Μοῦσα

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See also: μούσα and μοῦσα

Ancient Greek

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Alternative forms

Etymology

Of disputed origin. Several hypotheses exist:[1]

  • From *Μόνθια (*Mónthia), from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to think”) + *dʰeh₁-, whence μανθάνω (manthánō). Among theories supposing an Indo-European origin, this is considered most appealing by Beekes.
  • From *Μόντια (*Móntia), from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to tower; mountain”), since all the most important cult-centres of the Muses were on mountains or hills,[2] but Beekes finds this etymology impossible, as the root *men- (“mountain”) is not otherwise found in Greek.
  • Pokorny derives the word from Proto-Indo-European *moh₁-, *meh₁- (“endeavour, will, temper”), comparing μῶμαι (mômai, “to seek after, meditate”), μαίομαι (maíomai, “to seek after”), μαιμάω (maimáō, “to be very eager”), Latin mōs (“manner, custom”), English mood, Proto-Slavic *sъmě̀ti (“to dare”).[3]
  • Beekes suggests the possibility of a borrowing from Pre-Greek, with proto-form *montʸ-a, though there is no evidence for or against substrate origin.
  • Swerdlow traces it back to Bohairic Coptic Egyptian mōw—apparently cognate with Hebrew מֹשֶׁה (moshé, “Moses”), with medieval sources mentioning that, like the prophet, "music was found by the water".[4]

Pronunciation

 

Proper noun

Μοῦσᾰ • (Moûsă) f (genitive Μούσης); first declension

  1. Muse

Declension

First declension of ἡ Μοῦσᾰ; τῆς Μούσης (Attic)
Case / # Singular Dual Plural
Nominative ἡ Μοῦσᾰ
hē Moûsă 		τὼ Μούσᾱ
tṑ Moúsā 		αἱ Μοῦσαι
hai Moûsai
Genitive τῆς Μούσης
tês Moúsēs 		τοῖν Μούσαιν
toîn Moúsain 		τῶν Μουσῶν
tôn Mousôn
Dative τῇ Μούσῃ
têi Moúsēi 		τοῖν Μούσαιν
toîn Moúsain 		ταῖς Μούσαις
taîs Moúsais
Accusative τὴν Μοῦσᾰν
tḕn Moûsăn 		τὼ Μούσᾱ
tṑ Moúsā 		τᾱ̀ς Μούσᾱς
tā̀s Moúsās
Vocative Μοῦσᾰ
Moûsă 		Μούσᾱ
Moúsā 		Μοῦσαι
Moûsai
Notes:
First declension of Μοῦσᾰ; Μούσης (Epic)
Case / # Singular Dual Plural
Nominative Μοῦσᾰ
Moûsă 		Μούσᾱ
Moúsā 		Μοῦσαι
Moûsai
Genitive Μούσης
Moúsēs 		Μούσαιν / Μούσαιῐν / Μούσῃῐν
Moúsai(ĭ)n / Moúsēiĭn 		Μουσᾱ́ων / Μουσέ͜ων / Μουσῶν
Mousā́ōn / Mousé͜ōn / Mousôn
Dative Μούσῃ
Moúsēi 		Μούσαιν / Μούσαιῐν / Μούσῃῐν
Moúsai(ĭ)n / Moúsēiĭn 		Μούσῃσῐ / Μούσῃσῐν / Μούσῃς / Μούσαις
Moúsēisĭ(n) / Moúsēis / Moúsais
Accusative Μοῦσᾰν
Moûsăn 		Μούσᾱ
Moúsā 		Μούσᾱς
Moúsās
Vocative Μοῦσᾰ
Moûsă 		Μούσᾱ
Moúsā 		Μοῦσαι
Moûsai
Notes:
  • Dialects other than Attic are not well attested. Some forms may be based on conjecture. Use with caution.

Derived terms

Descendants

  • English: Muse
  • Greek: Μούσα (Moúsa)
  • Latin: Musa

References

  1. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “μοῦσα”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 972-3
  2. ^ * A. B. Cook (1914), Zeus: A Study in Ancient Religion, Vol. I, p. 104, Cambridge University Press
  3. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959) “*mē-, *mō-, *mə-”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 2, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, pages 704-5
  4. ^ N.M. Swerdlow (1967), "'Musica Dicitur A Moys, Quod Est Aqua'", Journal of the American Musicological Society, Vol. 20, No. 1, p. 3–9

Further reading

Wikious
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