massa
An early borrowing from Ancient Greek μᾶζα (mâza, “bread”), possibly via Etruscan. It is uncertain whether the long /aː/ was carried over. Early Latin regularly rendered the Greek sound represented by ⟨ζ⟩ as /ss/; compare patrissō. In Imperial times, when Greek borrowings were entering Latin with ⟨z⟩, the old massa remained, never replaced by *māza.
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈmas.sa/, [ˈmäs̠ːä]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈmas.sa/, [ˈmäsːä]
Noun
massa f (genitive massae); first declension
Declension
First-declension noun.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | massa | massae |
| Genitive | massae | massārum |
| Dative | massae | massīs |
| Accusative | massam | massās |
| Ablative | massā | massīs |
| Vocative | massa | massae |