ἅρπη

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Uncertain, but usually connected with ἁρπάζω (harpázō). Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *srp- (“to reap, harvest; sickle”), with cognates including Latin sarpō, Old Church Slavonic срьпъ (srĭpŭ, “sickle”), and Latvian sirpis. However, there are some difficulties with these connections; for one, *sr̥p- is expected to yield Ancient Greek *ῥαπ- (*rhap-), not ἅρπ- (hárp-).^[1] There is possibly a contamination with a Semitic borrowing, Proto-Semitic *x̣arb-.^[2]

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /hár.pɛː/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈ(h)ar.pe̝/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈar.pi/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈar.pi/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈar.pi/

Noun

ἅρπη • (hárpē) f (genitive ἅρπης); first declension (Attic, Epic, Ionic)

a bird of prey, hawk, falcon, tiercel or goshawk (falco gentilis)
a sea-bird (probably shearwater)
a kite
a sickle
a sickle-shaped sword, scimitar
an elephant goad

Inflection

First declension of ἡ ᾰ̔́ρπη; τῆς ᾰ̔́ρπης (Ionic, Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ ᾰ̔́ρπη hē hárpē	τὼ ᾰ̔́ρπᾱ tṑ hárpā	αἱ ᾰ̔́ρπαι hai hárpai
Genitive	τῆς ᾰ̔́ρπης tês hárpēs	τοῖν ᾰ̔́ρπαιν toîn hárpain	τῶν ᾰ̔ρπῶν tôn harpôn
Dative	τῇ ᾰ̔́ρπῃ têi hárpēi	τοῖν ᾰ̔́ρπαιν toîn hárpain	ταῖς ᾰ̔́ρπαις taîs hárpais
Accusative	τὴν ᾰ̔́ρπην tḕn hárpēn	τὼ ᾰ̔́ρπᾱ tṑ hárpā	τᾱ̀ς ᾰ̔́ρπᾱς tā̀s hárpās
Vocative	ᾰ̔́ρπη hárpē	ᾰ̔́ρπᾱ hárpā	ᾰ̔́ρπαι hárpai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

English: harpe
Greek: αρπακτικό n (arpaktikó, “bird of prey, predator”)
- αρπακτικός (arpaktikós, “predatory, rapacious”)
- αρπακτικότητα f (arpaktikótita, “rapacity”)
Latin: harpē
- Catalan: arpa
- Italian: arpa
- Occitan: arpa
- Sicilian: arpa

References

^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ἁρπάζω”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 137–138
^ Brown, John Pairman (1995) Israel and Hellas (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft; 231), volume I, Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, pages 78–82

“ἅρπη”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“ἅρπη”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
“ἅρπη”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
ἅρπη in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
ἅρπη in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
ἅρπη in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)

[1] Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ἁρπάζω”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 137–138

[2] Brown, John Pairman (1995) Israel and Hellas (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft; 231), volume I, Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, pages 78–82

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