ἀμφορεύς

Forms

ᾰ̓μφορεύς (amphoreús) m (genitive ᾰ̓μφορέως); third declension^[1] Mycenaean a-pi-po-re-we (for the full form) and a-po-re-we (for the shortened one).^[1][2] Borrowed into Coptic, first in a manuscript of about AD 700.^[3]

Etymology

It is a shortening by haplology from Ancient Greek ἀμφιφορεύς (amphiphoreús, “two-handled jar”), the Homeric form.^[4][1][5] That word is formed from Ancient Greek ἀμφι- (amphi-, “on both sides”) + φορεύς (phoreús, “bearer”), from φέρω (phérō, “to carry”): the jar is carried by its two handles.^[1][4] The ending -εύς (-eús) is that of instrument nouns.^[4] Both forms are already Mycenaean.^[1][6]

Ancient etymologists explained it in the same way, as a jar carried from both sides; the Etymologicum Genuinum also proposed αἴρω (aírō, “to lift”).^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The shortened form is already written on Mycenaean tablets; in literature it first appears in Pindar, Herodotus and Thucydides, for a two-handled jar.^[2][1][8]

Semantic evolution

Homer uses only the full form, for jars of gold or stone, for wine, and for a cinerary urn.^[5][9] The amphora was the main storage and transport vessel of antiquity, usually of clay, for wine, oil, milk, grain or pickles; painted amphoras served as grave ornaments, urns, and prizes of oil at the Panathenaea.^[10][2][5] Aristotle mentions amphoras as urns for jurors' votes, and Aristophanes calls a theatre audience “amphoras”, as an insult.^[8] As a liquid measure it equalled the metretes of about 39 litres.^[2][8][5]

It was borrowed as Latin amphora, whose diminutive is Latin ampulla.^[4][11] It survives as the learned Modern Greek αμφορέας (amforéas), an archaeological term.^[12]

Timeline

• Mycenaean – The tablets record the full and the shortened form.^[1][6]
• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use the full form ἀμφιφορεύς.^[5][9]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses ἀμφορεύς for a jar and a liquid measure.^[5][2]
• 4th century BC – Demosthenes uses it as a measure.^[5][2]
• About AD 700 – A Coptic manuscript has the borrowed word.^[3]
• Modern Greek – Αμφορέας is a learned archaeological term.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. An amphora, a two-handled jar with a narrow neck, for wine, oil, milk and other goods.^[5][8][2]
2. An ornament in the shape of a vase.^[5][2]
3. A liquid measure, equal to the μετρητής (metrētḗs).^[5][8]

Related words

• φέρω (phérō)
• Latin amphora
• Latin ampulla

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
3. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
4. ^ a b c d 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
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
7. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
8. ^ a b c d e Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
10. ^ Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
11. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
12. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki