Κτησιφῶν

Ancient Greek

Etymology

The name of the city was borrowed from Manichaean Middle Persian 𐫤𐫏𐫘𐫛𐫇𐫗‎ (tyspwn /Tīsfōn/, /Tēsifōn/). The spelling reflects a folk etymology from the personal name, which is from κτᾰ́ομαι (ktáomai, “to acquire”) +‎ φωνή (phōnḗ, “voice”).

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ktɛː.si.pʰɔ̂ːn/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /kte̝.siˈpʰon/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /kti.siˈɸon/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /kti.siˈfon/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /kti.siˈfon/

Proper noun

Κτησῐφῶν • (Ktēsiphôn) m (genitive Κτησῐφῶντος); third declension

a male given name: Ctesiphon
Ctesiphon, an ancient city

Inflection

Third declension of ὁ Κτησῐφῶν; τοῦ Κτησῐφῶντος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ὁ Κτησῐφῶν ho Ktēsiphôn
Genitive	τοῦ Κτησῐφῶντος toû Ktēsiphôntos
Dative	τῷ Κτησῐφῶντῐ tôi Ktēsiphônti
Accusative	τὸν Κτησῐφῶντᾰ tòn Ktēsiphônta
Vocative	Κτησῐφῶν Ktēsiphôn
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

Greek: Κτησιφών (Ktisifón), Κτησιφώντας (Ktisifóntas)
Latin: Ctēsiphōn
Aramaic:
Classical Syriac: ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢ‎ (Qṭēsfōn)
- Arabic: قُطَيْسَفُون‎ (quṭaysafūn)

References

Κτησιφῶν in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited, page 1,007