νῆσος

See also: νήσος

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• νᾶσος (nâsos) — Doric
• νῆσσος (nêssos) — Attic
• νᾶσσος (nâssos) — Rhodian

Etymology

Uncertain. Has traditionally been connected with νήχω (nḗkhō, “I swim”) from Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh₂- (“to flow, to swim”). If its meaning “island” has developed from a more original meaning “headland, cape”, it may be, like Proto-Germanic *nasją (“foothill; headland, cape”) and Bulgarian нос (nos, “nose; cape, promontory”), a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *néh₂s (“nose”); in more landsman environments, compare the developments of Minaean 𐩱𐩬𐩰 (ʾnf, “wall of a city”) from “nose” and Arabic جَزِيرَة (jazīra, “island”) apparently from “bridge”.

However, in that case, the origin of -s-, which is not usually preserved in Greek, remains to be explained, possibly requiring a borrowing from another Indo-European language (though Furnée suspects a Pre-Greek origin, and Beekes Aegean).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /nɛ̂ː.sos/ → /ˈni.sos/ → /ˈni.sos/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /nɛ̂ː.sos/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈne̝.sos/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈni.sos/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈni.sos/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈni.sos/

Noun

νῆσος • (nêsos) f (genitive νήσου); second declension

1. island

Inflection

Second declension of ἡ νῆσος; τῆς νήσου (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ νῆσος hē nêsos	τὼ νήσω tṑ nḗsō	αἱ νῆσοι hai nêsoi
Genitive	τῆς νήσου tês nḗsou	τοῖν νήσοιν toîn nḗsoin	τῶν νήσων tôn nḗsōn
Dative	τῇ νήσῳ têi nḗsōi	τοῖν νήσοιν toîn nḗsoin	ταῖς νήσοις taîs nḗsois
Accusative	τὴν νῆσον tḕn nêson	τὼ νήσω tṑ nḗsō	τᾱ̀ς νήσους tā̀s nḗsous
Vocative	νῆσε nêse	νήσω nḗsō	νῆσοι nêsoi
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Second declension of ἡ νῆσος; τῆς νήσου (Ionic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ νῆσος hē nêsos	τὼ νήσω tṑ nḗsō	αἱ νῆσοι hai nêsoi
Genitive	τῆς νήσου tês nḗsou	τοῖν νήσοιν toîn nḗsoin	τῶν νήσων tôn nḗsōn
Dative	τῇ νήσῳ têi nḗsōi	τοῖν νήσοιν toîn nḗsoin	τῇσῐ / τῇσῐν νήσοισῐ / νήσοισῐν / νήσοις têisi(n) nḗsoisi(n) / nḗsois
Accusative	τὴν νῆσον tḕn nêson	τὼ νήσω tṑ nḗsō	τᾱ̀ς νήσους tā̀s nḗsous
Vocative	νῆσε nêse	νήσω nḗsō	νῆσοι nêsoi
Notes:	Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Derived terms

• Δωδεκάνησα (Dōdekánēsa)
• νησαῖος (nēsaîos)
• νησίδιον (nēsídion)
• νησίς (nēsís)
• νησιώτης (nēsiṓtēs)
• νησιωτικός (nēsiōtikós)
• νησιῶτις (nēsiôtis)
• Πελοπόννησος (Pelopónnēsos)
• Προκόννησος (Prokónnēsos)
• Τρῐνᾱσός (Trināsós)
• Χερσόνησος (Khersónēsos)
• χερσόνησος (khersónēsos)

 

Descendants

• → Coptic: ⲛⲏⲥⲟⲥ (nēsos)
• → English: Austronesia, Indonesia, Macaronesia, Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia
• Greek: νήσος (nísos), νησί (nisí)
• → Latin: nēsus

Further reading

• “νῆσος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “νῆσος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “νῆσος”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• νῆσος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• νῆσος in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• Furnée, Edzard Johan (1972) Die wichtigsten konsonantischen Erscheinungen des Vorgriechischen (Janua linguarum. Series practica; 150) (in German), The Hague and Paris: Mouton, page 387
• G3520 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 460
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[2], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • island idem, page 460.