ἵστημι

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Last modification

Thu, 11/03/2022 - 22:00

Word-form

ὀστέον

Transliteration (Word)

osteon

English translation (word)

bone

Transliteration (Etymon)

histēmi

English translation (etymon)

ti stand

Author

Herodian

Century

2 AD

Reference

De prosodia catholica, Lentz III/1, 355

Edition

A. Lentz, Grammatici Graeci III/2, Leipzig 1870

Source

Arcadius

Ref.

De prosodia catholica epitome, p. 136

Ed.

S. Roussou, Pseudo-Arcadius' Epitome of Herodian's De Prosodia Catholica, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018

Quotation

τὸ δὲ ὀστέον παροξύνεται ὡς δισύλλαβον· ἀπὸ γὰρ τοῦ ἵστημι στέον καὶ ὀστέον.

Translation (En)

Osteon "bone" is paroxytone, as a dissyllabic word. Because it comes from histēmi "to make stand", *steon and osteon

Comment

Derivational etymology relying on the fact that the bone is the rigid structure allowing living beings to stand. It is not clear whether Herodian gives as a lemma ἵστημι because it is the default form and he really means ἵσταμαι "to stand", or he takes ἵστημι in the transitive meaning "to make stand". In Orion the latter explanation is explicit, and it may have been Herodian's. The derivation starts from the non reduplicated stem and implies only one formal change, the addition of [o] at the beginning of the word

Parallels

Orion, Etymologicum, omicron, p. 125 (Ὀστέον. πλεονασμῷ τοῦ ο, παρὰ τὸ στέω, στέον, τὸ αἴτιον τῆς στάσεως τοῦ σώματος);  idem, Etymologicum (excerpta e cod. Darmstadino 2773), p. 615 (ὀστέον περὶ τὸ στῶ, στήσω, στέον καὶ πλεονασμῶ τοῦ ο, ὀστέον); Theognostus, Canones sive De orthographia 733 (τὸ ὀστέον μόνον ἐν τόνῳ διήλλαξεν· γέγονεν δὲ παρὰ τὸ στῶ στέον, καὶ ὀστέον, τὸ τῆς στάσεως αἴτιον); Etym. Gudianum, omicron, p. 438 (Ὀστέον, παρὰ τὸ τῆς στάσεως αἴτιον εἶναι· τὸ δὲ ο πλεονάζει· ἢ παρὰ τὸ στῶ, στέος, στέον, τὸ αἴτιον τῆς στάσεως καὶ τοῦ σώματος); Joannes Mauropus, Etymologica nominum 200 (Ὀστοῦν δ’ ὃ σαρκὸς ἐκλύσει στάσιν νέμει); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 636 (Ὀστέον: Παρὰ τὸ στῶ στέον, καὶ ὀστέον, τὸ αἴτιον τῆς στάσεως· ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἵστημι); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, omicron, p. 1475 (idem); Schol. Oppianum, Hal. 1.313 (ὀστοῦν δ’ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἵστημι, στήσω)

Modern etymology

Old wor inherited from PIE *h3sth1-i-, cognate with Lat. os "bone", Av. ast--, Ved. ásthi-, Hitt. hastai "id." (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

MG still has οστό (usual), and οστεο- in learned compounds

Entry By

Le Feuvre