βασκᾶς

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

βᾰσκᾰ́ς (băskắs), βοσκᾰ́ς (boskắs), φᾰσκᾰ́ς (phăskắs)

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

(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 • (băskâs) m (genitive βᾰσκᾶ); first declension

kind of duck

Inflection

First declension of ὁ βᾰσκᾶς; τοῦ βᾰσκᾶ (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ὁ βᾰσκᾶς ho băskâs	τὼ βᾰσκᾶ tṑ băskâ	οἱ βᾰσκαῖ hoi băskaî
Genitive	τοῦ βᾰσκᾶ toû băskâ	τοῖν βᾰσκαῖν toîn băskaîn	τῶν βᾰσκῶν tôn băskôn
Dative	τῷ βᾰσκᾷ tôi băskâi	τοῖν βᾰσκαῖν toîn băskaîn	τοῖς βᾰσκαῖς toîs băskaîs
Accusative	τὸν βᾰσκᾶν tòn băskân	τὼ βᾰσκᾶ tṑ băskâ	τοὺς βᾰσκᾶς toùs băskâs
Vocative	βᾰσκᾶ băskâ	βᾰσκᾶ băskâ	βᾰσκαῖ băskaî
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

“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 (2006–2025)
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