σίγμα

Forms

σῑ́γμᾰ (sī́gma) n (genitive σῑ́γμᾰτος); third declension^[1] Also written with a long accented vowel, σῖγμα, as in Plato.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

Unlike most Greek letter names, it has no evident Semitic model, since the name of the Hebrew letter samekh is formally remote.^[3][5] Beekes and Frisk, following Schwyzer, therefore take it as a verbal noun from Ancient Greek σίζω (sízō, “to hiss”),^[3][5] and Wiktionary analyses it the same way, with the noun suffix -μα (-ma), calling a borrowing of Phoenician 𐤔 (š) doubtful at best.^[1] Triantafyllidis gives the same derivation with a “perhaps”.^[6]

Chantraine also notes that this name, exceptionally, cannot easily be derived from Semitic, but suggests a link with the Semitic letter name shin, comparing σάν (sán), before citing Schwyzer's view.^[7] Etymonline, and Babiniotis as a more recent view, take the name to be samekh with its consonants transposed.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Herodotus is the first author who uses it as the name of the letter.^[10][4]

Semantic evolution

Plato, Xenophon and Aristotle use it as the letter name, indeclinable.^[10][3] Late Greek formed σιγμοειδής (sigmoeidḗs, “sigma-shaped”), and Eustathius has σιγματίζω (sigmatízō, “to write with a sigma”).^[3][7]

From the crescent shape of the letter, an inscription of the 5th century AD from Aspendus uses it, spelled σῖμμα, for a semicircular portico, and in Latin sigma was a crescent-shaped dining couch, as in Martial.^[2][11] Medieval vernacular Greek had σίγμα (sígma) and σίμα (síma) for the letter, and the Sigma was a portico in Constantinople shaped like the Byzantine crescent sigma.^[12]

Modern Greek σίγμα (sígma) is the eighteenth letter of the alphabet, and also anything shaped like final sigma.^[6] English took the name as sigma.^[1][8]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it as the name of the letter.^[10][4][13]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it, also with the spelling σῖγμα, and Xenophon has it.^[10][4][13]
• 5th century AD – An inscription from Aspendus uses σῖμμα for a portico shaped like a sigma.^[2]
• 12th century AD – Eustathius has the verb σιγματίζω, to write with a sigma.^[3][13]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular Greek has σίμα (síma), and the Sigma names a portico in Constantinople.^[12]
• Modern Greek – σίγμα (sígma) is the name of the eighteenth letter.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. Sigma, the letter Σ, σ, ς.^[2][10]
2. (late) A semicircular portico shaped like a sigma.^[2][12]

Related words

• σίζω (sízō)
• σάν (sán)
• Latin sigma
• English sigma

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 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. ^ a b c d Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
5. ^ a b Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
6. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
7. ^ a b 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
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
10. ^ a b c d e Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
11. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
12. ^ a b c Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
13. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge