μῶν

μῶν

See also: -μων

Ancient Greek

Etymology

A contraction of μή (mḗ, “not”) with οὖν (oûn, “then”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /mɔ̂ːn/ → /mon/ → /mon/

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

Particle

μῶν • (môn) (interrogative particle, negative particle)

1. (like μή, in a question expecting a negative answer) but surely not? is it really so?
   • 366 BCE – 348 BCE, Plato, Theaetetus 145d–145e:

     Σωκράτης   σοφίᾳ δέ γ’ οἶμαι σοφοὶ οἱ σοφοί.
     Θεαίτητος   ναί.
     Σωκράτης   τοῦτο δὲ μῶν διαφέρει τι ἐπιστήμης;

     Sōkrátēs   sophíāi dé g’ oîmai sophoì hoi sophoí.
     Theaítētos   naí.
     Sōkrátēs   toûto dè môn diaphérei ti epistḗmēs?

     Socrates: And I suppose the wise are wise by wisdom.
     Theaetetus: Yes.
     Socrates: But is this [i.e., wisdom] really any different from knowledge?

2. (followed by οὐ, in a question expecting a positive answer)

References

• “μῶν”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “μῶν”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• μῶν 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.
  • surely idem, page 842.