σήμερον

Forms

σήμερον (sḗmeron) ^[1] Attic τήμερον (tḗmeron), also τήμερα (tḗmera) in a fragment of Aristophanes.^[2] Doric σάμερον (sámeron).^[2][3]

Etymology

It goes back to *κιάμερον (kiámeron), a univerbation from Ancient Greek κι- (ki-, “this, here”) + ἡμέρα (hēmérā, “day”), perhaps through an adjective meaning “belonging to this day”.^[3][4] The first part is the pronominal stem of ἐκεῖ (ekeî, “there”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱi- (“this”),^[3][5] and the word took the neuter gender as αὔριον (aúrion, “tomorrow”) did.^[5] Ionic has /s/ where Attic has /t/, and the word stands to ἡμέρα (hēmérā) as σῆτες (sêtes, “this year”), Attic τῆτες (têtes), stands to ἔτος (étos, “year”).^[2] Chantraine thinks that the Attic form served as the model for that word.^[5] LSJ compares Lithuanian šis (“this”) and Latin citra, and Wiktionary cis and hic.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it means “today” and “for today”: Zeus grants glory to a warrior today, and the gods agree to stop the fighting for the day.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

Pindar has the Doric form, and Attic writers from Cratinus and Aristophanes on use τήμερον (tḗmeron), which the 2nd-century Atticist Moeris recommends, although comedy sometimes has the Ionic form.^[2] With the article it makes phrases such as “this very day” (Demosthenes) and “for today” (Plato).^[2] Its adjective σημερινός (sēmerinós) “of today” is first found in Callimachus.^[3]

Hellenistic Greek used only the Ionic form: it is in the papyri from the 3rd century BC, and the Attic one never occurs in the New Testament, where “today” and “this very day” are frequent, as in the Lord's Prayer.^[2][7]

Medieval vernacular Greek had σήμερο (símero) and σήμμερον (símmeron) beside it.^[8] The Modern Greek word is σήμερα (símera), whose ending was remade after τώρα (tóra, “now”).^[9][10] The old form lives on as a learned word, mostly in the phrase “on this day”.^[9]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for “today”.^[6][2]
• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar has the Doric form σάμερον (sámeron).^[2][11]
• 5th century BC – Cratinus and Aristophanes use the Attic form τήμερον (tḗmeron).^[2]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Callimachus has the adjective σημερινός (sēmerinós).^[3]
• 3rd century BC – Papyri use the Ionic form.^[2]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses only this form, never the Attic one.^[7]
• 2nd century AD – Moeris lists the Attic form as the correct one.^[2]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular texts have the forms σήμερο (símero) and σήμμερον (símmeron).^[8]
• Modern Greek – The everyday word is σήμερα (símera), and the old form survives in a learned phrase.^[9][10]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Today, this day.^[2][11][6]
2. For today, for the rest of the day.^[6]
3. (with the article) This very day.^[2][7] (with ἡμέρα (hēmérā)) the present day.^[2][7]

Related words

• ἡμέρα (hēmérā)
• τήμερον (tḗmeron)
• ἐκεῖ (ekeî)
• αὔριον (aúrion)

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 k l m n o p Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ 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
4. ^ Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
7. ^ a b c d 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
8. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
9. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
11. ^ a b Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press