Place-names (Tarsus, Aegiale, Psyttaleia, Mykale, Patala), mythic etymologies and local traditions, phonetic terms (ἀλαλή, μυγαλῆ), and discussion of ἀμυγδαλή (almond) accentuation and poetic usage with citations.
δὲ τοῦ ὀνόματος Ταρσὸς ἐκλήθη«. Αἰγιάλη μία τῶν τριῶν πόλεων ἐν Ἀμόργῳ τῇ νήσῳ. Ψυττάλη νῆσος περὶ Σαλαμῖνα. λέγεται καὶ Ψυττάλεια. ἔοικε δὲ Ψυττάλεια πρωτότυπον εἶναι ὡς Ἀγάμμεια, Μαντίνεια, Ἐρύθεια, Ζέλεια, ἀφ´ οὗ κατὰ συναλοιφὴν ἐγένετο ὡς Ἀγάμμη, Μαντίνη, Ζέλη, Ἐρύθη. Μυκάλη πόλις Καρίας. Ἡρόδοτος πρώτῃ (c. 148). Δίδυμος δ´ ὄρος τὴν Μυκάλην φησίν. ἐκλήθη δὲ ἐπεὶ αἱ λοιπαὶ Γοργόνες ἐπ´ οἴκτῳ μυκώμεναι τὴν κεφαλὴν Μεδούσης ἀνεκαλοῦντο. οἱ δὲ Μυχάλην αὐτήν φασιν, ἐπεὶ ἐν μέσῳ κεῖται τῆς Καρικῆς ἁλός. Πατάλη πόλις Ἰνδική, ἣ καὶ Πάταλα λέγεται, Πετάλη, Μυρτάλη. Ἀρβουκάλη πόλις μεγίστη τῶν ἐντὸς Ἴβηρος ποταμοῦ, ἣν μόλις εἷλεν Ἀννίβας, ὡς Πολύβιος τρίτῃ. Σφενδάλη δῆμος Ἱπποθοωντίδος φυλῆς. Μεγάλη νῆσος ἐγγὺς Λυκίας καὶ Θεττάλη δρᾶμα Μενάνδρου βαρύνεται παρὰ Ἀττικοῖς εἰς ἰδιότητα τεθέν. σεσημείωται ἄρα τὸ κεφαλή ὀξυνόμενον ἐπὶ τοῦ μερικοῦ εἴτε ἐπὶ τοῦ κυρίου. ἔστι δὲ δῆμος. εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ Βοὸς κεφαλαί τόπος καθ´ ὃν ἐπολέμησε Προυσίας πρὸς Ἄτταλον, ὡς Ἐρατοσθένης ἐν ἑβδόμῃ Γαλατικῶν. τὸ γὰρ ἀλαλή ὁ θόρυβος παρὰ τὸ λαλῶ οὐ φύσει τρισύλλαβον »κλῦθ´ ἀλαλά, πολέμου θυγάτηρ«. τὸ δὲ μυγαλῆ περισπᾶται, ἐπεὶ παρὰ τὸ γαλῆ συντέθειται συναληλιμμένον καὶ περισπώμενον. κέχρηται δὲ τῷ ὀνόματι Κηφισόδωρος ἐν Ὑΐ ὦ καὶ λέων καὶ μυγαλῆ καὶ σκορπίος. τὸ δὲ ἀμυγδαλῆ ἐκ συναιρέσεως. ἐκλήθη δὲ ἀμυγδαλῆ παρὰ τὸ ἐν τῷ μετὰ τὸ χλωρὸν ὡσπερεὶ ἀμυχὰς ἔχειν πολλάς. καὶ οὐδετέρως ἀμύγδαλον λέγεται. Δίφιλος »τρωγάλια, μυρτίδες, πλακοῦς, ἀμύγδαλα«. Περὶ δὲ τῆς προφορᾶς τοῦ τόνου τῆς ἀμυγδαλῆς Πάμφιλος μὲν ἀξιοῖ ἐπὶ τοῦ καρποῦ βαρύνειν ὁμοίως τῷ ἀμυγδάλῳ, τὸ μέντοι δένδρον θέλει περισπᾶν, ἀμυγδαλῆ καὶ ῥοδῆ. καὶ Ἀρχίλοχος »ῥοδῆς τε καλὸν ἄνθος«. Ἀρίσταρχος δὲ καὶ τὸν καρπὸν καὶ τὸ δένδρον ὁμοίως προφέρεται κατ´ ὀξεῖαν τάσιν. Φιλόξενος δ´ ἀμφότερον περισπᾶ. Εὔπολις »ἀπολεῖς με, ναὶ μὰ τὴν ἀμυγδαλῆν«. Ἀριστοφάνης· ἄγε νῦν, τὰς ἀμυγδαλᾶς λαβὼν τασδί, κάταξον τῇ κεφαλῇ σαυτοῦ λίθῳ. Φρύνιχος· ἀμυγδαλῆ, τῆς βηχὸς ἀγαθὸν φάρμακον.
