πάππας

Forms

πᾰ́ππᾱς (páppās) m (genitive πᾰ́ππου); first declension^[1] Mostly in the vocative πάππα; from Menander and Epicurus on also without the double consonant, nominative πάπας (pápās), accusative πάπαν.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is a nursery word, with reduplication and a doubled consonant, corresponding to πατήρ (patḗr), like μάμμη (mámmē) beside the word for “mother”.^[3][1][4] Babiniotis likewise explains it as a reduplication of the stem of πατήρ (patḗr), at first used in address.^[5] Köbler connects it with a widespread nursery word Proto-Indo-European *pappa.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Odyssey, where Nausicaa addresses her father as “dear papa” to ask him for a wagon.^[2][8][9]

Semantic evolution

In classical Greek it was a child's word, used chiefly in address and in the phrase “to call (someone) papa”, which Aristophanes uses.^[2][8][3] Comedy, Theophrastus and Theocritus also have it; derivatives such as the pet forms παππίας (pappías) and the verb παππάζω (pappázō) “to call papa” belong to the same register.^[8][3] The parallel noun πάππος (páppos) meant “grandfather”.^[3]

From the 4th century AD, the form πάπας or παπᾶς became an honorific title of Christian clergy and of bishops, in particular the bishop of Rome.^[10][11][5] Through Latin papa that title gave the word for the pope, which returned to Greek as Modern Greek πάπας (pápas); the parish priest is παπάς (papás).^[10][5][12] Chantraine notes that Modern Greek says μπαμπάς, from Turkish, for “daddy”.^[3]

Timeline

• Homer – In the Odyssey Nausicaa calls her father “dear papa”.^[2][8]
• 5th to 4th century BC – Aristophanes uses the phrase “to call papa”.^[2][8][13]
• 4th to 3rd century BC – Menander has the form πάπας without the double consonant.^[3][13]
• About AD 250 – The bishop of Alexandria takes the Greek title as his own, according to Etymonline.^[12]
• 4th century AD – Πάπας and παπᾶς come into use as a title of Christian clergy.^[11][5]
• Modern Greek – The word survives as παπάς (papás) “priest”, and πάπας (pápas) “pope” is a borrowing back from Medieval Latin.^[10][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (child's word) Papa, daddy, mostly in address.^[2][8]
2. (Late Greek, as πάπας) A title of honour for a bishop or priest.^[10][11][12]

Word family

• παππίας (pappías)
• παππάζω (pappázō)

Related words

• πάππος (páppos)
• πατήρ (patḗr)
• Latin papa
• English pope

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
4. ^ Μανδουλίδης, Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της αρχαίας ελληνικής
5. ^ a b c d e Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, online ed., https://www.koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ Indo-European Lexicon (after Pokorny), Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, https://lrc.la.utexas.edu/lex
8. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ Autenrieth, Georg (1891), A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, tr. Robert P. Keep, New York: Harper and Brothers
10. ^ a b c d Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ a b c Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
12. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
13. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge