κάστωρ
Ancient Greek
editEtymology
editOf unclear origin.
The traditional theory by Kretschmer derives the word from the name Κᾰ́στωρ (Kástōr, “Castor”), who, in Greek mythology, was known as a savior of women, supposedly for the medicinal effect of castor fluid for women's diseases. However, in the annals of Greek mythology, Castor has never been mentioned in relation with beavers, rendering this derivation as tantamount to folk etymology. In addition, as Schrader and Nehring point out, beavers went extinct in Greece long before the Proto-Hellenics had arrived, which would make the concept of a beaver foreign in the Greek context. It is far more likely that the proper noun Castor is derived from the animal name (perhaps at a time when only the name, but not its characteristics like its musk were remembered), rather than the other way around.
However, beavers were mentioned by Herodotus to exist in the North Pontic area, near the Proto-Indo-European homeland, so it is almost certain the Hellenic tribes were familiar with beavers before venturing into Greece. Thus, there is a chance that the word was inherited from a Proto-Indo-European *kestor- (“beaver, musk”), and was preserved only in Greek. A better candidate for a native Pre-Greek word for "beaver" might be λᾰ́τᾰξ (látax). See also Sanskrit कस्तूरी (kastūrī, “musk”), which was borrowed from the derivative καστόριον (kastórion, “castoreum”).[1]
Note that the main Indo-European word for "beaver", *bʰébʰrus (which did not survive or exist in Hellenic), may be a reduplicative (and thus non-atomic) formation from *bʰerH- (“brown”).
Pronunciation
edit- (5th BCE Attic) IPA(key): /kás.tɔːr/
- (1st CE Egyptian) IPA(key): /ˈkas.tor/
- (4th CE Koine) IPA(key): /ˈkas.tor/
- (10th CE Byzantine) IPA(key): /ˈkas.tor/
- (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA(key): /ˈkas.tor/
Noun
editκάστωρ • (kástōr) m (genitive κάστορος); third declension
Inflection
editCase / # | Singular | Dual | Plural | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nominative | ὁ κάστωρ ho kástōr |
τὼ κάστορε tṑ kástore |
οἱ κάστορες hoi kástores | ||||||||||
Genitive | τοῦ κάστορος toû kástoros |
τοῖν καστόροιν toîn kastóroin |
τῶν καστόρων tôn kastórōn | ||||||||||
Dative | τῷ κάστορῐ tôi kástori |
τοῖν καστόροιν toîn kastóroin |
τοῖς κάστορσῐ / κάστορσῐν toîs kástorsi(n) | ||||||||||
Accusative | τὸν κάστορᾰ tòn kástora |
τὼ κάστορε tṑ kástore |
τοὺς κάστορᾰς toùs kástoras | ||||||||||
Vocative | κάστορ kástor |
κάστορε kástore |
κάστορες kástores | ||||||||||
Notes: |
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Derived terms
edit- καστόριον (kastórion)
Descendants
editReferences
edit- ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “κάστωρ, -ορος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 655-6
Further reading
edit- “κάστωρ”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “κάστωρ”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
- κάστωρ in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
- Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- Ancient Greek terms with unknown etymologies
- Ancient Greek terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
- Ancient Greek terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Ancient Greek 2-syllable words
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- Ancient Greek nouns
- Ancient Greek paroxytone terms
- Ancient Greek masculine nouns
- Ancient Greek third-declension nouns
- Ancient Greek masculine nouns in the third declension
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