Discussion of Greek words and place-names ending in -λις, their syllable counts, accentuation patterns (oxytone, paroxytone, barytone), alternations with other forms (αὐλίς, αὖλις, etc.), and examples from Homer, Pausanias, Strabo and various cities and ethnic names.
Θρᾴκης τοῦ Αἵμου πλησίον, καὶ Σκόλις Ἀχαΐας πόλις καὶ Ψίλις ποταμὸς τῆς Βιθυνίας ἐκρέων εἰς τὸν Εὔξεινον πόντον. Τὰ εἰς 'λις' δισύλλαβα ἀπὸ συμφώνου ἀρχόμενα, εἰ παραλήγοιτο φύσει μακρᾷ χωρὶς 'α' μακροῦ, ὀξύνεται, μηλίς ἡ μηλέα καὶ Μηλίς ἡ χώρα, δουλίς, Δαυλίς πόλις Φωκίδος. Ὅμηρος «Δαυλίδα καὶ Πανοπῆα» (Β 520). δαύλον δὲ τὸ δασύ. δασεῖα δὲ ἡ πόλις. Παυσανίας δὲ δεκάτῳ «ἀπὸ νύμφης Δαυλίδος» (c. 4, 7). οἱ δὲ ὕστερον Δαύλειάν φασι προπαροξυτόνως καὶ διὰ διφθόγγου. ἐναντιοῦται τὸ μαῦλις ἡ μάχαιρα καὶ τὸ τῆλις. τὸ δὲ τᾶλις ἡ μελλόγαμος τὸ 'α' μακρὸν ἔχει. Ἔτι βαρύνεται καὶ τὸ Βᾶλις πόλις Λιβύης πρὸς τῇ Κυρήνῃ, ἀπό τινος Βάλεως, οὗ καὶ ἱερὸν ἔχει. καὶ μᾶλις. καὶ Ἦλις πόλις πρὸς τῇ Ὀλυμπίᾳ ἀπὸ Ἠλίου τοῦ Ταντάλου παιδός. ἔστι καὶ ἄλλη Ἀρκαδίας καὶ τρίτη Ἱσπανίας. καὶ ὗλις ἡ ὑλία. καὶ Βοῦλις πόλις Φωκίδος ἀπὸ Βούλωνος οἰκιστοῦ, Πῶλις πόλις Αἰγύπτου. καὶ αὖλις ἡ ἔπαυλις αἰολικῶς, Αὐλίς δὲ ἡ πόλις Βοιωτίας ὀξύνεται «καὶ Αὐλίδα πετρήεσσαν» (Β 496). ἡ δὲ αἰτιατικὴ «Αὖλιν τ´ ἔσφαγον» παρὰ τῷ Εὐφορίωνι (fr. 129 Mein.) ἀπὸ εὐθείας βαρυνομένης γέγονε· ἡ γὰρ εἰς 'ιν' κατάληξις ἀπὸ βαρυτόνων ἐστίν, ἡ δὲ εἰς 'δα' καὶ βαρυτόνων καὶ ὀξυτόνων. Τρύφων τὸ Αὐλίς παράγει παρὰ τὸ ἀλισθῆναι ἀλίς καὶ αὐλίς, ὅτι εἰς αὐτὴν ἠθροίσθησαν οἱ Ἕλληνες· βέλτιον ἀπὸ τῆς Αὐλίδος τῆς Εὐωνύμου τοῦ Κηφισσοῦ. Τὰ εἰς 'λις' ὑπερδισύλλαβα εἰς 'α' βραχὺ προπαραλήγοντα ἢ ὀξύνεται ἢ βαρύνεται. καὶ ὀξύνονται μέν, ὅσα τυγχάνει ἐπιθετικώτερα, ἢ ἔχει τὴν πρώτην συλλαβὴν καταλήγουσαν εἰς 'ν' ἀφώνου ἐπιφερομένου, Ἀτταλίς φυλὴ τῆς Ἀττικῆς, ἣν Ἀττάλῳ ἀνέθηκαν Ἀθηναῖοι, Αἰγιαλίς παρ´ Ἀλκμᾶνι, Αἰθαλίς, Οἰχαλίς, Φαρσαλίς, Δαιδαλίς, Θετταλίς· ἔστι καὶ θετταλίς ὑπόδημά τι ποιόν, ὡς Λύσιππος ἐν Βάκχαις, Ἀρδαλίς, Ἀρδαλίδες αἱ μοῦσαι ἐν Τροιζῆνι. Ἰταλίς, Καβαλίς τὸ θηλυκὸν τοῦ ἐθνικοῦ ὡς Στράβων «ἀπόγονοι δὲ Λυδῶν οἱ Κιβυρᾶται τῶν κατασχόντων τὴν Καβαλίδα». ὁ δὲ πολυίστωρ Ἀλέξανδρος Καβάλισσαν φησὶ τὸ θηλυκόν. Τανταλίς, Πανθαλίς ἡ θεράπαινα Ἑλένης, ἀγκαλίς, τὸ γὰρ 'γ' ἐκ τοῦ 'ν', δενδαλίς. τὰ μέντοι προσηγορικὰ ἢ κύρια προπαροξύνονται, βούβαλις, δάμαλις, βαύκαλις. Νάρμαλις πόλις Πισιδίας, Κάβαλις πόλις πλησίον Κιβύρας πρὸς νότον Μαιάνδρου. Στράβων τρισκαιδεκάτῃ. Κάραλις πόλις Λιβυκή, Σάδαλις Αἰγυπτία πόλις, Σύαλις πόλις Μαστιανῶν. σεσημείωται τὸ τροφαλίς ἐπὶ τυροῦ ὀξυνόμενον, ἧς χρῆσις
