Κέρβερος

Κέρβερος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Unknown. Suggested to be cognate with Sanskrit शबल (śabala), कर्बुर (karbura, “speckled, spotted”)[1], from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerbero- (“dappled, spotted”),[2] but this is phonetically problematic and is rejected by Beekes.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /kér.be.ros/ → /ˈcer.βe.ros/ → /ˈcer.ve.ros/

• (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

1. 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 tôi 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: Cerber
  • French: Cerbère
  • German: Zerberus
  • Italian: Cerbero

References

1. Bruce Lincoln, Death, War, and Sacrifice: Studies in Ideology & Practice (1991, →ISBN, 96)
2. Pokorny, Julius (1959), “k̑erbero-”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 2, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 578

• “Κέρβερος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “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, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited, page 1,005
• Klein
• Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World