σκαμμωνία

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

σκαμωνία (skamōnía), σκαμμώνιον (skammṓnion), σκαμμωνία (skammōnía), κάμων (kámōn), ασκαμωνία (askamōnía)

Etymology

Unknown. Noting its byform κάμων (kámōn)—attested in the Alexipharmaca, 484, of the Anatolian-born Nicander—, Paul Kretschmer 1888 explained it as the same word as the Semitic borrowing κύμινον (kúminon, “cumin”), considering that cumin is also purgative—said also stimulant, laxative, even abortive—in large quantities, proferring Neo-Greek examples for this #σκ-/#κ- variation. Robert Beekes cares not about this variation and instead adduces the variation #ασκ-/#σκ- as an indicator of Pre-Greek origin.

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /skam.mɔː.ní.aː/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /skam.moˈni.a/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /skam.moˈni.a/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /skam.moˈni.a/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ska.moˈni.a/

Noun

σκαμμωνίᾱ • (skammōníā) f (genitive σκαμμωνίᾱς); first declension

scammony

Inflection

First declension of ἡ σκαμμωνίᾱ; τῆς σκαμμωνίᾱς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ σκαμμωνίᾱ hē skammōníā	τὼ σκαμμωνίᾱ tṑ skammōníā	αἱ σκαμμωνίαι hai skammōníai
Genitive	τῆς σκαμμωνίᾱς tês skammōníās	τοῖν σκαμμωνίαιν toîn skammōníain	τῶν σκαμμωνιῶν tôn skammōniôn
Dative	τῇ σκαμμωνίᾳ têi skammōníāi	τοῖν σκαμμωνίαιν toîn skammōníain	ταῖς σκαμμωνίαις taîs skammōníais
Accusative	τὴν σκαμμωνίᾱν tḕn skammōníān	τὼ σκαμμωνίᾱ tṑ skammōníā	τᾱ̀ς σκαμμωνίᾱς tā̀s skammōníās
Vocative	σκαμμωνίᾱ skammōníā	σκαμμωνίᾱ skammōníā	σκαμμωνίαι skammōníai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

→ Arabic: سَقَمُونِيَا (saqamūniyā)
→ Latin: scammōnia, scammōnea
→ Classical Syriac: ܣܩܡܘܢܝܐ, ܣܩܐܡܘܢܝܐ (/sqʾmwnyʾ/), ܣܩܐܡܡܘܢܝܐ (/sqʾmmwnyʾ/), ܣܩܡܘܢܘܪܝܢ (/sqmwnyryn/), ܣܩܡܘܢܝܪܝܢ (/sqmwnyryn/), ܣܩܡܘܢܪܝܢ (saqmōnārīn)

References

Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), volume II, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 1341
Frisk, Hjalmar (1970) “κύμῑνον”, in Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume II, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, page 49, and Frisk, Hjalmar (1970) “σκαμμωνία”, in Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume II, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, page 717
Kretschmer, Paul (1888) “Ueber den dialekt der attischen vaseninschriften”, in Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung auf dem Gebiete der Indogermanischen Sprachen‎ (in German), volume 29, pages 440–441