νῆσος

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: νήσος

Ancient Greek

[edit]

Alternative forms

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

Uncertain. Has traditionally been connected with νήχω (nḗkhō, I swim) from Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh₂- (to flow, to swim). If its meaning “island” has developed from a more original meaning “headland, cape”, it may be, like Proto-Germanic *nasją (foothill; headland, cape) and Bulgarian нос (nos, nose; cape, promontory), a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *néh₂s (nose); in more landsman environments, compare the developments of Minaean 𐩱𐩬𐩰 (ʾnf, wall of a city) from “nose” and Arabic جَزِيرَة (jazīra, island) apparently from “bridge”.

However, in that case, the origin of -s-, which is not usually preserved in Greek, remains to be explained, possibly requiring a borrowing from another Indo-European language (though Furnée suspects a Pre-Greek origin, and Beekes Aegean).[1]

Pronunciation

[edit]
 

Noun

[edit]

νῆσος (nêsosf (genitive νήσου); second declension

  1. island

Inflection

[edit]

Derived terms

[edit]

Descendants

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “νῆσος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 1018

Further reading

[edit]
  • νῆσος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • νῆσος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • νῆσος”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
  • νῆσος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
  • νῆσος in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
  • Furnée, Edzard Johan (1972) Die wichtigsten konsonantischen Erscheinungen des Vorgriechischen (Janua linguarum. Series practica; 150) (in German), The Hague and Paris: Mouton, page 387
  • G3520 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
  • Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited, page 460
  • Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language[2], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.