ὑπερφαίνομαι

Word

Validation

No

Last modification

Thu, 04/13/2023 - 22:24

Word-form

ὑπερφίαλος

Word-lemma

LSJ

Etymon-lemma

LSJ

Transliteration (Word)

huperphialos

English translation (word)

arrogant

Transliteration (Etymon)

huperphainomai

English translation (etymon)

to show oneself over or above

Author

Philoxenus

Century

1 BC

Reference

fr. *191

Edition

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

Source

Orion

Ref.

Etymologicum, upsilon, p. 156

Ed.

F.W. Sturz, Orionis Thebani etymologicon, Leipzig: Weigel, 1820 (repr. Hildesheim: Olms, 1973): 1-172

Quotation

Ὑπερφίαλος· παρὰ τὸ φῶ, οὗ παράγωγον φαίνω· ὁ ὑπερφαίνοντα τῶν ἄλλων ἑαυτὸν ἐπιχειρῶν δεῖξαι, ὅ ἐστιν ὑπερήφανος. ἐὰν δὲ παρὰ τὸ φῶ, τὸ λέγω, ὁ ὑπὲρ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ δύναμιν λέγων καὶ ἐπαγγελλόμενος.

Translation (En)

Huperphialos "arrogant": from *phō, from which is derived phainō "to appear"; one who seeks to show that he is above (huperphainonta) others, that is, haughty (huperēphanos). If it is from *phō, "to speak", one who pretends to be above (huper) what he is actually capable of and brags about it.

Other translation(s)

Huperphialos « arrogant » : de *phō, duquel est dérivé phainō « apparaître »; celui qui entreprend de montrer qu’il est supérieur (huperphainonta) aux autres, c'est-à-dire orgueilleux (huperēphanos). Mais s'il vient de *phō, « parler », celui qui prétend être supérieur (huper) à ce dont il est capable en réalité et le proclame.

Comment

The word is correctly parsed as a compound of ὑπέρ and a derivative of the monosyllabic verb *φῶ. As Philoxenus distinguished two verbs *φῶ, one meaning "to appear" (φαίνομαι, here quoted under the form of the lemma, the 1sg indicative present active, even though the intended meaning is that of the middle form) and the other one meaning "to say" (φημί), Philoxenus (or Orion?) seeks to account for the two possibilities, providing a semantic justification for an etymon "to say" as well as for an etymon "to appear"

Parallels

Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 780 (Ὑπερφίαλος: Παρὰ τὸ φῶ, τὸ φαίνω, ὁ ὑπερφαίνοντα τῶν ἄλλων ἑαυτὸν ἐπιχειρῶν δεῖξαι· εἰ δὲ παρὰ τὸ φῶ, τὸ λέγω, ὁ ὑπὲρ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ δύναμιν λέγων καὶ ἐπαγγελλόμενος· ὁποῖον λέγει Ὅμηρος); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, upsilon, p. 1768 (Ὑπερφίαλος. ὁ ὑπερήφανος. παρὰ τὸ φῶ, οὗ παράγωγον φαίνω. ὁ ὑπερφαίνειν τῶν ἄλλων ἐπιχειρῶν, ἑαυτὸν δεῖξαι. ἐὰν δὲ παρὰ τὸ φῶ, τὸ λέγω, ὁ ὑπὲρ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ δύναμιν λέγων καὶ ἐπαγγελλόμενος); Scholia et glossae in Oppiani Halieutica, book 2, scholion 10 (ὑπερφίαλος παρὰ τὸ φῶ τὸ φαίνω, ὁ ὑπερφαίνων ὄντα τῶν ἄλλων ἑαυτὸν ἐπιχειρῶν δεῖξαι· ἢ ἀπὸ τῆς ὑπὲρ προθέσεως καὶ τοῦ φῶ τὸ λέγω ὁ ὑπὲρ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ δύναμιν λέγων καὶ ἐπαγγελλόμενος, ὁποῖον λέγει Ὅμηρος (Od. α 385) ὑψαγόρην)

Modern etymology

Maybe dissimilated from *ὑπερφύαλος "growing above", cf. ὑπερφυής "enormous" (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

Yes, as a learned word

Entry By

Eva Ferrer
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