ἀπό + ἀ- + φημί

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Fri, 03/10/2023 - 20:26

Word-form

*ἀπαφῶ

Transliteration (Word)

apaphiskō

English translation (word)

to cheat

Transliteration (Etymon)

apo + a- + phēmi

English translation (etymon)

from + not + to say

Author

Philoxenus

Century

1 BC

Reference

fr. *40

Edition

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

Source

Etymologicum Genuinum

Ref.

alpha 978

Ed.

F. Lasserre and N. Livadaras, Etymologicum magnum genuinum. Symeonis etymologicum una cum magna grammatica. Etymologicum magnum auctum, vol. 1, Rome: Ateneo, 1976

Quotation

Ἀπαφῶ· σημαίνει τὸ ἀπατῶ. ἀφῶ, τὸ κακῶς λέγω, ὡς ἄμορφον λέγομεν γυναῖκα, καὶ κατὰ σύνθεσιν ἀπαφῶ· ἔνθεν τὸ ἀπαφίσκω, τὸ ἀπατῶ καὶ παραλογίζομαι. ἢ ἡ ἀπὸ τὸ ἄπωθεν δηλοῖ· καὶ ἔγκειται τὸ φῶ, ὃ σημαίνει τὸ φαίνω, ἐξ οὗ καὶ φενάκη.

Translation (En)

Apaphō: it means "to deceive". Aphō, "to speak badly", like when saying a woman is amorphos "deformed, ugly", and *apaphō in composition; thus apaphiskō "to cheat", "to deceive and mislead by fallacious reasoning". Or apo means "from afar", and the phō in this form is the one which means "to bring to light" [phainō], from which is also made phenakē "wig".

Other translation(s)

Apaphō : cela signifie « tromper ». *Aphō « parler mal », comme lorsque nous disons qu’une femme est amorphos "informe, laide", et *apaphō en composition. À partir de là apaphiskō, « tromper », « décevoir et tromper par la parole ». Ou bien le préverbe apo signifie « de loin », et le phō qui se trouve dans la forme est celui qui signifie « montrer, faire voir » [phainō], d’où on tire aussi phenakē « perruque ».

Comment

The verb is analyzed as derived from a ghost verb *ἀφῶ, a privative form of *φῶ. On *φῶ "to speak" can be made a privative *ἀφῶ meaning, not properly" "not to speak", but "to speak badly", with an evaluative meaning of ἀ- as in ἄμορφος "with a bad shape, ugly" instead of "having no shape". The parallel of ἄμορφος is provided in order to explain the meaning "bad" of the privative prefix. Then, the derivation of ἀπαφ-ίσκω from ἀπ-αφῶ is regular. This first etymology may go back to Philoxenus, the second one (by φαίνω), maybe not

Parallels

Etym. Gudianum, alpha, p. 160 (Ἀπάτη· ἐκ τοῦ ἀπαφῶ. τὸ δὲ ἀπαφῶ παρὰ τὸ φῶ τὸ σημαῖνον τὸ λέγω, καὶ μετὰ τοῦ <α τοῦ> σημαίνοντος τὸ κακὸν ἀφῶ καὶ ἀπαφῶ); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 119 (Ἀπαφῶ: Τὸ ἀπατῶ. Ἀφῶ, τὸ καλῶς λέγω, ὡς ἄμορφον λέγομεν γυναῖκα· καὶ κατὰ σύνθεσιν ἀπαφῶ· ἔνθεν τὸ ἀπαφίσκω, τὸ ἀπατῶ καὶ παραλογίζομαι); Etym. Symeonis, vol. 1, p. 108 (ἀπάτη· ἐκ τοῦ ἀπαφῶ, τὸ δὲ ἀπαφῶ παρὰ τὸ φῶ, τὸ σημαῖνον τὸ λέγω, καὶ μετὰ τοῦ α τοῦ σημαίνοντος τὸ κακὸν ἀφῶ καὶ ἀπαφῶ, <ὅθεν καὶ Ὅμηρος (Ξ 360)· παρήπαφεν, ἀντὶ τοῦ ἠπάτησεν>); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, alpha, p. 276 (Ἀπαφῶ. τὸ ἀπατῶ. παρὰ τὸ φῶ τὸ λέγω. καὶ μετὰ τοῦ α τοῦ σημαίνοντος τὸ κακὸν ἀφῶ καὶ ἀπαφῶ. τὸ δὲ ἀπατῶ ἐκ τοῦ ἀπαφῶ)

Modern etymology

Reduplicated aorist ἀπαφεῖν, from which was derived the present ἀπαφίσκω. Etymology unknown (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

No

Entry By

Eva Ferrer