γράμμα Ancient Greek · revision 3262

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=6th century BC, inscription from Argos|origins=ine-pro *gerbʰ-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /ɡrám.ma/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈɣram.ma/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈɣram.ma/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''γρᾰ́μμᾰ''' (grámma) ''n'' (genitive γρᾰ́μμᾰτος); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is derived from [[γράφω|tr=gráphō|t=to scratch, write]], with the suffix of result nouns [[m|grc|-μα|tr=-ma]].^(Wiktionary)^(CGL 2021)^(DGE) Dialect forms show the suffix more clearly: Argive ⟨γράσσμα⟩ from ⟨*γράφ-σ-μα⟩, and Doric ⟨γράθμα⟩.^(DGE)^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ Γράφω is from the zero grade of [[ine-pro|*gerbʰ-|t=to scratch, carve]], which is also the source of [[ang|ceorfan|t=to cut, carve]].^(Beekes 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The oldest examples are inscriptions from Argos of the 6th and 5th centuries BC, in the dialect forms ''γράσσμα'' and ''γράθμα''.^(DGE)^(LSJ 1940) In literature Aeschylus speaks of “combinations of letters”, that is, writing, and Herodotus notes that certain names all end in the same letter.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The first sense was something drawn or inscribed: Euripides and Plato use it for a drawing or picture.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940) Its main sense was a letter of the alphabet, and in the plural the alphabet, reading and writing (“to learn ''grammata''” was to learn to read) and any written text: a letter, an inscription, a document, the laws, the public records, a literary work.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940) Ammonius distinguishes it from [[στοιχεῖον|tr=stoikheîon]]: the ''stoikheion'' is the sound, the ''gramma'' its written sign.^(Ammonius)

+

+ In the New Testament ''grammata'' are the Scriptures and learning, and Paul sets the written letter of the law against the spirit.^(BDAG 2000) Medieval vernacular Greek used it for a letter of the alphabet, a signature, an epistle and the Bible.^(Kriaras) It was borrowed into Slavic, as in Russian [[m|ru|грамота|tr=gramota]] “charter, literacy”, and Baltic and Finnic took it over from Slavic.^(Wiktionary) Modern Greek [[m|el|γράμμα|tr=grámma]] is a letter of the alphabet and a letter sent by post.^(Triantafyllidis 1998)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 6th century BC – An inscription from Argos has the form ''γράσσμα''.^(DGE)

+ * 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it for written characters.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ * 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for a letter of the alphabet and for a written message.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ * 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for a picture and for the letters taught at school.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ * 1st century AD – Paul contrasts the letter and the spirit.^(BDAG 2000)

+ * 12th–17th century – Vernacular Greek uses it for a letter, a signature and the Bible.^(Kriaras)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Something drawn; a drawing or [[m|en|picture]].^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # A written character, a [[m|en|letter]] of the alphabet.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # ''(plural)'' Letters, reading and writing, [[m|en|literacy]].^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # ''(plural)'' A piece of writing: a text, a letter, a written message.^(CGL 2021)^(BDAG 2000)

+ # An [[m|en|inscription]].^(CGL 2021)

+ # ''(plural)'' Documents, public records, written laws.^(CGL 2021)

+ # A clause in a treaty or law.^(CGL 2021)

+ # A literary work, or ''(plural)'' writings.^(CGL 2021)^(Ammonius)

+ # ''(New Testament)'' The letter of the law, or ''(plural)'' the Scriptures and learning.^(BDAG 2000)

+ # A small weight, a [[m|en|scruple]], one twenty-fourth of an ounce.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[γραμματείδιον|tr=grammateídion]]

+ * [[γραμματεύς|tr=grammateús]]

+ * [[γραμματικός|tr=grammatikós]]

+ * [[γραμματιστής|tr=grammatistḗs]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[γράφω|tr=gráphō]]

+ * [[γραμμή|tr=grammḗ]]

+ * [[en|gram]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Wiktionary treats the weight called γράμμα as a separate word, either a translation of Latin ''scrīptulum'', a variant of ''scrūpulum'', or a borrowing of a Semitic word for a fruit stone.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}