φημί

• φᾱμί (phāmí) — Doric
• φημι (phēmi) — unstressed
• φᾱμι (phāmi) — Doric, unstressed

From Proto-Hellenic *pʰā́mi, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰéh₂ti (“to speak”).

φημί • (phēmí)

1. to speak, say
   1. to think
   2. (of an author) to write
   3. (φησί (phēsí) or ἔφη (éphē) used when quoting, sometimes after another verb of saying)
      • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Oeconomicus 17.10:

        καὶ ὁ Ἰσχόμαχος γελάσας εἶπεν: ἀλλὰ παίζεις μὲν σύγε, ἔφη, ὦ Σώκρατες.

        kaì ho Iskhómakhos gelásas eîpen: allà paízeis mèn súge, éphē, ô Sṓkrates.

        And Ischomachus said, laughing, "But you're joking, Socrates," he said.

2. to say yes, agree, affirm, assert
   1. (with οὐ (ou)) to say no, deny, refuse
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.19.3:

        τοῖσι δὲ ἡ Πυθίη ἀπικομένοισι ἐς Δελφοὺς οὐκ ἔφη χρήσειν πρὶν ἢ τὸν νηὸν τῆς Ἀθηναίης ἀνορθώσωσι, τὸν ἐνέπρησαν χώρης τῆς Μιλησίης ἐν Ἀσσησῷ.

        toîsi dè hē Puthíē apikoménoisi es Delphoùs ouk éphē khrḗsein prìn ḕ tòn nēòn tês Athēnaíēs anorthṓsōsi, tòn enéprēsan khṓrēs tês Milēsíēs en Assēsôi.

        But when the messengers came to Delphi, the Pythian priestess would not answer them before they restored the temple of Athena at Assesos in the Milesian territory, which they had burnt.

   2. (φημί (phēmí) or οὕτως φημί (hoútōs phēmí) as interjection) yes, I would say so
      • 380 BCE, Plato, Gorgias 500e
      • 386 BCE – 367 BCE, Plato, Meno 83c

All finite forms of the present indicative except for φῄς (phḗis) are enclitic, as shown by the acute accent in ὥς φησι (hṓs phēsi) "so he says".

For the imperfect active, ἔφασκον (éphaskon), from the verb φάσκω (pháskō) was generally used instead.^[1]

• Third-person singular perfect passive imperative: πεφάσθω (pephásthō)

• λέγω (légō, “say, speak”)^[2][3]
• ἀγορεύω (agoreúō, “to speak in the assembly”)^[2][3]
• ἀδολεσχέω (adoleskhéō, “to talk idly, prate”)^[2][3]
• δημηγορέω (dēmēgoréō, “to speak in the assembly; to make popular speeches”)^[2]
• διαλέγομαι (dialégomai, “to converse, hold a discussion, debate, argue.”)^[3]
• λαλέω (laléō, “to talk, chat, prattle”)^[2][3]
• ληρέω (lēréō, “to speak foolishly”)^[2]
• μυθέομαι (muthéomai, “say, tell”)^[2]
• ὑθλέω (huthléō, “talk nonsense, trifle, prate”)^[2]
• φάσκω (pháskō, “to declare, state, affirm”)^[2][3]
• φλυαρέω (phluaréō, “to talk nonsense”)^[2][3]
• φράζω (phrázō, “to make known, point out, intimate, show; to tell, declare; to explain, interpret; to counsel, advise, suggest, bid, order”)^[2][3]

• Dufour (1910) Traite elementaire des synonymes grecs, Dire, parler, pp.62-68
• Arnold; Pillon (1850) Handbook of Greek synonymes, from the French. Edited, with notes, "310. λέγειν", pp.293-296
• Pillon (1847) Synonymes grecs, recueillis dans les écrivains des différents âges de la littérature grecque, "310. λέγειν", pp.413-416
• “φημί”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “φημί”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “φημί”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• φημί in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• φημί in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• G5346 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• “prophet”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• Smyth, Herbert Weir (1920) “Part II: Inflection”, in A Greek grammar for colleges, Cambridge: American Book Company, § 783: inflected forms