τομή

Validation

No

Last modification

Sun, 10/23/2022 - 11:30

Word-form

στόμα

Transliteration (Word)

stoma

English translation (word)

mouth

Transliteration (Etymon)

tomē

English translation (etymon)

cut

Author

Rufus

Century

1-2 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

De corporis humani appellationibus 50

Ed.

C. Daremberg and C.É. Ruelle, Oeuvres de Rufus d'Éphèse, Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1879 (repr. Amsterdam: Hakkert, 1963

Quotation

Στόμα δὲ καὶ ἡ πρώτη τομὴ τῶν χειλῶν, καὶ ἡ ἐφεξῆς εὐρυχωρία μέχρι τῆς φάρυγγος

Translation (En)

Stoma "mouth" means first of all the cut (tomē) between the lips, and then refers to the following space until the throat

Comment

Derivational etymology implying one formal manipulation, the addition of [s] at the beginning of the word. As a consequence of this etymology, the proper meaning of "mouth" is allegedly the slit between the lips, and the ordinary meaning "mouth" is assumed to result from a metonymy

Parallels

Pollux, Onomasticon 2.98 (τὸ δὲ ἔνδον τῶν χειλῶν στόμα, ὥσπερ καὶ ἡ τῶν χειλῶν τομή); Oribasius, Collectiones medicae 25.1.18 (στόμα δ’ ἡ πρώτη τομὴ τῶν χειλῶν καὶ ἡ λοιπὴ εὐρυχωρία πᾶσα μέχρι τῆς φάρυγγος); Anonymi medici, Ὀνομασίαι τῶν κατὰ ἄνθρωπον 31 (idem); Joannes Mauropus, Etymologica nominum 174-175 (Κοινῆς πύλης δὲ σώματος τομὴ στόμα, | καὶ σῖτα τέμνει καὶ τὸ πᾶν σῶμα τρέφει)

Modern etymology

Cognate with Av. staman- "mouth" (of a dog), Welsh safn "jaw-bone" , from PIE *steh3-mn- (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

Yes

Entry By

Le Feuvre