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What does αέναη σοφία mean in Greek?
Yes, I’m going to have fun with this.
First: HAH! You’ve outed yourself as a Modern Greek speaker, Anon OP! In ancient Greek, that would be ἀέναος σοφία. Compound adjectives used the masculine ending for the feminine; and αέναη is what you get when noone you know has been aware of Greek vowel quantity for the past two millennia.
Yes, as Dimitra Triantafyllidou and Konstantinos Konstantinides have said, the adjective means “ever-flowing”, from ἀεί “always” and νάω “to flow”: first attested in Pindar and Herodotus. Used of rivers, lakes, the river Acheron (Are there any Greek towns built along the Acheron river in Greece?); and God bless, Aristophanes had to go and invert it, and use it of bogs and shit (Frogs 146).
Looking at the metaphorical uses of the adjective listed in LSJ. They started early: you have
- glory (Simonides, Heraclitus)
- honour (Pindar)
- power (Euripides)
- tables (Pindar, as a metonymy for hospitality)
- good words (Cratinus)
So use to refer to wisdom sounds entirely plausible. And in fact the phrase ἀέναος σοφία is used by several theologians:
- Philo, On the Posterity of Cain and His Exile §151: she went to the ever-flowing wisdom of God, τὴν ἀένναον τοῦ θεοῦ σοφίαν
- Also: the Epitaph of Pectorius (“ever-flowing waters of enriching wisdom”, Ὕδασιν ἀενάοις πλουτοδότου σοφίης); Diadochus “ever-flowing and completely true wisdom”; Macarius and Anastasius of Sinai “ever-flowing spring of wisdom”; Ecumenical Council of Ephesus “the seas of the ever-flowing knowledge and wisdom of Christ”.
So many instances still make the metaphor explicit, between ever-flowing water and perpetual wisdom; but the earliest instance in Philo doesn’t, and the metaphors with other abstractions, such as glory and power, were well established already.
So. We’ve established that ἀέναος σοφία for ever-flowing wisdom is an established expression. Now to Magister Michael Masiello’s query as to whether “ever-flowing” is the right rendering of “perpetual”.
Etymology is “ever-flowing”. The association with rivers and seas and springs is explicit throughout Byzantium. That’s not unchanging eternity, that’s continually renewing perpetuity. So yes, it is perpetual and not eternal.
Ink away. Philo himself wouldn’t approve the tat (Jewish Orthodoxy is funny about body markings); but his Greek does.
What do we call the process of creating all of the possible morphological extractions of a given word?
In traditional grammar, this is conjugation for verbs, and declension for nominals; both are limited to inflectional morphology.
Is there a connection between the two lower case sigmas in Greek and the two lower case s in traditional German writing (black letter / cursive)?
The two certainly originated independently. Blackletter started elongating the medial s in the 8th century (Long s); Greek started using the pre-8th century lunate sigma as a final form, from the 11th century on (Letters). Both Greek and Latin scripts invented lowercase at the same time, but there was no real cultural contact between West and East until the 1400s, so this seems to be a happy coincidence.
Wikipedia speculates that the existence of a positional variant in Greek sigma reinforced the persistence of a positional variant in Latin s. I’m not convinced; everyone was using the long s, and had been for a while before the invention of printing.
EDIT (from comments):
When Lowercase was invented in Greek in the 8th century, Σ was long dead (it’s an 18th century revival). The uppercase was Ϲ, and the lowercase became σ, which was used everywhere: Ὀδυσσεύσ.
Someone in the 11th century had the idea that the final sigma would look nicer as the original lunate, rather than curling inwards: Ὀδυσσεύϲ. I can kinda see that: it’s a symmetrical form at the end of the letter; it lends itself more readily to ligatures (e.g. οϲ => something that looks like Co attached at the top); the pen leaves the page at the bottom of the line, not mid-line (so less smudging). A few centuries later, the ϲ got a tail added to it, and became ς.
Something quite different happened in Frenkistan (I love that word), and I don’t get it. I don’t get why all of a sudden an s in the middle of a word in the 8th century would turn into a ſ. I can see the ductus argument for Greek, but not for German. Whatever it is, is wasn’t the same thing.
But Greeks in the 8th century and Germans in the 8th century were using the same parchment and the same pens; so while the details of the scripts might have been different, the pressures on what letters would look like must have been similar.
Why isn’t there a non religious equivalent of agape love?
The noun agapē first arises in Koine. (In fact, the first attestations, other than as a proper name, are in the Septuagint.) But the related verb agapaō was used for 800 years before Christ, both agapē and agapaō have been used for 2000 years since Christ, and there’s nothing intrinsically Christian about agapē.
