βῆσσα

See also: Βῆσσα

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

βᾶσσα (bâssa) — Doric

Etymology

Traditionally connected with βαθύς (bathús, “deep”), as an e-grade root variant, but Furnée doesn't dismiss a Pre-Greek origin and links the noun to the gloss βρῆσσαι (brêssai) found in Hesychius. The same author further compares this word with Basque basa (“precipice”), Occitan bassià (“steep spot among the rocks”) and Catalan basè (“crag, cliff, precipice”).^[1]

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /bɛ̂ːs.sa/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈbe̝s.sa/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈβis.sa/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈvis.sa/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈvi.sa/

Noun

βῆσσᾰ • (bêssă) f (genitive βήσσης); first declension

wooded combe, glen, dale, vale
Synonyms: ἄγκος (ánkos), νάπη (nápē)
- c. 750 BCE – 650 BCE, Hesiod, Shield of Heracles:
  οἷος δʼ ἐν βήσσῃς ὄρεος χαλεπὸς προϊδέσθαι
  κάπρος χαυλιόδων φρονέει θυμῷ μαχέσασθαι
  hoîos d’ en bḗssēis óreos khalepòs proïdésthai
  kápros khauliódōn phronéei thumōî makhésasthai
  (please add an English translation of this quotation)
kind of drinking cup used in Egypt

Inflection

First declension of ἡ βῆσσᾰ; τῆς βήσσης (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ βῆσσᾰ hē bêssă	τὼ βήσσᾱ tṑ bḗssā	αἱ βῆσσαι hai bêssai
Genitive	τῆς βήσσης tês bḗssēs	τοῖν βήσσαιν toîn bḗssain	τῶν βησσῶν tôn bēssôn
Dative	τῇ βήσσῃ tēî bḗssēi	τοῖν βήσσαιν toîn bḗssain	ταῖς βήσσαις taîs bḗssais
Accusative	τὴν βῆσσᾰν tḕn bêssăn	τὼ βήσσᾱ tṑ bḗssā	τᾱ̀ς βήσσᾱς tā̀s bḗssās
Vocative	βῆσσᾰ bêssă	βήσσᾱ bḗssā	βῆσσαι bêssai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

Βῆσσᾰ (Bêssă)
βησσήεις (bēssḗeis)

References

^ Furnée, Edzard Johan (1979), Vorgriechisch-Kartvelisches: Studien zum ostmediterranen Substrat nebst einem Versuch zu einer neuen pelasgischen Theorie (in German), Editions Peeters, →ISBN, page 27

“βῆσσα”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“βῆσσα”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
βῆσσα in Bailly, Anatole (1935), Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
βῆσσα in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2026)
Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “βῆσσα”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 212

[1] Furnée, Edzard Johan (1979), Vorgriechisch-Kartvelisches: Studien zum ostmediterranen Substrat nebst einem Versuch zu einer neuen pelasgischen Theorie (in German), Editions Peeters, →ISBN, page 27

[1]