σύν

See also: συν, συν-, and Appendix:Variations of "sun"

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• ξύν (xún) – Homeric, Old Attic
• σούν (soún) – Boeotian

Etymology

Doubtful. Younger form of Homeric and Old Attic ξύν (xún), Mycenaean Greek 𐀓𐀱 (ku-su). These probably reflect Proto-Indo-European *som- < *sem- (“one, together”) contaminated with the ḱ of *ḱóm (“beside, with”) along with a conflation of their meanings. A derivation from *som- alone is impossible, since the *s- would be expected to give h- (aspiration); neither is the ks- explainable from *ḱóm alone. The -u- is in line with the Pre-Greek shift of PIE *o > u before resonants, as in μύλη (múlē) (Cowgill's law).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /sýn/ → /syn/ → /sin/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /sýn/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /syn/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /syn/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /syn/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /sin/

Preposition

σῠ́ν • (sún) (governs the dative)

1. beside, with

Usage notes

• In compounds it has similar applications, including completeness, simultaneity.

Derived terms

• μεταξύ (metaxú)
• ξυνός (xunós)
• συν- (sun-)

Descendants

• Greek: συν (syn)
• Yevanic: שִׁין‎ (šin)
• → Dutch: syn-
• → English: syn-, sym-
• → French: syn-
• → German: syn-
• → Italian: sin-, sim-

References

• “σύν”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• σύν in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• σύν in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• G4862 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the BibleWoodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • conjunction idem, page 160.
  • with idem, page 983.
• Sihler, Andrew L. (1995) New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN