κύμβαλον

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From κύμβη (kúmbē, “hollow of a vessel”), with a suffix -αλον which is found also in κρόταλον (krótalon, “rattle”). Yakubovich suggested a derivation from Hittite [script needed] (ḫuḫupal, “kind of musical instrument, perhaps a lute or a drum”); however, the unexplained dereduplication, the -μβ- instead of -β- and the still unclear meaning of the Hittite word exclude this proposal.^[1]

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /kým.ba.lon/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈkym.ba.lon/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈcym.ba.lon/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈcym.ba.lon/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈcim.ba.lon/

Noun

κῠ́μβᾰλον • (kŭ́mbălon) n (genitive κῠμβᾰ́λου); second declension

(chiefly in the plural) cymbal

Inflection

Second declension of τὸ κῠ́μβᾰλον; τοῦ κῠμβᾰ́λου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ κῠ́μβᾰλον tò kŭ́mbălon	τὼ κῠμβᾰ́λω tṑ kŭmbắlō	τᾰ̀ κῠ́μβᾰλᾰ tằ kŭ́mbălă
Genitive	τοῦ κῠμβᾰ́λου toû kŭmbắlou	τοῖν κῠμβᾰ́λοιν toîn kŭmbắloin	τῶν κῠμβᾰ́λων tôn kŭmbắlōn
Dative	τῷ κῠμβᾰ́λῳ tōî kŭmbắlōi	τοῖν κῠμβᾰ́λοιν toîn kŭmbắloin	τοῖς κῠμβᾰ́λοις toîs kŭmbắlois
Accusative	τὸ κῠ́μβᾰλον tò kŭ́mbălon	τὼ κῠμβᾰ́λω tṑ kŭmbắlō	τᾰ̀ κῠ́μβᾰλᾰ tằ kŭ́mbălă
Vocative	κῠ́μβᾰλον kŭ́mbălon	κῠμβᾰ́λω kŭmbắlō	κῠ́μβᾰλᾰ kŭ́mbălă
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

κῠμβᾰλῐ́ζω (kŭmbălĭ́zō)
κῠμβᾰ́λῐον (kŭmbắlĭon)
κῠμβᾰλῐσμός (kŭmbălĭsmós)
κῠμβᾰλῐστής (kŭmbălĭstḗs)
κῠμβᾰλῐ́στρῐᾱ (kŭmbălĭ́strĭā)
κῠμβᾰλῖτῐς (kŭmbălîtĭs)
κῠμβᾰλοκρούστης (kŭmbălokroústēs)

Descendants

Greek: κύμβαλο (kýmvalo)
→ Latin: cymbalum (see there for further descendants)

References

^ Zsolt Simon, [1] (Munich: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München), 396.