In fact, the Church definition of agapē as “self-denying, divine love” is, well, it’s an eisegesis. In reality, agapē is just unmarked love; and philia was likely the more unmarked term in Classical times. Look at ἀγάπη, DGE Diccionario Griego-Español, the latest big Greek dictionary:
- Sexual love, with a link to Song of Songs thank you very much. (Inb4 “no, no, there’s no sex in the Song of Songs, it’s all metaphor.)
- General sense: love, affection
- Religious sense: love between god and humanity; Christian love, charity
- a favour; alms
- agape, communal feast; funeral feast; church, community
What country of origin does the first name “Zander” come from?
Can be German as Romain Bouchard said, can be English, can be Dutch (mostly as Sander (name)); Zander, Sander, and Xander are abbreviations of Alexander. Xan Fielding was born in 1919, and the oldest Xander listed under Xander was Xander Berkeley, born 1955. But the name was popularised through Xander Harris of Buffy.
As a *surname*, Zander (surname) appears to be only German.
In the New Testament, what different semantic shades can the verb agapao (“love”) take?
A non-theological response:
I’m grabbing all the definitions of agapaō from ἀγαπάω, DGE Diccionario Griego-Español, and highlighting those for which they give New Testament or Septuagint instances.
As you can see, there’s a fair area of coverage for the verb; theologians have tried to pin it down in a nice schema, but a concept as vague as “love” is not going to fit nicely.
A ref. to pers.
I 1 welcome with displays of affection (caress, cuddle, etc.), make an affectionate gesture Odyssey; NT.Marc .10.21 (kiss)
• of animals: to caress Plutarch
I 2 fig. Treat with great affection, pamper Xenophon
II love
1 in a relationship between a loving couple: love, caring or affection, in opposition to mere sexual desire Democritus, Plato, Anaxilaus, Aristotle, Dio Chrysostom
• in the LXX with a more general value, freq. in an erotic sense: LXX Ge .29.18, ref. the incestuous desire of Amnon towards Tamar, LXX 2 Kgs .13.1, with. different shades in the same cont. (cf. A II 3 and BI 3) LXX Os .3.1, Ca LXX .1.3, LXX Ca .1.4, LXX Ca .1.7, 3.1-4.
2 more generally: Love, appreciation, esteem mainly towards a king or important person Pindar, Isocrates, Polybius, Dio Chrysostom, Xenophon, Dio Cassius
• towards relatives, esp. children Plato, Xenophon, Dio Chrysoston, Menander LXX Pr.4.3
• esteem of friends, like Isocrates, Aristotle, Dio Chrysostom, in epistolary formulas in papyri
3 of a king or important person: to esteem, appreciate, have in their favour Democritus, Polybius
• from parents to children LXX Ge .25.28.
4 favor, sympathizing, inclination towards people Polybius, Andocides, Aeschines, Isocrates
• empathize, having affinity with Dio Chrysostom
5 of people: to have high appreciation, to liking some, to be fond of someone for their special characteristics or occupations Plato, Xenophon, Dio Chrysostom
III Religious Sense.
1 render funeral honors Euripides
2 of gods: to feel predilection, love ὅτι ἠγάπησέν σε κύριος ὁ θεός σου LXX De .23.6 , cf. Ep.Rom .8.37, Demosthenes, Dio Chrysostom
• esp. ref. to being loved by Hellenistic divinities. freq. of Oriental or Egyptian origin in papyri; Jesus Christ the much loved (by God), the beloved son, Ep.Eph .1.6 1 Ep.Clem .59.2, Dio Chryostom; Jerusalem Rev. .20.9, Inscription
• loving of man towards divinity Dio Chrysostom, cf. LXX De .6.5, 11.1, Ps .30.24, Eu.Matt.22.37 , Josephus, Julian
3 love, driven by not only a religious but philosophical or social imperative, in primitive societies Plato
• in sects or schools, e.g. those following a “Homeric” or Pythagorean life, regard for one’s teachers Plato, Chrysippus
• in Judaeo-Christian literature. LXX Le .19.18, cf. 34, Ev.Io.13.34, Eu.Matt .5.44, Eu.Luc .6.27, 35, Ign. Magn .6.2
• abstract reference to this kind of selfless love 1 Ep.Io. .3.18
• to show love Ev.Io.17.26.
