χθών

See also: Χθών

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *dʰeǵʰ-

Proto-Indo-European *-ōm

Proto-Indo-European *dʰéǵʰōm

Proto-Hellenic *kʰtʰṓn

Ancient Greek χθών

From Proto-Hellenic *kʰtʰṓn (earlier Proto-Hellenic *tʰkʰṓn), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰéǵʰōm, with regular transference to n-stem (cf. εἷς (heîs), χῐών (khĭṓn)) and metathesizing of the Proto-Indo-European cluster *dʰǵʰ-, since Greek stop clusters must always end in a dental. Cognates include Sanskrit क्ष (kṣa) and Latin humus.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /kʰtʰɔ̌ːn/ → /ˈxθon/ → /ˈxθon/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /kʰtʰɔ̌ːn/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈkʰtʰon/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈxθon/
• (10^th CE Medieval) IPA^(key): /ˈxθon/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈxθon/

Noun

χθών • (khthṓn) f (genitive χθονός); third declension

1. ground, soil, surface of the earth
   • 405 BCE, Euripides, The Bacchae 1.1:

     Ἥκω Δῐὸς παῖς τὴνδε Θηβαίᾱν χθόνᾰ Δῐόνῡσος,

     Hḗkō Dĭòs paîs tḕnde Thēbaíān khthónă Dĭónūsos,

     I, Dionysus, a child of Zeus, have come to this Theban ground,

2. earth, world
3. land, country

Inflection

Third declension of ἡ χθών; τῆς χθονός (Attic)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	ἡ χθώνhē khthṓn	τὼ χθόνεtṑ khthóne	αἱ χθόνεςhai khthónes
genitive	τῆς χθονόςtês khthonós	τοῖν χθονοῖνtoîn khthonoîn	τῶν χθονῶνtôn khthonôn
dative	τῇ χθονῐ́tēî khthonĭ́	τοῖν χθονοῖνtoîn khthonoîn	ταῖς χθοσῐ́ / χθοσῐ́νtaîs khthosĭ́(n)
accusative	τὴν χθόνᾰtḕn khthónă	τὼ χθόνεtṑ khthóne	τᾱ̀ς χθόνᾰςtā̀s khthónăs
vocative	χθώνkhthṓn	χθόνεkhthóne	χθόνεςkhthónes

• This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• αὐτόχθων (autókhthōn)
• ἐνοσίχθων (enosíkhthōn)
• χθόνιος (khthónios)
• χθονοστιβής (khthonostibḗs)
• Χθωνία (Khthōnía)

Related terms

• χαμάδις (khamádis)
• χαμᾶζε (khamâze)
• χαμᾶθεν (khamâthen)
• χαμαί (khamaí)
• χαμαιευνάς (khamaieunás)
• χαμαιεύνης (khamaieúnēs)
• χαμαίζηλος (khamaízēlos)
• χαμαῖθεν (khamaîthen)
• χαμαικοίτης (khamaikoítēs)
• χαμόθεν (khamóthen)
• χθαμαλός (khthamalós)

Further reading

• “χθών”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “χθών”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “χθών”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891), A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• “χθών” in Bailly, Anatole (1935), Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• χθών in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “χθών”, 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.
  • asia idem, page 44.
  • country idem, page 178.
  • domain idem, page 246.
  • earth idem, page 259.
  • gaea (earth regarded as a goddess) idem, page 351.
  • ground idem, page 375.
  • land idem, page 475.
  • soil idem, page 791.
  • sparta idem, page 798.
  • troy idem, page 898.
• χθών, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011