σύνταξις

Forms

σῠ́ντᾰξῐς (súntaxis) f (genitive σῠντᾰ́ξεως or σῠντᾰ́ξῐος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek συντάσσω (suntássō, “to put in order together”) with the suffix -σις (-sis).^[1][2] The verb is formed with σύν (sún, “together”) on τάσσω (tássō, “to arrange”), as τάξις (táxis) is from the simple verb.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Thucydides (6.42) has the Attic form ξύνταξις of the generals' drawing up of the army in battle order before the Sicilian expedition.^[3][5][6]

Semantic evolution

The word first meant the putting together in order of troops and then any arrangement or organization: Plato and Aristotle use it of a constitution or system, the Stoics of the order of the universe.^[5][7] From the 4th century BC it was also a financial term: Callistratus chose σύνταξις “contribution” for the payments of the members of the Second Athenian League, so as to avoid the hated word φόρος “tribute”.^[4][8] Polybius uses it for an agreed plan and for a written composition or treatise, a sense that gave titles such as Ptolemy's astronomical Syntaxis.^[7][5] The Stoic Chrysippus wrote on the σύνταξις of statements, and Apollonius Dyscolus' work Περὶ συντάξεως made it the grammarians' term for syntax, the construction of words in the sentence.^[5][4] In Hellenistic Greek it was also the pay of soldiers.^[9]

Modern Greek has the learned word Modern Greek σύνταξη (sýntaxi), which means “drafting, composition” and “syntax”, and also “pension”, a sense from Hellenistic soldiers' pay shaped by French pension.^[9][3]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Thucydides uses it of drawing up an army in battle order.^[5][3]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it of a system or organization, and Isocrates of an assigned contribution.^[5][7]
• 4th century BC – Callistratus introduces it as the name of the contributions to the Second Athenian League.^[4][8]
• 3rd century BC – Chrysippus writes a work on the σύνταξις of statements.^[5]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it of a written treatise and of an agreed plan.^[5][7]
• 2nd century AD – Apollonius Dyscolus writes his work on syntax under this title.^[5][4]
• Modern Greek – The learned word σύνταξη (sýntaxi) means “composition”, “syntax” and “pension”.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A putting together in order; arrangement, organization, system.^[5][7]
2. (military) The drawing up of troops in battle order; a body of troops, a contingent; the combined forces of a people.^[5][7]
3. (finance) An agreed payment or contribution; an assigned levy or tribute.^[5][7][4]
4. An arrangement made beforehand, an agreement or plan.^[7][5]
5. A written composition; a systematic treatise.^[5][7][10]
6. (grammar) The construction of words together, syntax.^[5][4]

Related words

• συντάσσω (suntássō)
• σύνταγμα (súntagma)
• τάξις (táxis)
• τάσσω (tássō)
• English syntax

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Βικιλεξικό, the Greek Wiktionary, https://el.wiktionary.org
3. ^ a b c d Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
4. ^ a b c d e f g Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b Smith, William; Wayte, William; Marindin, G. E., eds. (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, 3rd ed., London: John Murray
9. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ 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