παλλακή

Forms

παλλᾰκή (pallakḗ) f (genitive παλλᾰκῆς); first declension^[1]

Etymology

The word and its older by-form παλλακίς (pallakís) have no agreed origin: Chantraine calls it obscure, and Frisk an old migratory word of unclear source.^[2][3]

Rosół takes it as probably a Semitic loanword, perhaps through Phoenician, matching Biblical Hebrew פִּילֶגֶשׁ (pîlegeš, “concubine”).^[4] In his view the much earlier by-form is the original form, and παλλακή was made from it on the model of pairs such as ἑταίρα (hetaíra) and ἑταιρίς (hetairís).^[4] The Septuagint translates the Hebrew word with both Greek forms.^[4][5] Chantraine, however, says that no one accepts the Semitic explanation, and Πάπυρος also rejects it.^[2][6] According to Wiktionary, Beekes considers the word possibly Pre-Greek because of its suffix ⟨-ακ-⟩.^[1] An Iranian source, Avestan pairikā (“seductive demoness”), does not suit the meaning, and Brugmann's link with πῶλος (pôlos, “foal”) is no more than a guess.^[2][3][6]

Latin paelex (“concubine”) is related: Chantraine takes it as a loan from Greek, perhaps through Etruscan, while Rosół thinks Latin took it separately from Semitic, probably from Punic.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer has only the by-form παλλακίς, for a slave woman whom her master takes besides his wife.^[7][8] παλλακή itself is first found in Herodotus, who writes that the Persians have many wedded wives and still more concubines.^[7][9][8]

Semantic evolution

In classical Athens a παλλακή lived permanently with a man without a formal marriage; she ranked between a wife and a ἑταίρα (hetaíra).^[8][10] The speech Against Neaera distinguishes the three: courtesans for pleasure, concubines for daily care, and wives for legitimate children and the keeping of the house.^[10][2] The word is frequent in the orators, and Plato's Laws proposes to forbid sexual relations outside marriage.^[7][8] A 2nd-century BC marriage contract from Egypt binds the husband not to keep a concubine.^[7]

The Septuagint uses it 54 times, from Genesis on.^[5] The lexicographers say that its proper sense was “young girl”, and they record related words for boys, among them πάλληξ (pállēx), whose diminutive gave the modern Modern Greek παλληκάρι (palikári).^[7][2][3]

Medieval Greek kept the word, and Kriaras records a figurative use of it for other religions, as opposed to Christianity.^[11] The learned Modern Greek παλλακή (pallakí) survives as a synonym of παλλακίδα (pallakída).^[12]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses the by-form παλλακίς (pallakís) for a concubine.^[7][8]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses παλλακή of the concubines of the Persians.^[7][9]
• 5th–4th century BC – Lysias and Plato use it for the Athenian concubine.^[7][8]
• 4th century BC – The speech Against Neaera distinguishes the concubine from the courtesan and the wife.^[10][2]
• 2nd century BC – A marriage contract from Egypt forbids the husband a concubine.^[7]
• 2nd century AD – The lexicographer Aelius Dionysius says that it properly means a young girl.^[7][2]
• Modern Greek – The learned παλλακή (pallakí) still means a concubine.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A concubine, a woman, slave or free, living with a man without marriage.^[7][9]
2. (lexicographers) A young girl.^[7][2]

Word family

• παλλακεύω (pallakeúō)
• παλλακίδιον (pallakídion)

Related words

• παλλακίς (pallakís)
• πάλλαξ (pállax)
• Latin paelex

Usage notes

Greek law and usage kept the concubine distinct from the prostitute, πόρνη (pórnē), as well as from the courtesan.^[2][10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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
3. ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ a b c d Rosół, Rafał (2013), Frühe semitische Lehnwörter im Griechischen, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang
5. ^ a b Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
6. ^ a b Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b c Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
10. ^ a b c d Smith, William; Wayte, William; Marindin, G. E., eds. (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, 3rd ed., London: John Murray
11. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
12. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki