κόρη + νᾶμα

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No

Last modification

Thu, 08/05/2021 - 14:03

Word-form

κρήνη

Transliteration (Word)

krēnē

English translation (word)

spring (water)

Transliteration (Etymon)

korē + nāma

English translation (etymon)

girl + stream

Author

Suda

Century

10 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

Suda, kappa 2393

Ed.

A. Adler, Suidae Lexicon, Leipzig: Teubner, 1928-1935

Quotation

Κρήνη: ἡ πηγή. κάρα, καρήνη, κρήνη. κορυφὴ γὰρ τοῦ ῥεύματος ἢ κόρη τοῦ νάματος· καὶ γὰρ θυγατέρας αὐτάς φασι

Translation (En)

Krēnē "spring": kara "head", karēnē "head", krēnē. Because it is the head of the flow or the daughter (korē) of the river (namatos): because they are said to be their daughters. 

Comment

Compositional etymology relying on a mythological tradition: springs are feminine divinities, young, and said to be daughters of the rivers (masculine gods). The name of the girl, κόρη, accounts for the first syllable of κρήνη, assuming a syncope took place. The second syllable is assumed to go back to a poetic name of the stream, νᾶμα, of which only the initial consonant is kept. The compound has a structure noun + genitive: the etymologist did not pat attention to the fact that most compounds having such a structure in Greek display the reverse order, genitive + noun.

Parallels

Etym. Gudianum, kappa, p. 345-346 (Κρήνη, παρὰ τὸ ῥέω ῥένη, καὶ τροπῇ τοῦ ε εἰς η, καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ κ κρήνη· ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ κάραν καὶ κορυφὴν εἶναι τοῦ ῥεύματος, καὶ κόρη νάματος· καὶ γὰρ αἱ κρῆναι θυγατέρες τῶν ποταμῶν εἰσι)

Modern etymology

Within Greek, probably related to κρουνός "spring". PIE *kr̥sneh2- (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

MG still has κρήνη as a learned word

Entry By

Le Feuvre