αὐδή

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• αὐδά (audá) — Doric
• αὔδα (aúda) — Aeolic

Etymology

Cognate to Sanskrit वदति (vádati, “to say, speak”). Alternately, related to Ancient Greek ἀείδω (aeídō, “to sing”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /au̯.dɛ̌ː/ → /aβˈði/ → /avˈði/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /au̯.dɛ̌ː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /awˈde̝/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /aβˈði/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /avˈði/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /avˈði/

Noun

αὐδή • (audḗ) f (genitive αὐδῆς); first declension

1. human voice; speech
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 1.247–249:

     τοῖσι δὲ Νέστωρ / ἡδυεπὴς ἀνόρουσε λιγὺς Πυλίων ἀγορητής,
     τοῦ καὶ ἀπὸ γλώσσης μέλιτος γλυκίων ῥέεν αὐδή:

     toîsi dè Néstōr / hēduepḕs anórouse ligùs Pulíōn agorētḗs,
     toû kaì apò glṓssēs mélitos glukíōn rhéen audḗ:

     Then among them Nestor, / sweet of speech, arose, the clear-voiced orator of the Pylians,
     even he from whose tongue flowed speech sweeter than honey.

2. sound
   • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 21.410–411:

     δεξιτερῇ ἄρα χειρὶ λαβὼν πειρήσατο νευρῆς:
     ἡ δ’ ὑπὸ καλὸν ἄεισε, χελιδόνι εἰκέλη αὐδήν.

     dexiterêi ára kheirì labṑn peirḗsato neurês:
     hē d’ hupò kalòn áeise, khelidóni eikélē audḗn.

     Then, having taken it in his right hand, he made trial of the bowstring,
     and under his touch it sang sweetly, like the twittering of a swallow.

   • c. 440 BCE, Euripides, Rhesus 986–989:

     Χωρεῖτε, συμμάχους δ’ ὁπλίζεσθαι τάχος
     ἄνωχθε πληροῦν τ’ αὐχένας ξυνωρίδων.
     Πανοὺς δ’ ἔχοντας χρὴ μένειν Τυρσηνικῆς
     σάλπιγγος αὐδήν·

     Khōreîte, summákhous d’ hoplízesthai tákhos
     ánōkhthe plēroûn t’ aukhénas xunōrídōn.
     Panoùs d’ ékhontas khrḕ ménein Tursēnikês
     sálpingos audḗn;

     Go, order our allies to arm themselves at once
     and to fill the necks with yokes;
     torch-carrying you must await the Etrurian
     trumpet's blast.

3. report; account
   • 406 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 239–240:

     ἔργων / ἀκόντων ἀΐοντες αὐδάν

     érgōn / akóntōn aḯontes audán

     of the deeds, / done involuntary, having heard a rumor

4. oracle
   • 413 BCE, Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris 976–968:

     ἐντεῦθεν αὐδὴν τρίποδος ἐκ χρυσοῦ λακὼν
     Φοῖβός μ’ ἔπεμψε δεῦρο, διοπετὲς λαβεῖν
     ἄγαλμ’ Ἀθηνῶν τ’ ἐγκαθιδρῦσαι χθονί.

     enteûthen audḕn trípodos ek khrusoû lakṑn
     Phoîbós m’ épempse deûro, diopetès labeîn
     ágalm’ Athēnôn t’ enkathidrûsai khthoní.

     And then, crying out an oracle from the golden tripod,
     Phoebus sent me here, to get the image
     Zeus hurled down, and set it up in Athena's land.

5. song; ode
   • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Nemean Ode 9.3–5:

     ἀλλ’ ἐπέων γλυκὺν ὕμνον πράσσετε.
     τὸ κρατήσιππον γὰρ ἐς ἃρμ’ ἀναβαίνων / ματέρι καὶ διδύμοις παίδεσσιν αὐδὰν μανύει
     Πυθῶνος αἰπεινᾶς ὁμοκλάροις ἐπόπταις.

     all’ epéōn glukùn húmnon prássete.
     tò kratḗsippon gàr es hàrm’ anabaínōn / matéri kaì didúmois paídessin audàn manúei
     Puthônos aipeinâs homoklárois epóptais.

     Do come, to claim a sweet song:
     for he, stepping into the chariot of his victory, / gives the signal to sing to the mother and her twin children
     who over high Pytho in fellowship keep watch.

Inflection

First declension of ἡ αὐδή; τῆς αὐδῆς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ αὐδή hē audḗ	τὼ αὐδᾱ́ tṑ audā́	αἱ αὐδαί hai audaí
Genitive	τῆς αὐδῆς tês audês	τοῖν αὐδαῖν toîn audaîn	τῶν αὐδῶν tôn audôn
Dative	τῇ αὐδῇ têi audêi	τοῖν αὐδαῖν toîn audaîn	ταῖς αὐδαῖς taîs audaîs
Accusative	τὴν αὐδήν tḕn audḗn	τὼ αὐδᾱ́ tṑ audā́	τᾱ̀ς αὐδᾱ́ς tā̀s audā́s
Vocative	αὐδή audḗ	αὐδᾱ́ audā́	αὐδαί audaí
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• ἄναυδος (ánaudos)
• αὐδήεις (audḗeis)

References

• “αὐδή”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “αὐδή”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• αὐδή in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette