ἄστυ

Forms

ᾰ̓́στῠ (ástu) n (genitive ᾰ̓́στεως); third declension^[1] Mycenaean Greek wa-tu;^[2] Boeotian genitive ϝάστιος (wástios); the compound wa-tu-o-ko, Arcadian ϝασστυόχος (wasstuókhos).^[2][3] Genitive Epic and Ionic ἄστεος, Attic ἄστεως; plural ἄστεα, Attic ἄστη.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *wástu,^[1] from Proto-Indo-European *weh₂stu-, with the ablauting form *uh₂steu- generalised in Greek.^[2] Cognate with Sanskrit वास्तु (vā́stu, “site of a house”), Tocharian A waṣt and Tocharian B ost (“house”).^[2][1]

Beekes holds that the shape of the root rules out the old connection with the Sanskrit verb for “to dwell”, with Hittite ḫuiš- (“to live”) and with the Homeric aorist ἄεσα (áesa, “spent the night”).^[2] LSJ also doubts it, because the Sanskrit verb has ⟨e⟩ in the root.^[2][3] Some scholars keep the link by assuming that Proto-Indo-European *h₂us- became *uh₂s-, which Beekes does not accept, while the DGE derives the word from the root of ḫuš-.^[2][5] Beekes also rejects a link with Latin vāstus (“desolate”).^[2]

Ancient writers derived it from ἵστημι (hístēmi, “to set up”): Philochorus explained it as the place where scattered nomads settled down to live together.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Mycenaean Greek wa-tu is the oldest form.^[2][5] In Homer it is a town, as in “the great town of Priam”; in one passage of the Iliad it is the town as buildings, set against πόλις (pólis), the community.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

Herodotus uses it for the lower town as opposed to the ἀκρόπολις (akrópolis).^[3][4] In Attica it meant Athens itself: Aristophanes sets it against the countryside, and Plato, Demosthenes and Lycurgus against Phalerum or the Piraeus.^[3][4] In Egyptian papyri of the 3rd century BC it is Alexandria.^[3]

Its derivatives carry the town's prestige: ἀστεῖος (asteîos) “of the town” came to mean “refined, witty”, and ἀστός (astós) is a citizen.^[2] Saalfeld records a Latin borrowing, Latin asty.^[7] In Modern Greek άστυ (ásti) is a learned word for a city, and “the glorious town” is Athens.^[8]

Timeline

• Mycenaean – The tablets have Mycenaean Greek wa-tu.^[2][5]
• Homer – The Iliad speaks of “the great town of Priam”.^[3][4]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for the lower town below the acropolis.^[3][4]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it for Athens as opposed to the countryside.^[3][4]
• 3rd century BC – Papyri use it for Alexandria.^[3]
• Modern Greek – Modern Greek άστυ (ásti) survives as a learned word for a city.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A town or city, as a place to live.^[3][4]
2. The lower town, as opposed to the ἀκρόπολις (akrópolis).^[3][4]
3. (Attica) Athens, as opposed to the countryside or to Phalerum and the Piraeus.^[3][4]
4. (Egypt) Alexandria.^[3]
5. The town as buildings, as opposed to the citizen body.^[3]

Word family

• ἀστός (astós)
• ἀστεῖος (asteîos)
• ἀστικός (astikós)
• ἄστυδε (ástude)

Related words

• Latin asty

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
6. ^ Etygram: ancient etymologies of Greek words, CEPAM, Université Côte d'Azur, http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram
7. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki