G2980 — λαλέω (laleo)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G2980
Original: λαλέω
Transliteration: laleo
Pronunciation: lal-eh'-o
Part of Speech: Verb
Root: A prolonged form of an otherwise obsolete verb
Occurrences: 271 unique verses (308 tokens) across 23 NT books
First Occurrence: Mat 9:18 — "While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A prolonged form of an otherwise obsolete verb; to talk, i.e. utter words.

Semantic Domains¶

Louw-Nida: - Domain: 33.006 — Speak, Talk - Parent Domain: 33 — Communication - Other words in subdomain: ἀλάλητος (G215), ἄλαλος (G216), ἀναβοάω (G310), ἀνακράζω (G349), ἀναφωνέω (G400), ἀνεκλάλητος (G412), ἀποφθέγγομαι (G669), ἄρρητος (G731), ἄφωνος (G880), βατταλογέω (G945)

UBS Semantic Domains: - [033] Communication

Morphological Distribution¶

Tense-Voice-Mood	Code	Count	%
Present Active Participle	PAP	55	18%
Present Active Indicative	PAI	53	18%
Aorist Active Indicative	AAI	52	17%
Imperfect Active Indicative	IAI	27	9%
Aorist Active Infinitive	AAN	22	7%
Present Active Infinitive	PAN	21	7%
Perfect Active Indicative	RAI	13	4%
Future Active Indicative	FAI	10	3%
Present Active Imperative	PAM	9	3%
Aorist Active Subjunctive	AAS	7	2%
Present Passive Participle	PPP	6	2%
Future Passive Indicative	FPI	4	1%
Aorist Passive Participle	APP	4	1%
Aorist Active Participle	AAP	4	1%
Present Active Subjunctive	PAS	3	1%
Other (APN, API, RPP, RPI, PPN, FPP)	—	6	2%

Notes: Overwhelmingly active voice (93%). Present and aorist tenses dominate equally, suggesting the word is used both for habitual/ongoing speech and for specific speech acts. Passive forms are rare (about 7%), typically meaning "things spoken/told" (Luk 1:45, Heb 2:2).

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
spake	46	17.0%
speak	39	14.4%
to speak	23	8.5%
speaketh	15	5.5%
he spake	14	5.2%
speaking	10	3.7%
I speak	9	3.3%
have spoken / spoken / I have spoken / have I spoken	20	7.4%
talked / he talked / talking	8	3.0%
told / it was told / shall tell / were told / hath told	9	3.3%
said / to say / I have said / did say	8	3.0%
preached / to preach / might be preached	4	1.5%
uttered / to utter	3	1.1%
Other forms	63	23.2%

Summary: Almost universally rendered "speak/spake/spoken" (about 70%). Secondary translations include "talk" (3%), "tell/told" (3%), "say/said" (3%), and "preach" (1.5%). The KJV treats laleo as the general-purpose word for speaking.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
2 John	1	7.7
3 John	1	7.1
Acts	62	6.2
1 Corinthians	27	6.2
John	51	5.8
Hebrews	16	5.3
1 Thessalonians	4	4.5
Titus	2	4.3
2 Peter	2	3.3
2 Corinthians	8	3.1
James	3	2.8
Revelation	11	2.7
Luke	30	2.6
Mark	17	2.5
Colossians	2	2.1
Matthew	21	2.0
Ephesians	3	1.9
1 Peter	2	1.9
1 John	1	1.0
1 Timothy	1	0.9
Romans	3	0.7
Jude	2	—
Philippians	1	—

Patterns: Highest concentration in John's Gospel, Acts, and 1 Corinthians. The 1 Corinthians density is driven by chapter 14's extensive discussion of tongues-speaking. Acts uses laleo frequently for apostolic proclamation. Absent from 2 Timothy, 2 Thessalonians, Galatians, and Philemon.

Semantic Categories¶

1. General Speech / Conversation¶

Ordinary speaking or talking between persons. - Mat 12:46 — "While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him" - Jhn 4:27 — "And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman" - Luk 24:32 — "Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way" - 3Jo 1:14 — "I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face"

2. Authoritative / Divine Speech¶

God, Christ, angels, or the Spirit speaking with authority. - Heb 1:1-2 — "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son" - Mat 10:20 — "For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you" - Jhn 3:34 — "For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God" - Act 3:21 — "which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets"

3. Tongues-Speaking / Ecstatic Utterance¶

Speaking in tongues or other Spirit-empowered speech, concentrated in Acts and 1 Corinthians. - Act 2:4 — "they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues" - 1Co 14:2 — "For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God" - 1Co 14:5 — "I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied" - Act 19:6 — "the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied"

4. Bold / Public Proclamation¶

Speaking boldly or publicly, often in the face of opposition; overlaps with "preach." - Act 4:29 — "grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word" - Act 4:31 — "they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness" - Eph 6:20 — "that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak" - Act 14:1 — "they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude...believed"

