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

 

• IPA^(key): /ktɛː.si.pʰɔ̂ːn/ → /kti.siˈɸon/ → /kti.siˈfon/

• (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

1. a male given name: Ctesiphon
2. 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^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited, page 1,007