ἐγώ

ἐγώ

See also: εγώ

Ancient Greek

first person pronoun ^(edit)

case	singular		dual	plural
	str.	encl.	str.	str.
nominative	ἐγώ		νώ, νῶϊ	ἡμεῖς
genitive	ἐμοῦ	μου	νῷν	ἡμῶν
dative	ἐμοί	μοι	νῷν	ἡμῖν
accusative	ἐμέ	με	νώ, νῶϊ	ἡμᾶς
adjective	ἐμός			ἡμέτερος

Alternative forms

• ἐγών (egṓn)
• ἰώ (iṓ), ἱών (hiṓn) – Boeotian
• ἔγω (égō) – Aeolic

Etymology

Cf. Homeric Greek ἐγών (egṓn). From Proto-Indo-European *eǵóH, *eǵh₂óm. Compare for example Latin ego, Sanskrit अहम् (ahám).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /e.ɡɔ̌ː/ → /eˈɣo/ → /eˈɣo/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /e.ɡɔ̌ː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /eˈɡo/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /eˈɣo/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /eˈɣo/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /eˈɣo/

Pronoun

ἐγώ • (egṓ) (Epic, Attic, Ionic, Thessalian, Koine)

1. first person singular personal pronoun: I, me, my

Usage notes

ἐγών (egṓn) is used in Epic mostly before vowels, and is used in Doric also before consonants. The dual and plural are νώ (nṓ) and ἡμεῖς (hēmeîs).

Declension

Irregular declension of ἐγώ; ἐμοῦ (Attic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ἐγώ / ἔγωγε‡ egṓ / égōge‡
Genitive	ἐμοῦ / μου† / ἐμοῦγε‡ emoû / mou† / emoûge‡
Dative	ἐμοί / μοι† / ἔμοιγε‡ emoí / moi† / émoige‡
Accusative	ἐμέ / με† / ἐμέγε‡ emé / me† / emége‡
Vocative	—
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension. †enclitic ‡emphatic

Irregular declension of ἐγώ / ἐγών; ἐμεῖο (Epic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ἐγώ / ἐγών egṓ(n)
Genitive	ἐμεῖο / ἐμέο / ἐμεῦ / μευ† / ἐμέθεν emeîo / eméo / emeû / meu† / eméthen
Dative	ἐμοί / μοι† emoí / moi†
Accusative	ἐμέ / με† emé / me†
Vocative	—
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution. †enclitic ‡emphatic

Irregular declension of ἐγώ; ἐμέο (Ionic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ἐγώ egṓ
Genitive	ἐμέο / ἐμεῦ / μευ† eméo / emeû / meu†
Dative	ἐμοί / μοι† emoí / moi†
Accusative	ἐμέ / με emé / me
Vocative	—
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution. †enclitic ‡emphatic

Irregular declension of ἐγών; ἐμέος (Doric)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ἐγών / ἐγώνγᾱ‡ egṓn / egṓngā‡
Genitive	ἐμέος / ἐμοῦς / ἐμεῦς / ἐμέθεν eméos / emoûs / emeûs / eméthen
Dative	ἐμῐ́ν / μοι† / ἐμίνγα‡ emín / moi† / emínga‡
Accusative	ἐμέ / με† emé / me†
Vocative	—
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution. †enclitic ‡emphatic

Irregular declension of ἔγω; ἔμεθεν (Aeolic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ἔγω égō
Genitive	ἔμεθεν / ἐμεῖο / μεθέν émethen / emeîo / methén
Dative	ἔμοι / μοι† émoi / moi†
Accusative	ἔμε / με† éme / me†
Vocative	—
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution. †enclitic ‡emphatic

Irregular declension of ἰώ; ἐμοῦς (Boeotian)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ἰώ / ἰών / ἰώνγα‡ / ἰώνει‡ / ἰώγᾱ‡ iṓ / iṓn / iṓnga‡ / iṓnei‡ / iṓgā‡
Genitive	ἐμοῦς / ἐμῶς / ἐμῐ́ο / ἐμίω / ἐμίως emoûs / emôs / emío / emíō / emíōs
Dative	ἐμοί / μοι† emoí / moi†
Accusative	ἐμέ / με† emé / me†
Vocative	—
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution. †enclitic ‡emphatic

Irregular declension of ἐγώ; ἐμοῦ (Thessalian)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ἐγώ egṓ
Genitive	ἐμοῦ / μου† emoû / mou†
Dative	ἐμοί / μοι† emoí / moi†
Accusative	ἐμέ / με† emé / me†
Vocative	—
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution. †enclitic ‡emphatic

Derived terms

• ἐμός (emós)
• ἔγωγε (égōge)

Descendants

• Greek: εγώ (egó)
• Tsakonian: εζού (ezoú)
• Italiot Greek:

  Greek: εβώ

  Latin: evò

• Mariupol Greek: го (ho), эго́ (ehó)
• Pontic Greek: εγώ (egó)
• Yevanic: אֶגֿוֹ‎ (ʾeḡo)
• → Old Sicilian: igù
  • >? Sicilian: jù

See also

• σύ (sú)
• οὗ (hoû)

References

• “ἐγώ”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἐγώ”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ἐγώ”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ἐγώ in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἐγώ in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2023)
• “ἐγώ”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G1473 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • i idem, page 413.
• Smyth, Herbert Weir (1920), “Part II: Inflection”, in A Greek grammar for colleges, Cambridge: American Book Company, § 325
• William W. Goodwin, A Greek Grammar. Revised and enlarged, Boston, 1900, p.82f.