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φάσις

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φάσις1 appearance, denunciation

Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /pʰá.sis/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈɸa.sis/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈfa.sis/[1]

Forms

φᾰ́σῐς (phásis) f (genitive φᾰ́σεως); third declension[1]

Etymology

The noun meaning “appearance, denunciation” is from Ancient Greek φαίνω (phaínō, “to bring to light; to appear”), from the zero-grade stem φα- with the suffix -σις (-sis), like φάσμα (phásma, “apparition”).[2][1][3] The verb continues Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to shine, appear”), also in Sanskrit भाति (bhā́ti, “shines”).[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Attic orators: Andocides names the φάσις, a denunciation, beside other kinds of public action, and Lysias and Demosthenes use it too.[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

In Attic law the φάσις was the information an informer laid.[5][6] From the passive sense of the verb, “to appear”, astronomers used it for the appearance of the stars (Aristotle's Meteorology), for their rising and setting, and, in the plural, for the phases of the moon (Geminus, Galen).[5][8] Polybius uses it of the visibility of signal-torches.[6]

Modern Greek φάση (fási) is a learned word; its sense “stage, phase” follows English phase.[9][8]

Timeline

  • 5th–4th century BC – Andocides and Lysias use it of a denunciation laid by an informer.[5][10]
  • 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it of the appearance of a star.[5][8][10]
  • 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it of the visibility of torch signals.[6][10]
  • 1st century BC – Geminus uses the plural for the phases of the moon.[5][10]
  • 2nd century AD – Ptolemy uses it for the heliacal rising of stars.[5][10]
  • Modern Greek – Modern Greek φάση (fási) means “stage, phase”.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Attic law) A denunciation, information laid by an informer.[5][6]
  2. Appearance, visibility, of torch signals or of stars.[5][6]
  3. (astronomy) The rising of a star; in the plural, the phases of the moon.[5]

φάσις2 utterance

Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /pʰá.sis/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈɸa.sis/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈfa.sis/[1]

Forms

φᾰ́σῐς (phásis) f (genitive φᾰ́σεως); third declension[1]

Etymology

The noun meaning “utterance” is from Ancient Greek φημί (phēmí, “to say”), from the zero-grade stem φα- with the suffix -σις (-sis), like φάτις (phátis, “report”) and φάσκω (pháskō).[2][1] The verb continues Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to speak”), with cognates in Latin fāma (“report, fame”) and for (“to speak”).[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It appears in Plato's Sophist, where it means affirmation, the opposite of denial.[5][6][7]

Semantic evolution

Aristotle made it a technical term of logic: an utterance or expression, and a statement or proposition covering both κατάφασις (katáphasis, “affirmation”) and ἀπόφασις (apóphasis, “denial”).[5][6] In Hellenistic papyri and in Polybius and Hipparchus it is a mere assertion without proof.[5][6] In the papyri and the Acts of the Apostles it is a report, rumour or message.[5][6][11]

Timeline

  • 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it of affirmation.[5][10]
  • 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it of a statement or proposition.[5][6][10]
  • 3rd century BC – Papyri use it of an unproven assertion.[5]
  • 1st century AD – The Acts of the Apostles use it of a report.[5][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An utterance, expression; a description.[5][6]
  2. (logic) A statement, proposition.[5][6]
  3. Affirmation, as opposed to denial.[5][6]
  4. A mere assertion, without proof.[5][6]
  5. A report, rumour, message.[5][6]

Word family

  • κατάφασις (katáphasis)
  • ἀπόφασις (apóphasis)
  • παράφασις (paráphasis)
  • πάρφασις (párphasis)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c 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 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 Köbler, Gerhard, Griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, online ed., https://www.koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  7. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
  8. ^ a b c Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
  9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  10. ^ a b c d e f g Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
  11. ^ Strong, James (1890), A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament, in The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, New York: Hunt & Eaton