5. Restoring Speech / Power to Speak¶

Healing of the mute; the physical ability to produce speech. - Mat 9:33 — "And when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake" - Mat 12:22 — "he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw" - Mrk 7:35 — "the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain" - Luk 1:64 — "his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake"

6. Blasphemous / Evil Speech¶

Speaking blasphemy, lies, or great boasts. - Mrk 2:7 — "Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies?" - Rev 13:5 — "there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies" - Jhn 8:44 — "When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar" - Act 6:13 — "This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place"

7. Reported / Prophetic Speech¶

Things spoken or told by prophets; passive uses conveying messages. - Luk 1:45 — "there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord" - Luk 2:17 — "they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child" - 2Pe 1:21 — "holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" - Heb 3:5 — "Moses verily was faithful...for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
λέγω (lego)	G3004	48x	Both appear in same verse; lego introduces quoted speech while laleo describes the act of speaking
θεός (theos)	G2316	41x	"speak the word of God," "God hath spoken"
πᾶς (pas)	G3956	40x	"all things that he spake," "speak all the words"
ἀκούω (akouo)	G191	33x	"heard him speak," "hearing the things spoken" — speaking paired with its reception
ἔπω (epo)	G2036	28x	Alternate speech verb in same context; epo for specific statements, laleo for extended discourse
λόγος (logos)	G3056	28x	"spake the word," "the word which I have spoken" — laleo as the vehicle, logos as the content
Ἰησοῦς (Iesous)	G2424	27x	Jesus as the subject of speaking
κύριος (kyrios)	G2962	25x	"the Lord spake," "spoken by the Lord"
γλῶσσα (glossa)	G1100	21x	"speak with tongues" — the tongues-speaking collocation
πνεῦμα (pneuma)	G4151	21x	"the Spirit speaketh," "speak by the Spirit" — Spirit-empowered speech
ῥῆμα (rhema)	G4487	16x	"speak the word/saying" — rhema as content of what is spoken
πατήρ (pater)	G3962	15x	"the Father which sent me...what I should speak" — Johannine usage

Word Family / Cognates¶

G2981 λαλιά (lalia) — speech, saying (noun form; 4x in NT)
G4354 προσλαλέω (proslaleo) — to speak to, address (compound; 2x)
G2551 κακολογέω (kakologeo) — to speak evil of (compound with kakos; not direct cognate)
G1256 διαλέγομαι (dialegomai) — to discuss, reason, argue (compound with dia)

Synonyms¶

G3004 λέγω (legō) — to say, declare; the closest overlapping speech verb returned by search_relationships.py

Antonyms¶

No antonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for G2980.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
דָבַר (dabar)	H1696	spake, speak, spoken	Hebrew counterpart; dabar covers "speak" across all OT usage — laleo is the standard NT Greek equivalent
λέγω (lego)	G3004	spake, speak, said	lego = say/declare (content-focused, introduces quotes); laleo = speak/talk (act-focused, the process of uttering)
ἔπω (epo)	G2036	spake, said, spoken	epo = used for definite past tense of "say" (aorist only); laleo covers all tenses
ἐρέω (ereo)	G2046	shall speak, said	ereo = future tense of "say"; laleo is a full-paradigm verb
φθέγγομαι (phtheggomai)	G5350	to speak, speaking	phtheggomai = utter a sound, produce voice (physical emphasis); laleo = articulate speech
ἀποφθέγγομαι (apophtheggomai)	G669	speak forth, said	apophtheggomai = speak forth with gravity/inspiration (Acts 2:4 variant); laleo = general speaking

Domain Neighbors (Louw-Nida 33.006 — Speak, Talk)¶

Word	Strong's	Verses	Key Difference
ἀλάλητος (alaletos)	G215	1	Cannot be uttered — the negation of laleo
ἄλαλος (alalos)	G216	3	Dumb, speechless — unable to laleo
ἀνεκλάλητος (aneklaletos)	G412	1	Unspeakable — beyond what laleo can express
ἀποφθέγγομαι (apophtheggomai)	G669	3	Formal/inspired utterance vs. general speech
βατταλογέω (battalogeō)	G945	2	Vain repetition — a deficient form of speaking
βοάω (boaō)	G994	8	Cry out — louder/more urgent than laleo
ἄφωνος (aphōnos)	G880	3	Voiceless/dumb — incapable of speech

Hebrew Source (via LXX)¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI Score
דָבַר (dabar)	H1696	869	29.30
מֹשֶׁה (Mosheh)	H4872	152	11.91
דָּבָר (dabar — noun)	H1697	213	10.97
אָמַר (amar)	H559	455	8.20
נָבִיא (nabiy)	H5030	46	7.53
עָתָק (athaq)	H6277	4	7.36
מְלַל (melal)	A4449	4	6.84
פֶּה (peh)	H6310	59	6.73

Primary mapping: laleo overwhelmingly renders H1696 dabar (speak, arrange words) in the LXX with 869 co-occurrences, making this the dominant Hebrew-Greek equivalence for "speaking" vocabulary.