Talk:σάτρα

Etymology

@AntiquatedMan, Nicodene, I've added the only source for an etymology I could find. I don't pretend to understand the semantics of “kingdom” > “gold” though. --{{victar|talk}} 20:28, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

Yeah, I still don't buy it. The 'identification' of this word seems to be based on the translation given by the untrustworthy Greek interpreter within the play, but this 'translation' is immediately disavowed by the Persian envoy himself (though without given a proper translation sadly). I am honestly more convinced by Andreas Wili's interpretation. AntiquatedMan (talk) 20:58, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

Anyway, it should not be listed as a Greek word, since it only occurs in sentence meant to represent Persian, spoken by a Persian envoy. AntiquatedMan (talk)` AntiquatedMan (talk) 21:02, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

@AntiquatedMan: Honestly, all the theories kinda suck: https://repository.arizona.edu/bitstream/handle/10150/193343/azu_etd_10403_sip1_m.pdf. Truth be told, this entry should probably be deleted because all we have is a string of characters, ιαρταμανεξαρξαναπισσονασατρα, and we don't know what the breaking actually was. @Samubert96 --{{victar|talk}} 08:44, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

I'm not in favor of wholesale deletion, since it is listed by both the LSJ and Bailly. AntiquatedMan (talk) 10:05, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

Our understanding has changed since LSJ and Bailly and we're not beholden to their mistakes. If kept, I think it should be moved to ιαρταμανεξαρξαναπισσονασατρα (iartamanexarxanapissonasatra). @Mahagaja --{{victar|talk}} 21:20, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

Brill lists it too, and that's a modern dictionary. We're not beholden to other dictionaries, but our mission is to include a term if someone might encounter it and wonder what it means. Someone reading The Acharnians will be reading a modern edition of it, which will include word boundaries and isolate the word in question as σάτρα. I'm not sure we should be so confident glossing it as "the Persian word for gold". Isn't there a template for "definition unknown"? As long as our etymology section and usage notes explain the various hypotheses of its meaning, that should be sufficient. —Mahāgaja · talk 21:32, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

@Mahagaja: And some readings break it as ατρα, and others another. Any breaking is hypothetical. If it is agreed this is an Old Persian phrase, complete with grammar, perhaps this should be under an Old Persian header. --{{victar|talk}} 21:47, 2 March 2024 (UTC)