Discussion of grammatical gender and accentuation patterns of various monosyllabic ancient Greek nouns (e.g., χήν, φρήν, χθών, Θών) with Homeric citations and place-name examples.
Ζανός τε κούρη Ζανί τ´ ἐλευθερίῳ». Ζήν ὁ Ζεύς καὶ Δήν, μήν, σπλήν, σφήν, ψήν ἀρσενικά, τὸ δὲ χήν κοινὸν τῷ γένει· θηλυκὸν γὰρ αὐτὸ οἶδεν ὁ ποιητής «ὡς ὅδε χῆν´ ἥρπαξ´ ἀτιταλλομένην ἐνὶ οἴκῳ» (Od. ο 174) καὶ «αἰετὸς ἀργὴν χῆνα φέρων» (ο 161), ἀρσενικὸν δὲ οὕτως «χῆνές μοι κατὰ οἶκον ἐείκοσι πυρὸν ἔδουσιν—ἐξ ὕδατος» (Od. τ 536), εἶτα ἐπιφέρει ἐλθὼν δ´ ἐξ ὄρεος μέγας αἰετὸς ἀγκυλοχείλης πᾶσι κατ´ αὐχένας ἦξε καὶ ἔκτανεν, οἱ δὲ κέχυντο. λέγεται δὲ καὶ Χήν πόλις Λακωνικῆς θηλυκῶς. καὶ τὸ μὲν χήν ἐν κοινότητι. Ὧι ὅμοιον δύναιτο ἂν εἶναι καὶ τὸ ῥήν τὸ θρέμμα, εἴ τις βούλοιτο. ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς αἰτιατικῆς Νίκανδρος (Ther. 453) «αὐτὰρ ὁ τοῦ καὶ ῥῆνα καὶ ἠνεμόεντα λαγωόν». τὸ δὲ φρήν μόνως θηλυκὸν πεπλάνηται περὶ τὸ γένος, διὸ καὶ ἐξηλλάγη αὐτοῦ ἡ κλίσις ὡς πρὸς τὰ ἄλλα μονοσύλλαβα, φρενός γάρ, τῶν ἄλλων φυλασσόντων τὸ 'η'. οὐκ ἀντιθήσει τις ἡμῖν τὸ παρὰ τῷ Ἑρμησιάνακτι ἐν Λεοντίου αʹ «δερκόμενος πρὸς κῦμα, μόνη δὲ οἱ ἐφλέγετο γλήν. οὐ γὰρ ἐντελές, ἀποκεκομμένον δὲ ἐκ τοῦ γλήνη. Ῥών πόλις τῆς Γανδαρικῆς Σκυθίας, κλών, πρών, Χών ὄνομα ποταμοῦ, ἐξ οὗ καὶ ἡ ἤπειρος Χωνία, παρὰ Ἡροδότῳ ( 9, 93) καὶ Χών τὸ ἐθνικόν, οὗ μέμνηται Στράβων ἐν ἕκτῃ »καὶ Χώνη πόλις ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς, ἀφ´ ἧς οἱ ταύτῃ Χῶνες ἐκλήθησαν«. χθών μόνον θηλυκὸν ἐκ τῶν εἰς 'ων' μονοσυλλάβων καὶ διαλλάξαν κατὰ τὴν κλίσιν. γίνεται δὲ παρὰ τὸ χῶ ῥῆμα χών καὶ χθών. Θών, ἀφ´ οὗ καὶ ἡ γενικὴ Θῶνος. τὸ δὲ Θῶν Θῶντος ἐκ πάντων τῶν μονοσυλλάβων μόνον περισπᾶται μιμησάμενον κατὰ τὴν κλίσιν τὴν σμῶντος, κλῶντος, δρῶντος μετοχήν. Τὰ εἰς 'ιν' μονοσύλλαβα δικατάληκτα ὀξύνεται, ἴν ἴς, ῥίν ῥίς, θίν θίς. * Εἰς 'υν' μονοσύλλαβον οὐκ ἔστιν εὑρεῖν· πάντα γὰρ ὑπὲρ μίαν συλλαβήν ἐστιν· διὸ τὴν κυνός γενικὴν ἀπὸ τῆς κύονος συνεκκεκόφθαι φαμέν, ὡς καὶ ἡ κλητικὴ μαρτυρεῖ ὦ κύον. Τὰ εἰς 'αξ' μονοσύλλαβα ὀξύνεται, σπάξ· οὕτως ὁ κύων παρὰ Πέρσαις, πλάξ, γλάξ βοτάνη γαλακτοποιός, ῥάξ· ἔστι δὲ καὶ Ῥάξ νῆσος
“Ζανός τε κούρη Ζανί τ´ ἐλευθερίῳ.” Ζήν, ὁ Ζεύς, and Δήν, μήν, σπλήν, σφήν, ψήν are masculine; but χήν is common in gender. For the poet knows it as feminine: “as when this χῆν he snatched, being reared in the house” (Od. ο 174), and “an eagle bearing a gleaming χῆνα” (ο 161); but as masculine thus: “χῆνές in my house, twenty, eat wheat—out of the water” (Od. τ 536); then he adds: “and coming from the mountain a great eagle with hooked beak struck them all on the necks and killed them, and they were poured out.” And Χήν too is said to be a city of Laconia, feminine. And χήν is in common gender. Like it one might also take ῥήν, “the young animal,” if one wished. In the accusative Nicander (Ther. 453): “but he [took] both ῥῆνα and the wind-swept hare.” But φρήν alone has gone astray as to gender, being only feminine; therefore its declension too has been altered in comparison with the other monosyllables—for it is φρενός, whereas the others preserve the ‘η’. Nor will anyone set against us the line in Hermesianax, in Leontion book 1: “gazing toward the wave, and only his γλήν was burning.” For it is not complete, but cut off from γλήνη. Ῥών is a city of Gandaric Scythia; κλών, πρών; Χών, the name of a river, from which also the mainland Χωνία, in Herodotus (9, 93), and Χών as the ethnic, which Strabo mentions in the sixth book: “and Χώνη, a city above it, from which those there were called Χῶνες.” χθών alone is feminine among the monosyllables in -ων, and it too has differed in declension. And from the verb χῶ come χών and χθών. Θών, from which also the genitive Θῶνος. But Θῶν, Θῶντος, alone of all monosyllables is circumflexed, having imitated in its declension the participles σμῶντος, κλῶντος, δρῶντος. The monosyllables in -ιν, with two possible endings, are accented acute: ἴν ἴς, ῥίν ῥίς, θίν θίς. A monosyllable in -υν cannot be found; for all are more than one syllable. Therefore we say that the genitive κυνός has been clipped from κύονος, as the vocative too bears witness: ὦ κύον. The monosyllables in -αξ are accented acute: σπάξ—thus the dog among the Persians; πλάξ; γλάξ, a milk-producing herb; ῥάξ; and there is also Ῥάξ, an island.