Σῖναι

Ancient Greek

The land of the Sinae ("ϹῗΝΑΙ") at the eastern end of the landlocked Indian Ocean in a c. 1420 edition of Ptolemy's Geography.

Alternative forms

• Θῖναι (Thînai), Θῖνα (Thîna)

Etymology

Of uncertain etymology, but probably from Sanskrit चीन (Cina, “China”), possibly via Arabic اَلصِّين (aṣ-ṣīn, “China; the Chinese”) and usually held to derive from Old Chinese 秦 (*Dzin, “Qin”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /sîː.nai̯/ → /ˈsi.nɛ/ → /ˈsi.ne/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /sîː.nai̯/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈsi.nɛ/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈsi.nɛ/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈsi.ne/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈsi.ne/

Proper noun

Σῖναι • (Sînai) m pl (genitive Σῑνῶν); first declension

1. (culture) A people of East Asia usually identified as the southern Chinese: the Cantonese, Vietnamese, and other Yue peoples reached via the maritime Silk Road to Panyu (Guangzhou), not known at the time to be related to the Seres reached by the overland route to Chang'an (Xi'an).
   • 1878, Thomas Rawson Birks translating Franz Delitzsch's citation of Neumann in his Commentary on the Book of Isaiah, p. 247:

     The name Θῖναι, Strabo, Σῖναι, Ptol., Τζίνιτζα, Kosmas, did not obtain currency first from the founder of the dynasty Tsin; but, long before this, Tsin was the name of a feudal kingdom in Shensi, one of the western provinces of the Sinese land, and Feitsa, the first feudal King of Tsin, began to reign as early as b.c. 897.

2. (geography) Their homeland in southern China: Guangdong and northern Vietnam.
3. (geography) Their chief city.

Inflection

First declension of αἱ Σῖναι; τῶν Σῑνῶν (Attic)

Case / #	Plural
Nominative	αἱ Σῖναι hai Sînai
Genitive	τῶν Σῑνῶν tôn Sīnôn
Dative	ταῖς Σῑ́ναις taîs Sī́nais
Accusative	τᾱ̀ς Σῑ́νᾱς tā̀s Sī́nās
Vocative	Σῖναι Sînai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Synonyms

• (early medieval): Τζίνιστα (Tzínista); Τζίνιτζα (Tzínitza) (rare)

Descendants

• Latin: Sinae, Sina, Sino-
  • English: Sino-, Sinese
  • Italian: sino-
  • Sicilian: sinu-

See also

• (modern China): Κίνα (Kína)

Further reading

• “Thinae”, in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly