Συράκουσαι

Ancient Greek

Συράκουσαι (Surā́kousai) Syracuse was the most powerful Doric Greek settlement in Magna Graecia, and among the largest of the Ancient Greek world. Syracuse played a major role in the Peloponnesian War. From 415-413 BC, archrival Athens launched a massive Sicilian Expedition campaign to attack Syracuse; a series of battles between the two great city-states resulted in a decisive victory for the Syracusans and a crushing defeat for the Athenians, who never fully recovered.

Alternative forms

• Συράκοσαι (Surákosai) — Doric
• Συρακόσσα (Surakóssa)
• Συράκοσσαι (Surákossai)
• Συράκουσα (Surákousa)
• Συρήκουσαι (Surḗkousai) — Ionic
• Συράκουσσα (Surákoussa)
• Συρακώ (Surakṓ)

Etymology

Attested by 8th century BC, from a Pre-Greek word, possibly Phoenician 𐤔𐤄𐤓𐤀𐤇 (šhrʾḥ, “to feel ill”) in reference to the port's proximity to a swamp.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /sy.rǎː.kuː.sai̯/ → /syˈra.ku.sɛ/ → /siˈra.ku.se/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /sy.rǎː.kuː.sai̯/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /syˈra.ku.sɛ/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /syˈra.ku.sɛ/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /syˈra.ku.se/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /siˈra.ku.se/

Proper noun

Συρᾱ́κουσαι • (Surā́kousai) f pl (genitive Συρακουσῶν); first declension

1. Syracuse

Inflection

First declension of αἱ Σῠρᾱ́κουσαι; τῶν Σῠρᾱκουσῶν (Attic)

Case / #	Plural
Nominative	αἱ Σῠρᾱ́κουσαι hai Surā́kousai
Genitive	τῶν Σῠρᾱκουσῶν tôn Surākousôn
Dative	ταῖς Σῠρᾱκούσαις taîs Surākoúsais
Accusative	τᾱ̀ς Σῠρᾱκούσᾱς tā̀s Surākoúsās
Vocative	Σῠρᾱ́κουσαι Surā́kousai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• Συρακοσεύς (Surakoseús)
• Συρακοσία (Surakosía)
• Συρακόσιος (Surakósios)
• Συρακόσσιος (Surakóssios)
• Συρακοσσίς (Surakossís)

Descendants

• Arabic: سيراقوسة
• Greek: Συρακούσες (Syrakoúses)
• Latin: Syrācūsae
  • French: Syracuse
    • English: Syracuse
  • Italian: Siracusa
  • Spanish: Siracusa
• Sicilian: Saragusa (“g” is mostly silent)

References

• “Συράκουσαι”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• G4946 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited, page 1,026
• Nestle, Eberhard, Aland, Kurt with et al. (2012) Novum Testamentum Graece‎^[2], 28th revised edition, 4th corrected printing edition, Stuttgart: Stuttgart Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, →ISBN