perispomene

P3E1R1I1S1P3O1M3E1N1E1

noun

The circumflex ⟨◌͂⟩, a diacritical mark used in the polytonic script of Greek.

Scrabble 17

Meanings

perispomene1

noun

alternative perispomeni

  1. The circumflex ⟨◌͂⟩, a diacritical mark used in the polytonic script of Greek.

    The perispomene (῀) is an accent like any other, on syllables originally long.

    1956, Ary H. Crooson, “Greek at a Glance”, in Constantine Divry, editor, Divry’s Guide to Greece and Information Manual, New York, N.Y.: D. C. Divry, Inc., →OCLC, part I (Modern Greece, General Information), page 48
    3 more examples

    The accents ´ oxeia (acute) bareia ` (grave) and ῀ perispomene (circumflex) were the early prosodic recitation marks for the Gospels and lessons.

    1988, Cyprus Today, volumes 26–27, Nicosia: Public Information Office, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 15

    At the time of Romanos, the special prosodic value of the perispomene was completely lost, so that -ών and -ῶν were perfectly homophone.

    2012, Cyril Aslanov, “Romanos the Melodist and Palestinian Piyyut: Sociolinguistic and Pragmatic Perspectives”, in Robert Bonfil, Oded Irshai, Guy G[edalyah] Stroumsa, Rina Talgam, editors, Jews in Byzantium: Dialectics of Minority and Majority Cultures (Jerusalem Studies in Religion and Culture; 14), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, part II (Cultural Encounters and Transmission of Knowledge), footnote 19, page 620

    Finally, the mordent tone, usually represented by the perispomene, is instead marked with an x above the vowel.

    2019 April 12, J. S. Ling, “Tones”, in Authoritative Guide to the Katalopsi Constructed Language, Bloomington, Ind.: iUniverse, →ISBN, chapter 5 (Orthography), section 2 (Compositionality)

perispomene2

adjectiveperispomene (not comparable)
  1. alternativenot comparableAlternative form of perispomenon.

    Note the caesura media; the syllable preceding it is perispomene, as is very often the case.

    1980, J[an] C[oenraad] Kamerbeek, “Third Epeisodion 865-1080”, in The Plays of Sophocles, part VI (The Philoctetes), Leiden: E. J. Brill, →ISBN, verse 907, page 130
    2 more examples

    This locative might be at the origin of our adverbs. However, the locative accent was perispomene, not oxytonic, a problem for which there has been no satisfactory explanation so far.

    2007, Catalin Anghelina, “On Some Adverbs with Variable Endings in Ancient Greek”, in Glotta, volumes 82–83, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 9

    There are a number of textual issues in connection with αἰαῖ. Firstly, the proper accentuation is uncertain. There is no agreement in the manuscripts on whether it should be oxytonic or perispomene.

    2015, Lars Nordgren, “αἰαῖ—aiai”, in Greek Interjections: Syntax, Semantics and Pragmatics (Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs; 273), Berlin; Boston, Mass.: De Gruyter Mouton, →ISBN, chapter 3 (Semantics), section 6 (Semantics—Category 1), subsection 4 (Interjections expressive of lamentation), footnote 184, page 130

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekπερισπωμένη
  2. Englishperispomene

From Ancient Greek περισπωμένη (perispōménē).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

perispomene. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/perispomene

MLA

“perispomene.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/perispomene. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “perispomene,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/perispomene.

Source: perispomene on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.