…was called from the name Ταρσός. Αἰγιάλη, one of the three cities on the island of Amorgos. Ψυττάλη, an island off Salamis; it is also called Ψυττάλεια. And Ψυττάλεια seems to be the original form, as Ἀγάμμεια, Μαντίνεια, Ἐρύθεια, Ζέλεια, from which by contraction there arose forms such as Ἀγάμμη, Μαντίνη, Ζέλη, Ἐρύθη. Μυκάλη, a city of Caria; Herodotus in the first book (c. 148). But Didymus says that Μυκάλη is a mountain. And it was so called because the other Gorgons, lowing in lamentation, were calling back the head of Medusa. Others, however, say it is Μυχάλη itself, because it lies in the middle of the Carian sea. Πατάλη, an Indian city, which is also called Πάταλα, Πετάλη, Μυρτάλη. Ἀρβουκάλη, a city, the greatest of those within the river Ἴβηρος, which Hannibal scarcely took, as Polybius says in the third book. Σφενδάλη, a deme of the tribe Ἱπποθοωντίς. Μεγάλη, an island near Lycia; and Θεττάλη, a play of Menander, is given a grave accent among the Attic writers, having been set down as a peculiarity. The form κεφαλή, then, is noted as being accented with an acute, whether in the appellative sense or as a proper name; and it is a deme. There are also Βοὸς κεφαλαί, a place where Prusias fought against Attalus, as Eratosthenes relates in the seventh book of the Galatica. For ἀλαλή, ‘the din’, from λαλῶ, is not by nature trisyllabic: “κλῦθ´ ἀλαλά, πολέμου θυγάτηρ”. But μυγαλῆ has a circumflex, because it is compounded from γαλῆ, with contraction and circumflex accentuation. And Cephisodorus uses the word in Ὑΐ: “O, both lion and μυγαλῆ and scorpion.” But ἀμυγδαλῆ is from contraction. And it was called ἀμυγδαλῆ from the fact that, in the stage after the green, it has, as it were, many scratches. And it is also said in the neuter, ἀμύγδαλον. Diphilus: “τρωγάλια, μυρτίδες, πλακοῦς, ἀμύγδαλα.” As for the pronunciation of the accent of ἀμυγδαλῆ, Pamphilus maintains that, when it means the fruit, it should be given a grave accent like ἀμυγδάλον, but that the tree should have a circumflex, ἀμυγδαλῆ, like ῥοδῆ. And Archilochus: “ῥοδῆς τε καλὸν ἄνθος.” Aristarchus, however, pronounces both the fruit and the tree alike with an acute accent. Philoxenus gives a circumflex to both. Eupolis: “ἀπολεῖς με, ναὶ μὰ τὴν ἀμυγδαλῆν.” Aristophanes: “Come now, take these ἀμυγδαλᾶς and smash your own head with a stone.” Phrynichus: “ἀμυγδαλῆ, a good remedy for cough.”