τίς

See also: τις and -τις

Ancient Greek

Pronunciation

 
  • (file)

Etymology 1

From Proto-Indo-European *kʷis. Cognates include Latin quis and Hittite [script needed] (kuiš). Compare its indefinite form τις (tis, anyone, anything).

In Attic, the labiovelar *kʷ- becomes τ- before the front vowel ι and by analogy also before ου, ῳ in the genitive and dative singular, but π- before the rounded back vowel ο in most of the related interrogatives listed below.

Alternative forms

Pronoun

τῐ́ς (tís)

  1. (substantive)
    1. (masculine, feminine) who?
    2. (neuter) what?
  2. (adjective) what? which? what kind?
Usage notes
  • The neuter nominative/accusative τί () is never elided, but a hiatus is allowed in Attic Greek.
  • The stem iota remains short in every declined form.
Inflection
Synonyms
Derived terms
Descendants

Etymology 2

See τις (tis).

Pronoun

τίς (tís)

  1. oxytone form of τις (tis, someone, anyone)
Usage notes

Used before another enclitic:

  • 386 BCE – 367 BCE, Plato, Meno 70b:
    καὶ δὴ καὶ τοῦτο τὸ ἔθος [Γοργίας] ὑ̄μᾶς εἴθικεν, ἀφόβως τε καὶ μεγαλοπρεπῶς ἀποκρί̄νεσθαι ἐά̄ν τίς τι ἔρηται.
    kaì dḕ kaì toûto tò éthos [Gorgías] hūmâs eíthiken, aphóbōs te kaì megaloprepôs apokrí̄nesthai eá̄n tís ti érētai.
    And furthermore, [Gorgias] has also accustomed you to the habit of answering fearlessly and magnificently if someone asks you something.

Further reading

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