-μα

See also: μα, μά, and Appendix:Variations of "ma"

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥, with -ματ- (-mat-) possibly coming from *-mn̥t- (seen in Latin -mentum).

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ma/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ma/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ma/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ma/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ma/

Suffix

-μᾰ • (-ma) n (genitive -μᾰτος); third declension

Added to verbal stems to form neuter nouns denoting the result of an action, a particular instance of an action, or the object of an action
γράφω (gráphō, “write”) → γράμμα (grámma, “that which is written”)
σχίζω (skhízō, “divide”) → σχίσμα (skhísma, “that which is divided”)
ἀθλέω (athléō, “compete”) → ἄθλημα (áthlēma, “a contest”)
ἀθύρω (athúrō, “play”) → ἄθυρμα (áthurma, “a toy”)

Usage notes

Resulting nouns always have recessive accent.

Inflection

Third declension of -μᾰ; -μᾰτος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	-μᾰ -ma	-μᾰτε -mate	-μᾰτᾰ -mata
Genitive	-μᾰτος -matos	-μᾰτοιν -matoin	-μᾰτων -matōn
Dative	-μᾰτῐ -mati	-μᾰτοιν -matoin	-μᾰσῐ / -μᾰσῐν -masi(n)
Accusative	-μᾰ -ma	-μᾰτε -mate	-μᾰτᾰ -mata
Vocative	-μᾰ -ma	-μᾰτε -mate	-μᾰτᾰ -mata
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

► <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs14 CategoryTreeLabelCategory' href='/wiki/Category:Ancient_Greek_words_suffixed_with_-%CE%BC%CE%B1' title='Category:Ancient Greek words suffixed with -μα'>Ancient Greek words suffixed with -μα</a>

References

Smyth, Herbert Weir (1920), “Part III: Formation of Words”, in A Greek grammar for colleges, Cambridge: American Book Company, § 861
Sihler, Andrew L. (1995) New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN

Greek

Etymology

Inherited from the Ancient Greek -μα (-ma).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ma/

Suffix

-μα • (-ma) n

added to a verb form to create gerund and action nouns:
‎καπνίζω (kapnízo, “to smoke”) + ‎-μα (-ma) → ‎κάπνισμα (kápnisma, “smoking”)
‎ζεσταίνω (zestaíno, “to heat up”) + ‎-μα (-ma) → ‎ζέσταμα (zéstama, “warming up”)
‎τελειώνω (teleióno, “to end”) + ‎-μα (-ma) → ‎τελείωμα (teleíoma, “ending”)
‎ανοίγω (anoígo, “to open”) + ‎-μα (-ma) → ‎άνοιγμα (ánoigma, “opening”)

Declension

declension of -μα

	singular	plural
nominative	-μα •	-ματα •
genitive	-ματος •	-μάτων •
accusative	-μα •	-ματα •
vocative	-μα •	-ματα •

Synonyms

-ιμο n (-imo)

Derived terms

Category:Greek words suffixed with -μα