The Greek Name for Pistachio

This paper is a detailed study of the Greek name for pistachio, its attestation, forms, meaning and etymology. The author argues that the neuter nouns πιστάκιον and βιστάκιον ‘pistachio nut and tree’ are primary. They come from early Middle Persian *pistak ‘pistachio nut’ (cf. Middle Persian pistag ‘id.’ and Old Persian *pistaka- ‘id.’ attested in Elamite pi-iš-tuk-qa). The foreign word was modified with the diminutive suffix -ιον. Accordingly, the feminine noun πιστάκη ‘pistachio tree’ is interpreted as a secondary backformation from πιστάκιον. The form ψιττάκιον, from which the feminine noun ψιττακία is derived, is a later development of πιστάκιον or βιστάκιον. On the other hand, the forms φιττάκιον and ψιττάκη seem to be dubious. The paper also contains an excursus on πιστάκια ‘terebinth’, which is attested in a fragment of the Georgica written by the Quintilii brothers.

Diminutive · Noun · Persian · Proper noun · Suffix · Ancient Near East History · Linguistics and Cultural Studies · Linguistics and language evolution