B referring to a thing or action
I 1 liking to do something Odyssey, LXX. Os .12.8, Theopompus
• liking something Plato, Aeschines, Lucian
• have a habit of Aristotle
2 of possessions. Love, crave Plato, Isocrates, Demosthenes, 2 Ep.Petr .2.15
• to wish for, desire Plato, esp. OT and NT LXX Ps .39.17, 2 Ep.Ti .4.8
• with infinitive LXX Ps .33.13 1 Ep.Clem .22.2, τὸ παθεῖν desire martyrdom Ign. Tr .4.2, cf. imperial inscription
3 abstract. Love, cherish, have high price Thrasymachus, Plato, Pseudo-Archytas, Isocrates, Josephus, Xenophon LXX Si .4.12 1 Ep.Petr .3.10
• of perceptions Aristotle
II be happy, content Plato, Isocrates, Demosthenes, Antiphon, Lycurgus, Lucian, Herodian, Alciphron, Thucydides, Xenophon, Aristophanes, Lysias, Aristotle
• in comparative contexts to prefer Xenophon, Demosthenes, Ev.Io.12.43, Plutarch
So DGE identifies, specifically in the New Testament, the following nuances; and note that there’s plenty more nuances even in the Septuagint, let alone Classical literature
- to display affection (kiss)
- love from (a) god
- love towards (a) god
- love as a social imperative
- craving for worldly possessions
- wishing for, desire for something or to do something
- to cherish
- to prefer
How are colors perceived in different languages and cultures?
Greek:
The colour of sex is pink. Actually, it’s roz, a borrowing from French rose.
The colour of freshness and youth is not green, but pale green, khloros.
Sky blue, galanos, is the colour of calm. (There’s been some etymological conflation there.)
You go yellow with fear, not cowardice.
Eros and Agape are much more specific words than the English word love. Why was the word love decided to be the word for love? What are the etymological roots of love? Why did the English word for love not evolve to be as precise as the greek words?
Critical insight with the four-way classification of love in Koine Greek (Greek words for love): do not assume that the Greek classification was that clear cut. These are theologically useful idealisations. Like I already pointed out in Nick Nicholas’ answer to Why isn’t there a non religious equivalent of agape love?, the Diccionario Griego–Español’s definitions of agapē are:
- Sexual love, with a link to Song of Songs thank you very much. (Inb4 “no, no, there’s no sex in the Song of Songs, it’s all metaphor.)
- General sense: love, affection
- Religious sense: love between god and humanity; Christian love, charity
- a favour; alms
- agape, communal feast; funeral feast; church, community
English certainly makes a distinction between erōs and agapē, without using the word “sex”: it’s the distinction between love and “being in love”. Modern Greek speakers would translate storgē as “caring” for a child, and would just as readily speak of agapē for a child. And while Aristotle defined philia carefully as a kind of love-as-loyalty, in ancient usage it overlaps with storgē, and lovers can feel it too (hence the –philia words in English.)
What should I know (but don’t) about the culture and history of the Cyclades in general and Syros in particular?
Taking the *Greek* Wikipedia article as a baseline, Dimitris Almyrantis?
I hate you.
The fact that the anthem of Rebetika, Frangosyriani, means “Catholic Girl from Syros”, is too obvious for the Greek Wikipedia page to mention; it does at least mention that the song’s composer Vamvakaris was himself a Catholic Boy from Syros (a frangosyrianaki, as he himself sings).
Ok, one thing about Syros jumps to my mind that is on the obscure side. As Wikipedia says, there are two main towns in Syros island: Syros town itself, inhabited by the Catholics indigenous to the island, and Ermoupolis, founded by Orthodox refugees during the Greek War of Independence.
Now in 1918–19, a linguist named John Voyatzidis did a dialectological tour of the Cyclades, on behalf of the Historical Dictionary of the Academy of Athens. He published his findings here:
Βογιατζίδης, Ι.Κ. 1923. Έκθεσις γλωσσικής αποστολής εις τας Κυκλάδας (1918–1919). Λεξικογραφικόν Αρχείον 6: 142–159.
Voyatzidis found that the old Cycladic dialect (which is related to Cretan) was already moribund: he could only found two or three people per island that spoke what he deemed to be authentic dialect. And this is a lot earlier than the mass dying off of the Greek dialects; but then again, the Cyclades were part of the Greek State since the very beginning.
One of the places he visited, of course, was Syros. In the old town of Syros, he heard the same thing as elsewhere on the Cyclades: one or two old timers speaking the authentic dialect, and the rest speaking a mixture of standard and dialect.
… When he went to Ermoupolis, all he heard was Standard Greek.
He published his lightbulb realisation here:
Βογιατζίδης, Ι.Κ. 1923. Πώς ανεπτύχθη η δημοτική μας γλώσσα. Ημερολόγιον της Μεγάλης Ελλάδος 218–225.
His lightbulb realisation might be obvious to us now, but I think he was actually the first one to say it at the time—so blinded were Greek linguists by the Greek Language Question polemics. Standard Modern Greek is a dialect koine. That’s why it was spoken in Ermoupolis and Athens—two towns that were essentially settled by people from throughout Greece, after Greek independence.
Is there a more specific word for endonyms which simply mean “our language” or similar and are semantically awkward for outsiders to use?
Not aware of such a term, but it’s a nice distinction: the endonym is really just a pronominal reference, so much “ours” that it doesn’t warrant a name at all.
I could coin the term hemeteronym, “ours-name”, for it, but I won’t. It’s a pronominal, or deictic, endonym.