θέμα

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From τῐ́θημῐ (tĭ́thēmĭ, “to set, put, place”) +‎ -μᾰ (-mă, nominal suffix), and/or directly from Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁mn̥, leveled to the weak stem *dʰh₁-. Doublet of θῆμᾰ (thêmă) and θημών (thēmṓn).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /tʰé.ma/ → /ˈθe.ma/ → /ˈθe.ma/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /tʰé.ma/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈtʰe.ma/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈθe.ma/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈθe.ma/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈθe.ma/

Noun

θέμᾰ • (thémă) n (genitive θέμᾰτος); third declension

1. that which is placed or laid down
   1. deposited money; treasure; (grain) deposit
   2. loaf heap
   3. coffer

      Synonym: θήκη (thḗkē)

   4. position; (land) situation
   5. (astrology) nativity; horoscope.
   6. common burial place; communal cemetery
      1. (by extension) common land
      2. (also) private burial ground
2. something proposed as a prize
3. case proposed for discussion; an argument's theme
   1. proposition; premiss
   2. (law) case
   3. arbitrary determination
   4. (grammar) canonical wordform; lemma; lexeme
      • Etymologicum Magnum 88.13:

        τὸ θέμα, ἀμύσσω: ὁ μέλλων, ἀμύξω

        tò théma, amússō: ho méllōn, amúxō

        The caninocal form (of the verb scratch) is to scratch; the future tense is will scratch.

   5. (logic, Stoicism) mode of reduction of an irregular syllogism
4. a Theme (regional unit of government of the Byzantine Empire from c. the 7^th–11^th centuries)

Inflection

Third declension of τὸ θέμᾰ; τοῦ θέμᾰτος (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ θέμᾰ tò thémă	τὼ θέμᾰτε tṑ thémăte	τᾰ̀ θέμᾰτᾰ tằ thémătă
Genitive	τοῦ θέμᾰτος toû thémătos	τοῖν θεμᾰ́τοιν toîn themắtoin	τῶν θεμᾰ́των tôn themắtōn
Dative	τῷ θέμᾰτῐ tōî thémătĭ	τοῖν θεμᾰ́τοιν toîn themắtoin	τοῖς θέμᾰσῐ / θέμᾰσῐν toîs thémăsĭ(n)
Accusative	τὸ θέμᾰ tò thémă	τὼ θέμᾰτε tṑ thémăte	τᾰ̀ θέμᾰτᾰ tằ thémătă
Vocative	θέμᾰ thémă	θέμᾰτε thémăte	θέμᾰτᾰ thémătă
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

• → Latin: thema
  • → English: theme
  • → German: Thema
    • → Hunsrik: Tema
    • → Japanese: テーマ (tēma)
    • → Russian: те́ма (téma)
      • → Georgian: თემა (tema)
      • → Uyghur: تېما (tëma)
      • → Uzbek: tema
    • → Esperanto: temo
  • → French: thème
  • → Italian: tema
  • → Dutch: thema
  • → Polish: temat (learned)
  • → Portuguese: teima, tema
  • → Romanian: temă
  • → Spanish: tema
• → Old Georgian:
  • Georgian: თემი (temi)
    • → Bats: თემ class jj (tem)

References

• “θέμα”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• θέμα in Bailly, Anatole (1935), Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• 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
• θέμα in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007), Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
• θέμα, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011

Greek

Etymology

From Ancient Greek θέμᾰ (thémă).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈθema/
• Hyphenation: θέ‧μα

Noun

θέμα • (théma) n (plural θέματα)

1. subject, main topic (of conversation, etc)
2. affair
3. (music) theme
4. (linguistics) stem
5. theme, the regional unit of government of the Byzantine empire.
6. a matter of [with genitive] (when something is wholly dependent on what noun denotes, e.g., a matter of time)

   Είναι μόνο θέμα χρόνου τώρα.

   Eínai móno théma chrónou tóra.

   It's just a matter of time.

   Δε θεωρώ ότι είναι θέμα επιλογής

   De theoró óti eínai théma epilogís

   I don't think that this is a matter of choice.

   Είναι αρκετά θέμα διαίσθησης.

   Eínai arketá théma diaísthisis.

   This is quite intuitive.

Declension

Declension of θέμα

	singular	plural
nominative	θέμα (théma)	θέματα (thémata)
genitive	θέματος (thématos)	θεμάτων (themáton)
accusative	θέμα (théma)	θέματα (thémata)
vocative	θέμα (théma)	θέματα (thémata)