Κέρβερος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Disputed. Suggested to be cognate with Sanskrit शबल (śabala), कर्बुर (karbura, “speckled, spotted”),^[1]^[2] from Late Proto-Indo-European *ḱerbero- (“dappled, spotted”) (perhaps compare Spot as a popular dog's name in English),^[3] but—according to Beekes—this equation is phonetically problematic. Instead, Beekes opts for a Pre-Greek origin.^[4]

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /kér.be.ros/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈker.be.ros/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈcer.βe.ros/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈcer.ve.ros/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈcer.ve.ros/

Proper noun

Κέρβερος • (Kérberos) m (genitive Κερβέρου); second declension

Cerberus, the three-headed dog which guards the entrance to Hades

Inflection

Second declension of ὁ Κέρβερος; τοῦ Κερβέρου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ὁ Κέρβερος ho Kérberos
Genitive	τοῦ Κερβέρου toû Kerbérou
Dative	τῷ Κερβέρῳ tōî Kerbérōi
Accusative	τὸν Κέρβερον tòn Kérberon
Vocative	Κέρβερε Kérbere
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

→ Latin: Cerberus
- Catalan: Cèrber
- English: Cerberus
- French: Cerbère
- German: Zerberus
- Italian: Cerbero
- Polish: Cerber
- Portuguese: Cérbero
- Romanian: Cerber
- Serbo-Croatian: Kerber
- Spanish: Cerbero
- → Translingual: Cerberus
→ Translingual: Kerberos

References

^ Mallory, J. P., Adams, D. Q., editors (1997), “*k̂érbero-”, in Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, London, Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, page 265
^ Bruce Lincoln, Death, War, and Sacrifice: Studies in Ideology & Practice (1991, →ISBN, 96)
^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), “k̑erbero-”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 2, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 578
^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “Κέρβερος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 678

“Κέρβερος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“Κέρβερος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
“Κέρβερος”, 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^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited, page 1,005
Κέρβερος in Bailly, Anatole (1935), Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
Κέρβερος, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011

[1] Mallory, J. P., Adams, D. Q., editors (1997), “*k̂érbero-”, in Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, London, Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, page 265

[2] Bruce Lincoln, Death, War, and Sacrifice: Studies in Ideology & Practice (1991, →ISBN, 96)

[IEW-3] Pokorny, Julius (1959), “k̑erbero-”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 2, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 578

[4] Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “Κέρβερος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 678

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