Συρία

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• Σῠρῐ́η (Sŭrĭ́ē) — Ionic

Etymology

Apheretic form of Ἀσσυρία (Assuría, “Assyria”), from Akkadian 𒀾𒋗𒊏𒅀 (Aššūrāyu), from 𒀸𒋩 (Aššur, “Assur”).

The land corresponding to modern Syria was originally called Aram by its ancient inhabitants, the Arameans. After the Assyrian conquest of Aram, the Greeks applied the name Syria to this territory. Over time, Syria came to denote the broader Levant, while Assyria referred to Mesopotamia. Herodotus (5th century BCE) was among the earliest Greek authors to consistently distinguish Syria and Assyria. After his time, some classical writers occasionally blurred the distinction. Nevertheless, educated writers and administrative usage gradually preserved the distinction, with Syria referring to the Levant and Assyria to Mesopotamia.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /sy.rí.aː/ → /syˈri.a/ → /siˈri.a/

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

Proper noun

Σῠρῐ́ᾱ • (Sŭrĭ́ā) f (genitive Σῠρῐ́ᾱς); first declension

1. (historical) Syria (a historical region of West Asia, extending from modern-day southeast Turkey to the north, the Euphrates and Arabian Desert to the east, the Sinai Peninsula to the south, and the Mediterranean sea to the west)
2. (historical) Syria (an ancient Roman province between 64 BCE and 198 CE)

Declension

First declension of ἡ Σῠρῐ́ᾱ; τῆς Σῠρῐ́ᾱς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ἡ Σῠρῐ́ᾱ hē Sŭrĭ́ā
Genitive	τῆς Σῠρῐ́ᾱς tês Sŭrĭ́ās
Dative	τῇ Σῠρῐ́ᾳ tēî Sŭrĭ́āi
Accusative	τὴν Σῠρῐ́ᾱν tḕn Sŭrĭ́ān
Vocative	Σῠρῐ́ᾱ Sŭrĭ́ā
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• σῠρῐ́ᾱ (sŭrĭ́ā)
• Σῠρῐᾰκός (Sŭrĭăkós)
• Σῠρῐᾰ́ρχης (Sŭrĭắrkhēs)
• Σῠρῐᾰρχῐ́ᾱ (Sŭrĭărkhĭ́ā)
• Σῠ́ρῐος (Sŭ́rĭos)
• Σῠρῐστῐ́ (Sŭrĭstĭ́)

Descendants

• Greek: Συρία (Syría)
• → Arabic: سُورِيَا (sūriyā), سُورِيَة (sūriya)
• → Coptic: ⲥⲩⲣⲓⲁ (suria)
• → Gothic: 𐍃𐍅𐍂𐌹𐌰 (swria)
• → Hebrew: סוּרְיָה (súrya)
• → Latin: Syria, Suria, Siria
  • Asturian: Siria
  • Catalan: Síria
  • Old French: Sirie, Surie
    • French: Syrie
    • Norman: Syrie
    • Middle English: Sirie
      • English: Syria
  • → Old English: Syria
  • Italian: Siria
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: Siria, Syria
    • Fala: Siria
    • Galician: Siria
    • Portuguese: Síria, Syria (pre-standardization spelling)
      • → Hunsrik: Siria
  • Romanian: Siria
  • Spanish: Siria
• → Turkish: Suriye

Further reading

• “Συρία”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Bauer, Walter et al. (2001), A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• G4947 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 1,026
• Nestle, Eberhard; Aland, Kurt with et al. (2012), Novum Testamentum Graece‎^[2], 28th revised edition, 4th corrected printing edition, Stuttgart: Stuttgart Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, →ISBN

Greek

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Συρία (Suría, “Syria”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /siˈɾi.a/

Proper noun

Συρία • (Syría) f

1. Syria (a country in West Asia in the Middle East)

Declension

Declension of Συρία

	singular
nominative	Συρία (Syría)
genitive	Συρίας (Syrías)
accusative	Συρία (Syría)
vocative	Συρία (Syría)

Further reading

• Συρία on the Greek Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^el