Ἀσία

See also: Ασία

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• Ἀσίη (Asíē) — Ionic

Etymology

Compare Mycenaean Greek 𐀀𐀯𐀹𐀊 (a-si-wi-ja). There is no current consensus on the origin of the word. It originally applied only to Anatolia, and was later extended to its current definition. Likely an extension from or related to Hittite 𒀸𒋗𒉿 (aš-šu-wa /⁠Aššuwa⁠/, “northwest Anatolia”) of uncertain origin, but perhaps from:

• A proposed Aegean language family word asis, meaning “muddy” or “silty”, as reference to the silty eastern shores of the Aegean sea.
• Akkadian 𒀀𒍮 (a-ṣu, “to go out, to rise”), a reference to the rising sun, hence “land of the sunrise”; this is however potentially problematic as the Aššuwa league was west not east of the Hittite polity. Compare also Εὐρώπη (Eurṓpē).
• Alternatively from the same Akkadian, in the sense of “rising, rising up, to leave, to depart”. The Aššuwa league was formed after initial Hittite incursions into the western peninsula as a coalition to balk advancement; described as a rebellion, an uprising or a breaking away of lands on the fringe of Hittite control. A reconciliation between the two could be found as one sense providing the meaning for western Asia-minor in the Hittite view and the other for the sense of the direction in a general sense by the Akkadian terminology. For the early Greeks both the league and the sunrise coincided in the same direction.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /a.sí.aː/ → /aˈsi.a/ → /aˈsi.a/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /a.sí.aː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /aˈsi.a/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /aˈsi.a/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /aˈsi.a/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /aˈsi.a/

or

 

• IPA^(key): /aː.sí.aː/ → /aˈsi.a/ → /aˈsi.a/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /aː.sí.aː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /aˈsi.a/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /aˈsi.a/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /aˈsi.a/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /aˈsi.a/

The first vowel is short in prose and long in verse.

Proper noun

Ᾰ̓σῐ́ᾱ • (Asíā) f (genitive Ᾰ̓σῐ́ᾱς); first declension

1. Anatolia, Asia Minor (an ancient region in Western Asia, approximately covering the area of modern Turkey)
2. Asia (a Roman province in western Anatolia)

Inflection

First declension of ἡ Ᾰ̓σῐ́ᾱ; τῆς Ᾰ̓σῐ́ᾱς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ἡ Ᾰ̓σῐ́ᾱ hē Asíā
Genitive	τῆς Ᾰ̓σῐ́ᾱς tês Asíās
Dative	τῇ Ᾰ̓σῐ́ᾳ têi Asíāi
Accusative	τὴν Ᾰ̓σῐ́ᾱν tḕn Asíān
Vocative	Ᾰ̓σῐ́ᾱ Asíā
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• Ἀσιαγενής (Asiagenḗs)
• Ἀσιανός (Asianós)
• Ἀσιαρχέω (Asiarkhéō)
• Ἀσιάρχης (Asiárkhēs)
• Ἀσιαρχία (Asiarkhía)
• Ἀσιαρχός (Asiarkhós)
• Ἀσιάς (Asiás)
• Ἀσιάτης (Asiátēs)
• Ἀσιατικός (Asiatikós)
• Ἀσιᾶτις (Asiâtis)
• Ἀσιατογεγής (Asiatogegḗs)
• Ἀσίηθεν (Asíēthen)
• Ἀσίς (Asís)

 

Related terms

• Ἄσιος (Ásios)

Descendants

• → Coptic: ⲁⲥⲓⲁ (asia)
• Greek: Ασία (Asía)
• → Gothic: 𐌰𐍃𐌹𐌰 (asia)
• → Latin: Āsia
  • → Middle English: Asia, Asie (also via Old French)
    • English: Asia
  • Old French: Asie
    • French: Asie

References

• “Ἀσία”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “Ἀσία”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• Ἀσία in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• “Ἀσία”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G773 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.
  • asia idem, page 44.
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[2], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited, pages 1,002, 1,003