κακκάβη

Ancient Greek

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /kak.ká.bɛː/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /kakˈka.be̝/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /kaˈka.βi/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /kaˈka.vi/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /kaˈka.vi/

Etymology 1

Technical loanword of unknown origin. Given the variations and the variant in Latin cascabus, cited by Furnée, the word is likely to be Pre-Greek.

Alternative forms

κᾰκᾰ́βη (kakábē)
κᾰ́κκᾰβος (kákkabos), κᾰ́κᾰβος (kákabos)

Noun

κᾰκκᾰ́βη • (kakkábē) f (genitive κᾰκκᾰ́βης); first declension

three legged pot

Inflection

First declension of ἡ κᾰκκᾰ́βη; τῆς κᾰκκᾰ́βης (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ κᾰκκᾰ́βη hē kakkábē	τὼ κᾰκκᾰ́βᾱ tṑ kakkábā	αἱ κᾰκκᾰ́βαι hai kakkábai
Genitive	τῆς κᾰκκᾰ́βης tês kakkábēs	τοῖν κᾰκκᾰ́βαιν toîn kakkábain	τῶν κᾰκκᾰβῶν tôn kakkabôn
Dative	τῇ κᾰκκᾰ́βῃ têi kakkábēi	τοῖν κᾰκκᾰ́βαιν toîn kakkábain	ταῖς κᾰκκᾰ́βαις taîs kakkábais
Accusative	τὴν κᾰκκᾰ́βην tḕn kakkábēn	τὼ κᾰκκᾰ́βᾱ tṑ kakkábā	τᾱ̀ς κᾰκκᾰ́βᾱς tā̀s kakkábās
Vocative	κᾰκκᾰ́βη kakkábē	κᾰκκᾰ́βᾱ kakkábā	κᾰκκᾰ́βαι kakkábai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

ἁλικάκκαβον (halikákkabon)

Etymology 2

For the ending, Chantraine compared ὄτοβος (ótobos), κόναβος (kónabos) and θόρυβος (thórubos). Maybe of onomatopoeic origin. On the other hand, Akkadian 𒆕𒅗𒁀𒉡𒄷 (/⁠kakkabānu⁠/, “a bird, potentially the Barbary partridge for its neck pattern”, literally “covered with stars; speckled”) has also been compared. Alternatively, the Akkadian is derived as an Anatolian loan or of onomatopoeic origin with phono-semantic matching to designate such a native name. Günther Neumann suggests a Lydian origin, as there is Hittite 𒆕𒅗𒉺𒄷 (/⁠kakkapa⁠/) and with Ancient Greek κακκαβίς (kakkabís) the earliest form, which is reported to be onomatopoeic in nature, was attested by the poet Alcman suspected to originally been a native of Sardis.

Note also Proto-Georgian-Zan *ḳaḳab-.

Noun

κᾰκκᾰ́βη • (kakkábē) f (genitive κᾰκκᾰ́βης); first declension

partridge

Inflection

First declension of ἡ κᾰκκᾰ́βη; τῆς κᾰκκᾰ́βης (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ κᾰκκᾰ́βη hē kakkábē	τὼ κᾰκκᾰ́βᾱ tṑ kakkábā	αἱ κᾰκκᾰ́βαι hai kakkábai
Genitive	τῆς κᾰκκᾰ́βης tês kakkábēs	τοῖν κᾰκκᾰ́βαιν toîn kakkábain	τῶν κᾰκκᾰβῶν tôn kakkabôn
Dative	τῇ κᾰκκᾰ́βῃ têi kakkábēi	τοῖν κᾰκκᾰ́βαιν toîn kakkábain	ταῖς κᾰκκᾰ́βαις taîs kakkábais
Accusative	τὴν κᾰκκᾰ́βην tḕn kakkábēn	τὼ κᾰκκᾰ́βᾱ tṑ kakkábā	τᾱ̀ς κᾰκκᾰ́βᾱς tā̀s kakkábās
Vocative	κᾰκκᾰ́βη kakkábē	κᾰκκᾰ́βᾱ kakkábā	κᾰκκᾰ́βαι kakkábai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Synonyms

(partridge): πέρδιξ (pérdix)

Descendants

Classical Syriac: ܩܩܒܐ (qaqqəḇāʼ), ܩܩܒܢܐ (qaqqəḇānāʼ)
- Old Armenian: կաքաւ (kakʻaw)
  - Armenian: կաքավ (kakʻav)

References

“κακκάβη”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
κακκάβη in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN