Dear all,
In the middle of a discussion on the Greek word kitharis- > kithara-
'box lyre'I am having with a local friend , I retrieved from the
cybalist archives this very old message of Piotr's :
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/cybalist/message/437
> Mark, how do you establish the direction of borrowing in the case of
> kitharis? It's a widespread "word of culture" for stringed
> instruments, found from Greece to India. Our guitar is one of its
> guises, and zither and sitar are further avatars of the same. Any
> suggestions about the origin of the name?
Like many other people, my friend believes the Greek term to be
related to Persian sita:r-. However, I find in all Persian
dictionaries the following etymology:
sita:r -- an instrument of three (si) strings (ta:r)
Greek kitharis- is attested in Homer. How can this word have any
relation whatsoever with Persian sita:r-? I see that Beekes and many
classicists consider kitharis- a pre-Greek term. Some connect it
etymologically with kitharos- 'thorax' (which, according to M.L. West,
may originally have designated a sort of foreign-made chest -- compare
the "box"-element of the box-lyre).
As a probable foreign loanword, kitharis- has been traced by some to
the Semitic root *ktr-, which may have different meanings, but that in
this particular case is thought to denote 'skillfulness'.
Any new suggestions about the origin of the name?
(The above quoted message by Piotr dates from 1999!)
Thanks and best regards,
Francesco