θυγάτηρ

Forms

θῠγᾰ́τηρ (thugátēr) f (genitive θῠγᾰτρός); third declension^[1] Mycenaean Greek tu-ka-te, dative Mycenaean Greek tu-ka-te-re, dative plural Mycenaean Greek tu-ka-ta-si.^[2][1] Boeotian θουγάτηρ.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *tʰúgatēr,^[1] inherited from Proto-Indo-European *dʰugh₂tḗr (“daughter”), the old word for the daughter kept in most Indo-European languages.^[4][1][5] Cognate with Sanskrit दुहितृ (duhitṛ́), Old Armenian դուստր (dustr), Oscan futír, Lithuanian duktė̃, Old Church Slavonic дъшти (dŭšti), Gothic 𐌳𐌰𐌿𐌷𐍄𐌰𐍂 (dauhtar), Old English dohtor (whence daughter) and Tocharian B tkācer.^[4][1]

The Anatolian forms, Hieroglyphic Luwian tuwatra/i- and Lycian kbatra-, point according to Kloekhorst to an old full grade of the root; the Greek accent, which differs from the Sanskrit one, would confirm this.^[4] Wiktionary explains the accent from an earlier form accented on the first syllable, moved by the law limiting the accent to the last three syllables.^[1] Ancient grammarians derived the word from a verb for raging, of a child moving in the womb, or from θέω (théō, “to run”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Mycenaean tablets from Mycenae have the word as tu-ka-te.^[2][1] In Homer it is a daughter, and Homer also uses the vocative θύγατερ as an affectionate address.^[7][3]

Semantic evolution

Poets extended it: Simonides calls mules “daughters of horses” and Pindar calls songs “daughters of the Muses”.^[7][3] The Septuagint calls villages the “daughters” of the city they depend on.^[7]

The New Testament uses it for a female descendant of a famous ancestor, for the women of Jerusalem and for the city itself, the “daughter of Zion”.^[3][8] In the vocative it is a friendly way of addressing a woman.^[8] A later text uses it for a maidservant.^[7]

Medieval Greek made a new nominative θυγατέρα from the accusative, and Modern Greek θυγατέρα (thygatéra) continues it.^[9][10] Pontic Greek has θεγατέρα.^[9][11][10]

Timeline

• Mycenaean – The tablets from Mycenae have tu-ka-te.^[2][1]
• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for a daughter.^[7][3]
• 6th–5th century BC – Simonides calls mules “daughters of horses”.^[7][3][12]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar calls songs “daughters of the Muses”.^[7][3][12]
• New Testament – The New Testament uses it for a female descendant and for Jerusalem, the “daughter of Zion”.^[3][8]
• Middle Ages – The nominative θυγατέρα, made from the accusative, appears.^[9][10]
• Modern Greek – It survives as θυγατέρα.^[9][10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A daughter; in the vocative, an affectionate address to a girl or woman.^[7][3][8]
2. (poetic) The offspring of an animal or thing: mules as daughters of horses, songs as daughters of the Muses.^[7][3]
3. (Septuagint) A village dependent on a city.^[7]
4. (New Testament) A female descendant; a woman of a city; a city itself, the “daughter of Zion”.^[3][8]
5. (late) A maidservant.^[7]

Word family

• θυγατριδῆ (thugatridê)
• θυγατριδοῦς (thugatridoûs)
• θυγάτριον (thugátrion)

Related words

• Sanskrit दुहितृ (duhitṛ́)
• English daughter

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Микенско-русский словарь (Mycenaean–Russian dictionary)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b c 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
5. ^ Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008), Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon, Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e 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 d Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ a b c d Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
11. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
12. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge