Greek names ending in -οῦς(α)

Eupolis

Member

There are a number of ancient Greek proper nouns suffixed with -οῦς(α/αι), of which the etyma are often clear
e.g.
Τραπεζοῦς (Trapezus) etym. τράπεζα
Ὑδροῦς (Hydrus) etym. ὕδωρ

Ἰχνοῦσα (Ichnusa) etym. ἴχνος
Ὀφιοῦσα (Ophiusa) etym. ὄφις

Πιθηκοῦσαι (Pithecusae) etym. πίθηκος
Πελαγοῦσαι (Pelagusae) etym. πέλαγος

What kind of inflection/nomenclature is this?
 

Oups

Active Member

3rd declension, theme in -nt
In the nominative singular, ντ before σ is lost, and the previous vowel is lengthened by compensatory lengthening. In the vocative singular, final -τ is lost.

G: Τραπεζοῦ-ντ-ος
N: Τραπεζοῦ-ντ-ς > Τραπεζοῦς
D: Τραπεζοῦ-ντ-ῐ
A: τὸν Τραπεζοῦ-ντ-ᾰ
Vocative: Τραπεζ-οῦ-ντ > Τραπεζ-οῦ-ν
 

Eupolis

Member

3rd declension, theme in -nt
In the nominative singular, ντ before σ is lost, and the previous vowel is lengthened by compensatory lengthening. In the vocative singular, final -τ is lost.

G: Τραπεζοῦ-ντ-ος
N: Τραπεζοῦ-ντ-ς > Τραπεζοῦς
D: Τραπεζοῦ-ντ-ῐ
A: τὸν Τραπεζοῦ-ντ-ᾰ
Vocative: Τραπεζ-οῦ-ντ > Τραπεζ-οῦ-ν
To clarify, my question is for τράπεζα to become Τραπεζοῦς (ἴχνος to Ἰχνοῦσα & πίθηκος to Πιθηκοῦσαι), what are the nomenclative and inflective rules?

Thanks
 

illa

Member

They seem to contain some noun or adjective with the Doric/Aeolic form of the present participle of εἶναι, ἐων. ἐσσα, ἐον. So they follow the declension of the present participle with the usual dropping of s between two vowels and compensation and/or contraction.
 
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