορᾰ́λλῐον tò korắllĭon	τὼ κορᾰλλῐ́ω tṑ korăllĭ́ō	τᾰ̀ κορᾰ́λλῐᾰ tằ korắllĭă
Genitive	τοῦ κορᾰλλῐ́ου toû korăllĭ́ou	τοῖν κορᾰλλῐ́οιν toîn korăllĭ́oin	τῶν κορᾰλλῐ́ων tôn korăllĭ́ōn
Dative	τῷ κορᾰλλῐ́ῳ tōî korăllĭ́ōi	τοῖν κορᾰλλῐ́οιν toîn korăllĭ́oin	τοῖς κορᾰλλῐ́οις toîs korăllĭ́ois
Accusative	τὸ κορᾰ́λλῐον tò korắllĭon	τὼ κορᾰλλῐ́ω tṑ korăllĭ́ō	τᾰ̀ κορᾰ́λλῐᾰ tằ korắllĭă
Vocative	κορᾰ́λλῐον korắllĭon	κορᾰλλῐ́ω korăllĭ́ō	κορᾰ́λλῐᾰ korắllĭă
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

κοραλλίζω (korallízō)
κοραλλικός (korallikós)
κοραλλιοπλάστης (korallioplástēs)

Descendants

→ Latin: corallium
→ Old Georgian: კორალიონი (ḳoralioni)

References

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “κοράλλιον”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 749-50