Near Thrace’s Haemus; and Σκόλις, a city of Achaea; and Ψίλις, a river of Bithynia flowing into the Euxine Sea. The disyllables in -λις beginning with a consonant, if they have a naturally long penult without long α, are accented with an acute: μηλίς ‘apple-tree’ and Μηλίς ‘the country’, δουλίς, Δαυλίς, a city of Phocis. Homer: «Δαυλίδα καὶ Πανοπῆα» (Β 520). Now δαύλον means ‘thick’; and the city has rough breathing. Pausanias in the tenth book: «ἀπὸ νύμφης Δαυλίδος» (c. 4, 7). But later writers say Δαύλεια with a proparoxytone accent and with a diphthong. Opposed to this are μαῦλις ‘knife’ and τῆλις. But τᾶλις, ‘the bride-to-be’, has long α. Further, Βᾶλις, a city of Libya near Cyrene, is also barytone, from a certain Βάλευς, who also has a sanctuary there; and likewise μᾶλις; and Ἦλις, a city near Olympia, from Ἦλιος, son of Tantalus. There is also another in Arcadia and a third in Spain; and ὗλις ‘woodland’; and Βοῦλις, a city of Phocis, from Βούλων, its founder; Πῶλις, a city of Egypt; and αὖλις ‘farmstead’ in Aeolic, whereas Αὐλίς, the city of Boeotia, is accented with an acute: «καὶ Αὐλίδα πετρήεσσαν» (Β 496). But the accusative «Αὖλιν τ´ ἔσφαγον» in Euphorion (fr. 129 Mein.) has arisen from a nominative that is barytone; for the ending -ιν is from barytones, whereas -δα is from both barytones and oxytone words. Tryphon derives Αὐλίς from ἀλισθῆναι, ἀλίς and αὐλίς, because the Greeks were gathered there; better from the Αὐλίς of Euonymus on the Cephisus. The polysyllables in -λις with short α in the antepenult are either oxytone or barytone. They are oxytone, on the one hand, when they are rather adjectival, or have the first syllable ending in ν with a voiceless consonant following: Ἀτταλίς, a tribe of Attica, which the Athenians dedicated to Attalus; Αἰγιαλίς in Alcman; Αἰθαλίς, Οἰχαλίς, Φαρσαλίς, Δαιδαλίς, Θετταλίς; there is also θετταλίς, a kind of shoe, as Lysippus in Bacchae; Ἀρδαλίς; Ἀρδαλίδες, the Muses at Troezen. Ἰταλίς; Καβαλίς, the feminine of the ethnic, as Strabo: «ἀπόγονοι δὲ Λυδῶν οἱ Κιβυρᾶται τῶν κατασχόντων τὴν Καβαλίδα». But the very learned Alexander says that the feminine is Καβάλισσα. Τανταλίς; Πανθαλίς, Helen’s handmaid; ἀγκαλίς (for γ comes from ν); δενδαλίς. The appellatives or proper names, however, are proparoxytone: βούβαλις, δάμαλις, βαύκαλις. Νάρμαλις, a city of Pisidia; Κάβαλις, a city near Cibyra to the south of the Maeander—Strabo in the thirteenth book; Κάραλις, a Libyan city; Σάδαλις, an Egyptian city; Σύαλις, a city of the Mastiani. Noted is τροφαλίς, accented with an acute, used of cheese, the use of which…