βασκᾶς

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• βᾰσκᾰ́ς (baskás), βοσκᾰ́ς (boskás), φᾰσκᾰ́ς (phaskás)

Etymology

The formation is similar to other bird names, such as ἀτταγᾶς (attagâs, “black francolin”) and ἐλασᾶς (elasâs, “kind of teal”). The ο of the variant βοσκάς (boskás) can hardly be due to influence of βόσκω (bóskō, “to feed, nourish”); nor is the β- (compared to the φ- of φασκάς (phaskás)) Thracian or Illyrian. However, these variations clearly point to Pre-Greek origin, according to Beekes. Furnée unconvincingly links the word to Serbo-Croatian pȁtka (“duck”), Spanish pato (“duck”) and Sardinian busciu.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /bas.kâːs/ → /βasˈkas/ → /vasˈkas/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /bas.kâːs/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /basˈkas/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /βasˈkas/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /vasˈkas/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /vasˈkas/

Noun

βᾰσκᾶς • (baskâs) m (genitive βᾰσκᾶ); first declension

1. kind of duck

Inflection

First declension of ὁ βᾰσκᾶς; τοῦ βᾰσκᾶ (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ βᾰσκᾶς ho baskâs	τὼ βᾰσκᾶ tṑ baskâ	οἱ βᾰσκαῖ hoi baskaî
Genitive	τοῦ βᾰσκᾶ toû baskâ	τοῖν βᾰσκαῖν toîn baskaîn	τῶν βᾰσκῶν tôn baskôn
Dative	τῷ βᾰσκᾷ tôi baskâi	τοῖν βᾰσκαῖν toîn baskaîn	τοῖς βᾰσκαῖς toîs baskaîs
Accusative	τὸν βᾰσκᾶν tòn baskân	τὼ βᾰσκᾶ tṑ baskâ	τοὺς βᾰσκᾶς toùs baskâs
Vocative	βᾰσκᾶ baskâ	βᾰσκᾶ baskâ	βᾰσκαῖ baskaî
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Further reading

• “βασκᾶς”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• βασκᾶς in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• βασκᾶς in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2024)
• 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