σάγμα

Forms

σάγμᾰ (ságma) n (genitive σάγμᾰτος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a derivative of σάττω (sáttō) (Ionic σάσσω (sássō)) “to stuff, pack, load, equip”, with the suffix -μα (-ma) that forms nouns of result.^[2][3][4] Its ⟨γ⟩ is analogical, as in σαγή (sagḗ) “equipment, pack”: the regular system of the verb, aorist σάξαι (sáxai), perfect σέσαγμαι (sésagmai), gave the nouns a stem in /g/ on the model of πράσσω (prássō) beside πρᾶγμα (prâgma).^[2][3]

The origin of the verb is uncertain.^[2][5] Beekes derives it from Indo-European Proto-Indo-European *twenk- (“to press together”), also found in Old High German dwingan (“to compress, coerce”) and Lithuanian tveñkti (“to dam up”), and he finds the comparison with a Tocharian verb meaning “to force in” difficult.^[2] Frisk thought the starting point of the family could not be fixed for want of a sure etymology, and Chantraine calls these technical terms “without a plausible etymology”.^[5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest secure examples are in 5th-century BC drama: Euripides' Andromache and Aristophanes' Acharnians use it for the cover or case in which a shield was stored, and Aristophanes' Wasps for a heavy cloak.^[4][6] An earlier example in Aeschylus' Prometheus rests on a conjecture.^[4][6]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was a covering: the case of a shield or a heavy cloak, and also a soldier's pack.^[4][6] Hesychius and Photius still gloss it as the sheath of a shield.^[7][8] In Hellenistic Greek the word came to mean a pack-saddle for beasts of burden: it is so used in an Egyptian ostracon of the 2nd century BC, in the Septuagint for the camel's saddle under which Rachel hid her father's idols, and in Strabo, Plutarch and the papyri.^[4][9][2] Plutarch also uses it for a heap of weapons packed together.^[4][6]

Latin borrowed it as sagma “pack-saddle”; through Late Latin forms such as salma this gave Italian salma and Italian soma “load”, French somme “burden” and German Saum “a horse's load”.^[1][10] In medieval Greek the vernacular forms σάμμα and σάμα meant a pack-saddle, as in a proverb about the donkey that kicked and the saddle that was beaten, and a diminutive σαγμάριον (sagmárion) gave Modern Greek σαμάρι (samári).^[11][12] Modern Greek σάγμα (ságma) itself is a learned revival of the Hellenistic word.^[13]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Euripides uses it for the case of a shield.^[4][6][14]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it for a shield case, a cloak and a pack.^[4][6][14]
• 2nd century BC – An Egyptian ostracon uses it for a pack-saddle.^[4]
• 3rd–2nd century BC – The Septuagint uses it for a camel's saddle.^[9][4]
• 1st century BC to 1st century AD – Strabo uses it for a pack-saddle.^[4][14]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it for pack-saddles and for a heap of weapons.^[4][6][14]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular Greek has σάμα (sáma) for a pack-saddle.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A covering; a heavy cloak.^[4]
2. The case or cover in which a shield or weapons were kept and carried.^[4][6][7]
3. A soldier's pack or knapsack.^[6]
4. (Koine) A pack-saddle or saddle-bag for a beast of burden.^[4][6][9]
5. A tightly packed heap, as of weapons.^[4][6]

Related words

• σάττω (sáttō)
• σαγή (sagḗ)
• σάγος (ságos)
• σαγμάριον (sagmárion)
• Latin sagma

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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
3. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)
8. ^ Photius, Lexicon, ed. Christos Theodoridis, vol. 1 (Α–Δ) (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1982); ed. Richard Porson (Cambridge, 1822)
9. ^ a b c Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
10. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, online ed., https://www.koeblergerhard.de
11. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
12. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
13. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
14. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge