Σαρακηνός
Ancient Greek
Alternative forms
- Σαρακινός (Sarakinós)
Etymology
Perhaps from an Old Arabic predecessor of Arabic شَرْقِيِّينَ (šarqiyyīna, “easterners”, oblique case), from شَرْق (šarq, “east”). In this case the word may originally have referred to the Arabs residing to the east of the fertile strip along the Mediterranean. Compare also Arabic شَرْقِيِّينَ (šarqiyyīna), a bedouin tribe, which gave its name to Arabic الشَّرْقِيّ (aš-šarqiyy), ruling dynasty of Emirate of Fujairah; though this may be entirely unrelated. The Oxford English Dictionary disputes this etymology.
According to Michael C. A. Macdonald, likely from Old Arabic or Ancient North Arabian 𐪆𐪇𐪑𐪄𐪚𐪌 (s²rʾqyn /*s²arrāqīn/, “those who migrate to the inner desert”), derived from 𐪆𐪇𐪄 (s²rq /*s²arraqa/, “to migrate in the inner desert”).
Pronunciation
- (4th CE Koine) IPA(key): /sa.ra.ciˈnos/
- (10th CE Byzantine) IPA(key): /sa.ra.ciˈnos/
- (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA(key): /sa.ra.ciˈnos/
Noun
Σαρακηνός • (Sarakēnós) m (genitive Σαρακηνοῦ); second declension
- (Koine) a desert-dwelling Arabic or para-Arabic nomad of North Arabia; a bedouin
- (Byzantine) a Muslim; a Saracen
Declension
| Case / # | Singular | Dual | Plural | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ὁ Σαρακηνός ho Sarakēnós |
τὼ Σαρακηνώ tṑ Sarakēnṓ |
οἱ Σαρακηνοί hoi Sarakēnoí | ||||||||||
| Genitive | τοῦ Σαρακηνοῦ toû Sarakēnoû |
τοῖν Σαρακηνοῖν toîn Sarakēnoîn |
τῶν Σαρακηνῶν tôn Sarakēnôn | ||||||||||
| Dative | τῷ Σαρακηνῷ tôi Sarakēnôi |
τοῖν Σαρακηνοῖν toîn Sarakēnoîn |
τοῖς Σαρακηνοῖς toîs Sarakēnoîs | ||||||||||
| Accusative | τὸν Σαρακηνόν tòn Sarakēnón |
τὼ Σαρακηνώ tṑ Sarakēnṓ |
τοὺς Σαρακηνούς toùs Sarakēnoús | ||||||||||
| Vocative | Σαρακηνέ Sarakēné |
Σαρακηνώ Sarakēnṓ |
Σαρακηνοί Sarakēnoí | ||||||||||
| Notes: |
| ||||||||||||
Descendants
- Greek: Σαρακηνός (Sarakinós)
- → Latin: Saracēnus, Sarracēnus
- Unsorted
- → Old Church Slavonic: срацинъ (sracinŭ)
- Classical Syriac: ܣܪܩܝ (sarqāyā)
- Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: סרקי (sarqayy)
- Hebrew: סרקי (sarqī)
Further reading
- Chase, Frederic (1958) Writings (The Fathers of the Church, vol. 37), Catholic University of America Press, →ISBN, pages 153-160
- Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited, page 1,024
- https://www.academia.edu/4421918/On_Saracens_the_Rawwāfah_Inscription_and_the_Roman_Army