φάσκω

Forms

φᾰ́σκω (pháskō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *bʰh₂-sḱéti, a present in *-sḱé- on the zero grade of the root *bʰeh₂- (“to speak, say”).^[1][2][3] Chantraine describes it as an intensive-iterative, like βάσκω (báskō) and βόσκω (bóskō).^[3] The root is that of φημί (phēmí, “to say”), whose cognates include Latin for (“to speak”).^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer has only the imperfect ἔφασκον, in the sense "think, expect": in the Iliad Poseidon speaks of a thing he thought would never come to pass, and in the Odyssey Odysseus tells the suitors they thought he would never come home.^[4][5][6]

Semantic evolution

The imperfect served in tragedy and comedy as the past tense of φημί, but the present indicative is not found before the 4th century BC, in Isaeus and Aristotle.^[3][4] From "say" it came to mean "promise" and "profess, claim", and in the negative "deny".^[4][5] In the New Testament it means to assert or claim something with confidence.^[7]

Modern Greek keeps it only as a learned word in the phrase φάσκει και αντιφάσκει (fáskei kai antifáskei), said of someone who contradicts himself.^[8][9]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use the imperfect for thinking or expecting something.^[4][5]
• 5th century BC – Sophocles uses the imperfect as the past tense of φημί.^[4][10]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides uses it for promising to do something.^[4][5][10]
• 4th century BC – The present indicative appears, in Aristotle.^[3][10]
• Modern Greek – It survives in the phrase φάσκει και αντιφάσκει (fáskei kai antifáskei).^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. (Homer) To think, deem, expect, especially in negative phrases.^[4][5]
2. To say, assert, declare; with a negative, to deny.^[5][4]
3. To say that one will do something, to promise.^[4][5]
4. To profess, claim; to pretend.^[5][7]

Word family

• ἀποφάσκω (apopháskō)
• ἐπιφάσκω (epipháskō)
• καταφάσκω (katapháskō)
• προφάσκω (propháskō)
• συμφάσκω (sumpháskō)
• ἀντιφάσκω (antipháskō)

Related words

• φημί (phēmí)

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
3. ^ a b c d e 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 Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b 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 Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
10. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge