μασχάλη

Ancient Greek

Etymology

The formation may be compared with that of ἀγκάλη (ankálē, “bent arm”), but further details are unclear. According to Beekes, it is undoubtedly a Pre-Greek word.

Meanwhile Douglas Q. Adams has presented a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱsleh₂, via *h₂eḱs- (“axis, axle”), ultimately from the root *h₂eǵ- (“to drive”), and source to Latin āla (“wing, armpit”), axilla (“little wing, armpit”) as well as Proto-Germanic *ahslō (“shoulder”). He finds that a Proto-Hellenic *aksalā could have given *askhalā by simple metathesis, while the initial m- could be either the product of a misdivision of the definite article plus noun (e. g. in the accusative singular *tām aksalā as well as in the respective genitive and dative dual, and genitive plural forms) or a contamination with the semantically similar μάλη (málē, “armpit”) and μαζός (mazós, “breast”).

Immanuel Löw explains it as a Semitic borrowing, related to Jewish Babylonian Aramaic מַתְחֲלָא (maṯḥălā, “calyx surrounding the date in its early state, or spathe of a date-palm”), possibly related to Arabic حُثَالَة (ḥuṯāla, “husks of grain or of dates, refuse of any crop”), both of uncertain internal relations.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /mas.kʰá.lɛː/ → /masˈxa.li/ → /masˈxa.li/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /mas.kʰá.lɛː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /masˈkʰa.le̝/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /masˈxa.li/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /masˈxa.li/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /masˈxa.li/

Noun

μᾰσχᾰ́λη • (maskhálē) f (genitive μᾰσχᾰ́λης); first declension

1. (anatomy) armpit, axilla

   Synonym: μάλη (málē)

2. (botany) axil, hollow at the base of a shoot
3. branch, young palm twig
4. (geography) bay, gulf
5. part of the prow of a ship, to which the foresail is fastened

Inflection

First declension of ἡ μᾰσχᾰ́λη; τῆς μᾰσχᾰ́λης (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ μᾰσχᾰ́λη hē maskhálē	τὼ μᾰσχᾰ́λᾱ tṑ maskhálā	αἱ μᾰσχᾰ́λαι hai maskhálai
Genitive	τῆς μᾰσχᾰ́λης tês maskhálēs	τοῖν μᾰσχᾰ́λαιν toîn maskhálain	τῶν μᾰσχᾰλῶν tôn maskhalôn
Dative	τῇ μᾰσχᾰ́λῃ têi maskhálēi	τοῖν μᾰσχᾰ́λαιν toîn maskhálain	ταῖς μᾰσχᾰ́λαις taîs maskhálais
Accusative	τὴν μᾰσχᾰ́λην tḕn maskhálēn	τὼ μᾰσχᾰ́λᾱ tṑ maskhálā	τᾱ̀ς μᾰσχᾰ́λᾱς tā̀s maskhálās
Vocative	μᾰσχᾰ́λη maskhálē	μᾰσχᾰ́λᾱ maskhálā	μᾰσχᾰ́λαι maskhálai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• ἀμφιμάσχαλος (amphimáskhalos)
• μασχαλιαία (maskhaliaía)
• μασχαλίζω (maskhalízō)
• μασχάλιον (maskhálion)
• μασχαλίς (maskhalís)
• μασχαλίσματα (maskhalísmata)
• μασχαλισμός (maskhalismós)
• μασχαλιστήρ (maskhalistḗr)
• τρᾰγομᾰ́σχᾰλος (tragomáskhalos)

 

Descendants

• Greek: μασχάλη (mascháli)

Further reading

• “μασχάλη”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• μασχάλη in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• “μασχάλη”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Adams, Douglas Q (1984) “The Etymology of Greek μασχάλη ‘Armpit’ with Notes on μάλη”, in Glotta, volume 62, page 65 seqq.
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN
• Löw, Immanuel (1924) Die Flora der Juden‎^[1] (in German), volume 2, Wien und Leipzig: R. Löwit, page 334
• “mtḥl”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–

Greek

Alternative forms

• μασκάλη (maskáli), αμασκάλη (amaskáli), αμασχάλη (amascháli)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maˈsxali/
• Hyphenation: μα‧σχά‧λη

Noun

μασχάλη • (mascháli) f (plural μασχάλες)

1. armpit, axilla

Declension

declension of μασχάλη

case     \     number	singular	plural
nominative	μασχάλη •	μασχάλες •
genitive	μασχάλης •	μασχαλών •
accusative	μασχάλη •	μασχάλες •
vocative	μασχάλη •	μασχάλες •

Further reading

• μασχάλη on the Greek Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^el