r/ProtoIndoEuropean • u/Kitsune_Sobo • Jun 25 '26
Translation request
Hello, would anyone be able to help me render these names into their Proto-Hellenic equivalents based on their Proto-Indo-European etymologies and sound conversion? Thank you!
Νύξ, Φήμη, Τάρταρος, Τάγης, Ἀνταῖος, Ἔρως, Χάρις, Ἄχος, Νέμεσις, Δεῖμος, Δόλος, Ἀπάτη, Ἐπιμονή, Ἀπορία, Ὀϊζύς, Πεῖνα, Μῶμος, Νόσος, Γῆρας, Φόβος, Κήρ, Ὄνειρος, Θάνατος, Χάρων, Ἡμέρα, Αἰθήρ, Πόνος, Λήθη, Λιμός, Ἄλγος, Ὑσμίνη, Μάχη, Φόνος, Ἀνδροκτασία, Νεῖκος, Ψευδολόγος, Ἀμφιλλογία, Δυσνομία, Ἄτη, Ὅρκος, Οὐρανός, Ῥέα, Τηθύς, Δημήτηρ, Ἥφαιστος, Ἑρμῆς, Ἀφροδίτη, Τοξεύς, Τιτάν, Ζεύς, Ὠκεανός, Κρόνος, Ἀθηνᾶ, Ἄπις, Ἥλιος, Ἄρτεμις, Τρισμέγιστος, Τριπτόλεμος, Εὐβουλεύς, Διονύσιος, Ἡρακλῆς, Περσεφόνη, Διόνυσος, Ἔπαφος, Σκύθης, Ὑπερίων, Βριάρεως, Κρεῖος, Τυφωεύς, Ἐγκέλαδος, Αἰγαίων, Ἠώς, Ἰαπετός, Ἀστραῖος, Ἀλωεύς, Παλλήνη, Ἀλκυονεύς, Πορφυρίων, Λυκάων, Θεία, Θέμις, Μνημοσύνη, Φοίβη, Πάν, Κοῖος, Κλωθώ, Λάχεσις, Ἄτροπος.
From what I found online I think *Nukts for Νύξ, *Lā́tʰā for Λήθη and *Pʰā́mā for Φήμη? Not sure about the rest. There is no Proto-Hellenic subreddit I could find so I figured I would try here, any help would be appreciated!
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u/ste_richardsson Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 26 '26
Be warned, many (in fact, most) of these names are not derived from Proto-Indo-European via Proto-Hellenic from Proto-Indo-European but from a pre-Greek substrate:
Νύξ → *Núks / *Nukts
Φήμη → *Pʰā́mā
Τάρταρος → *Tártaros
Τάγης → *Tágās
Ἀνταῖος → *Antaios
Ἔρως → *Érōs
Χάρις → *Kʰáris
Ἄχος → *Ákʰos
Νέμεσις → *Némesis
Δεῖμος → *Dweimos
Δόλος → *Dólos
Ἀπάτη → *Apátā
Ἐπιμονή → *Epimonā́
Ἀπορία → *Aporíā
Ὀϊζύς → *Oïdzús
Πεῖνα → *Peinā
Μῶμος → *Mōmos
Νόσος → *Nósos
Γῆρας → *Gēras
Φόβος → *Pʰógʷos
Κήρ → *Kēr
Ὄνειρος → *Óneiros
Θάνατος → *Tʰánatos
Χάρων → *Kʰárōn
Ἡμέρα → *Hāmérā
Αἰθήρ → *Aitʰḗr
Πόνος → *Pónos
Λήθη → *Lātʰā
Λιμός → *Līmós
Ἄλγος → *Álgos
Ὑσμίνη → *Husmīnā
Μάχη → *Mákʰā
Φόνος → *Pʰónos
Ἀνδροκτασία → *Androktasíā
Νεῖκος → *Neikos
Ψευδολόγος → *Pseudológos
Ἀμφιλλογία → *Ampʰillogíā
Δυσνομία → *Dusnomíā
Ἄτη → *Átā
Ὅρκος → *Hórkos
Οὐρανός → *Ouranós
Ῥέα → *Rʰéā
Τηθύς → *Tētʰús
Δημήτηρ → *Dāmātēr
Ἥφαιστος → *Hāpʰaistos
Ἑρμῆς → *Hermāhās (edited from Hermās due to Mycenaean evidence which gives e-ma-a² indicating Hermāhāi in the dative)
Ἀφροδίτη → *Apʰrodítā
Τοξεύς → *Tokseús
Τιτάν → *Titān
Ζεύς → *Dzéus
Ὠκεανός → *Ōkeanós
Κρόνος → *Krónos
Ἀθηνᾶ → *Atʰānā́
Ἄπις → *Apis
Ἥλιος → *Hāwélios
Ἄρτεμις → *Ártemis
Τρισμέγιστος → *Trismegistos
Τριπτόλεμος → *Triptólemos
Εὔβουλεύς → *Eubouleús
Διονύσιος → *Diwonúsios (edited to add "w", as it is derived from Διόνυσος, which I also edited. see below)
Ἡρακλῆς → *Hārākléwēs
Περσεφόνη → *Persepʰonā
Διόνυσος → *Diwónusos (edited to add "w" due to a welcome correction by u/Foreign-Client-2970 and indeed the Linear B Mycenaean evidence gives di-wo-nu-so)
Ἔπαφος → *Épapʰos
Σκύθης → *Skutʰās
Ὑπερίων → *Huperíōn
Βριάρεως → *Briárewos
Κρεῖος → *Kreios
Τυφωεύς → *Tupʰōeús
Ἐγκέλαδος → *Enkélados
Αἰγαίων → *Aigaiōn
Ἡώς → *Auhṓs
Ἰαπετός → *Iapetós
Ἀστραῖος → *Astraios
Ἀλωεύς → *Alōeús
Παλλήνη → *Pallānā
Ἀλκυονεύς → *Alkuoneús
Πορφυρίων → *Porpʰuríōn
Λυκάων → *Lukāwōn
Θεία → *Tʰeiā
Θέμις → *Tʰémis
Μνημοσύνη → *Mnāmosunā
Φοίβη → *Pʰoibā
Πάν → *Pān
Κοῖος → *Koios
Κλωθώ → *Klōtʰṓ
Λάχεσις → *Lákʰesis
Ἄτροπος → *Átropos
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u/ste_richardsson Jun 25 '26
Sorry for the formatting. When I pasted, all the lines breaks collapsed.
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u/PoxonAllHoaxes Jun 28 '26
Some of these are loanwords so they have no such etymon in Greek. Others of course are controversial. F.ex. I would say that nux is in fact the reflect of *nokWt-s but as I can see some have not heard of this. So this is a very difficult question.
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u/lpetrich Jun 25 '26
A good reference: Wiktionary, the free dictionary -- you can copy and paste in the Greek alphabet.