τίθημι

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No

Last modification

Wed, 02/15/2023 - 11:08

Word-form

θάνατος

Transliteration (Word)

thanatos

English translation (word)

death

Transliteration (Etymon)

tithēmi

English translation (etymon)

to set

Author

Philoxenus

Century

1 BC

Reference

fr. 6

Edition

C. Theodoridis, Die Fragmente des Grammatikers Philoxenos [Sammlung griechischer und lateinischer Grammatiker (SGLG) 2. Berlin: De Gruyter, 1976

Source

Etymologicum Magnum

Ref.

Kallierges, p. 442

Ed.

T. Gaisford, Etymologicum magnum, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1848 (repr. Amsterdam: Hakkert, 1967): 1-826.

Quotation

Θάνατος· ...Φιλόξενος ἐν τῷ Περὶ μονοσυλλάβων· ἔστι ῥῆμα θῶ, τὸ ἀποτίθεμαι, πλεονασμῷ τοῦ ν θνῶ, καὶ θνῶν ἡ μετοχὴ ἀκολούθως· πλεονασμῷ τοῦ α θανῶ, ὁ μέλλων θανήσω, ῥηματικὸν ὄνομα θανητός, μετὰ συστολῆς τοῦ η εἰς α ἀνεδόθη ὁ τόνος καὶ ἐγένετο θάνατος, ὁ τὴν αἰωνίαν δηλῶν ἀπόθεσιν.

Translation (En)

Thanatos "death" [...] Philoxenus in the On monosyllabic <verbs>: there is a verb *thō, "to lay aside", by addition of n, *thnō, and the participle is thnōn, conform to analogy; by addition of a, *thanō, the future is *thanēsō, the verbal noun *thanētos, because of the shortening of /ē/ in /a/, the accent has receded and it becomes thanatos, the eternal rest.

Other translation(s)

Thanatos "mort" ... Philoxène dans le Des <verbes> monosyllabiques: il existe un verbe *thō, « déposer », *thnō par ajout de n, et le participe régulier est *thnōn; thanō par ajout de a, futur *thanēsō, forme nominale déverbale *thanētos, avec l’abrègement du /ē/ in /a/, l’accent a reculé et on obtient thanatos, qui correspond au repos éternel.

Comment

Derivational etymology starting from a monosyllabic verb form and relating θάνατος to the group of τίθημι. The derivation is interesting: it begins with two formal manipulations, addition of /n/ and /a/, and then the required verb form is obtained, and from there the regular (in Philoxenus' mind) derivation applies: present, future, verbal noun. From the semantic point of view, death is when the body is laid.

Parallels

Etym. Gudianum, theta, p. 254 (Θάνατος, παρὰ τὸ τάνατος, τείνει γὰρ τὸ σῶμα τῇ ψύξει. ἢ διὰ τὸ θανάσιμον, ἢ ταναρός τις ἐστιν, ὡς ἐπὶ πάντας διατείνων. ἢ θείνωτος, διὰ τὸ τίθεσθαι κατὰ νῶτα τὸν ἀποθνήσκοντα [probably a mistake for ενῶτος]);

Modern etymology

The etymology of θάνατος is disputed. It implies a root *dhenh2- "to flee, to depart" with cognates in Indo-Iranian (Beekes)

Persistence in Modern Greek

MG still has θάνατος "death"

Entry By

Eva Ferrer