ἀφελής

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Adjectival formation from ἄφειλον (ápheilon), the aorist active infinitive of ἀφαιρέω (aphairéō, “to take away or deprive”),^[1] a suppletive verb; see αἱρέω (hairéō) for more. Despite an earlier proposal by Persson as having original sense "without a stone; even", which was accepted so wholeheartedly that the LSJ dictionary lists it as the main definition, not from ᾰ̓- (ă-, “a-, un-”) +‎ φελλεύς (phelleús, “stony terrain”).^[1]

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /a.pʰe.lɛ̌ːs/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /a.pʰeˈle̝s/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /a.ɸeˈlis/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /a.feˈlis/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /a.feˈlis/

Adjective

ᾰ̓φελής • (ăphelḗs) m or f (neuter ᾰ̓φελές); third declension

artless, plain, simple
1. (with negative connotations) bold, brazen
(rhetoric) simple, not intricate or involved

Declension

Third declension of ᾰ̓φελής; ᾰ̓φελές (contracted, Attic)

Number	Singular			Dual			Plural
Case/Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	ᾰ̓φελής ăphelḗs		ᾰ̓φελές ăphelés	ᾰ̓φελεῖ ăpheleî		ᾰ̓φελεῖ ăpheleî	ᾰ̓φελεῖς ăpheleîs		ᾰ̓φελῆ ăphelê
Genitive	ᾰ̓φελοῦς ăpheloûs		ᾰ̓φελοῦς ăpheloûs	ᾰ̓φελοῖν ăpheloîn		ᾰ̓φελοῖν ăpheloîn	ᾰ̓φελῶν ăphelôn		ᾰ̓φελῶν ăphelôn
Dative	ᾰ̓φελεῖ ăpheleî		ᾰ̓φελεῖ ăpheleî	ᾰ̓φελοῖν ăpheloîn		ᾰ̓φελοῖν ăpheloîn	ᾰ̓φελέσῐ ᾰ̓φελέσῐν ăphelésĭ(n)		ᾰ̓φελέσῐ ᾰ̓φελέσῐν ăphelésĭ(n)
Accusative	ᾰ̓φελῆ ăphelê		ᾰ̓φελές ăphelés	ᾰ̓φελεῖ ăpheleî		ᾰ̓φελεῖ ăpheleî	ᾰ̓φελεῖς ăpheleîs		ᾰ̓φελῆ ăphelê
Vocative	ᾰ̓φελές ăphelés		ᾰ̓φελές ăphelés	ᾰ̓φελεῖ ăpheleî		ᾰ̓φελεῖ ăpheleî	ᾰ̓φελεῖς ăpheleîs		ᾰ̓φελῆ ăphelê
Derived forms	Adverb			Comparative			Superlative
Derived forms	ᾰ̓φελῶς ăphelôs			ᾰ̓φελέστερος ăphelésteros			ᾰ̓φελέστᾰτος ăpheléstătos
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

ἀ̆φέλεια (ăphéleia)

Descendants

Greek: αφελής (afelís)

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “ἀφελής, -ές”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 176