αἴξ

Forms

αἴξ (aíx) m or f (genitive αἰγός); third declension^[1] Mycenaean compounds and derivatives such as Mycenaean Greek a3-ki-pa-ta, perhaps a goatherd.^[2][3] Boeotian dative plural ἤγυς.^[4][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *aíks, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyǵ- (“goat”).^[1] Beekes compares Old Armenian այծ (ayc, “goat”), reconstructed as *h₂eiǵ-ih₂, and, if the word once meant goatskin, Avestan īzaēna- (“of leather”).^[5][1] The Sanskrit word for goat looks similar but is formally deviant, which may suggest that Avestan, Greek and Armenian borrowed the word from a common source.^[5] The DGE also compares Lithuanian ožỹs (“he-goat”).^[2]

The compounds in ⟨αἰγι-⟩, such as αἰπόλος (aipólos, “goatherd”), are unexplained, but the type is old.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Mycenaean tablets already have compounds and derivatives of the word.^[2] In Homer it means a goat, usually feminine; the Odyssey also uses it as a masculine, and calls wild goats “mountain-roaming”.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

The word was the ordinary name of the goat from Homer through Koine.^[6][7] By resemblance it named a water bird of the goose kind and a fiery meteor in Aristotle, and the star Capella in Aratus; in the plural it could mean waves.^[4][5] Comedy spoke of a “heavenly goat” as a mysterious source of wealth, alluding to the horn of Amalthea.^[4]

The New Testament has it once, in a Gospel manuscript, for a kid from the flock.^[8] Medieval Greek kept αίγα (aíga) from the accusative αἶγα (aîga), and Modern Greek αίγα (éga) is a learned or dialectal name for the goat.^[9][3] The everyday word, Modern Greek γίδα (gída), continues the diminutive αἰγίδιον (aigídion).^[3]

Timeline

• Mycenaean – Compounds and derivatives of the word appear on Linear B tablets.^[2]
• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for tame and wild goats.^[4][2]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it as a masculine.^[4][2]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for a water bird and a fiery meteor.^[4][2]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Aratus uses it for the star Capella.^[4][2]
• Middle Ages – Medieval Greek has αίγα (aíga), from the accusative.^[9][3]
• Modern Greek – It survives as Modern Greek αίγα (éga), beside the everyday Modern Greek γίδα (gída).^[9][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A goat, mostly feminine.^[4][6]
2. A wild goat, probably the ibex.^[4]
3. A water bird, apparently of the goose kind.^[4]
4. A fiery meteor.^[4]
5. The star Capella.^[4]
6. (plural) Waves.^[4]

Word family

• αἴγειος (aígeios)
• αἴγιλος (aígilos)
• αἰγίδιον (aigídion)
• αἰγικός (aigikós)
• αἰγίλωψ (aigílōps)
• αἴγινος (aíginos)
• αἰγίς (aigís)
• αἰπόλος (aipólos)

Usage notes

Proverbs recorded by Zenobius include “the goat <found> the knife”, of people who ask for trouble.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
3. ^ a b c d e Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
9. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki