ποτάομαι
Word
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Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Reference
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Ed.
Quotation
Πταίω· ἀπὸ τοῦ πέτω συγκοπῇ πτῶ καὶ κατὰ ἀναδιπλασιασμὸν πίπτω· τὰ γὰρ πετόμενα τοῖς πίπτουσιν ἔοικεν. πτῶ οὖν καὶ κατὰ παραγωγὴν πταίω· ἀπὸ τοῦ πίπτειν πολλάκις τοὺς προσπταίοντας. ἐκ δὲ τοῦ πέτω γίνεται πάλιν ῥῆμα ποτῶ· „μήτηρ δ’ ἀμφεποτᾶτο“ (Β 315), ἐν ὑπερθέσει τοῦ τ πτοῶ, ἔνθεν τὸ ἐπτοήθην, †ὥσπερ καταπέπτωκε†.
Translation (En)
Ptaiō "to tumble": from *petō "to fly" by syncopation *ptō and by reduplication piptō "to fall"; because things that fly [ta petomena] look like things that fall [tois piptousin]. Thus *ptō, then ptaiō by derivation; because those that tumble [prosptaiontas] often fall. From *petō again is made a verb *potō "to fly": “mētēr d’ amphepotato” [“and the mother was flying around”] (B 315), ptoō “to terrify” by transposing /t/, hence eptoēthēn "I was terrified", †as katapeptōke†.
Other translation(s)
Ptaiō "heurter" : à partir de *petō « voler » par syncope *ptō et par redoublement piptō « tomber » ; car ce qui vole [ta petomena] ressemble à ce qui tombe [tois piptousin]. On a donc *ptō puis par dérivation ptaiō ; parce que ceux qui se heurtent à quelque chose [prosptaiontas] tombent souvent. On fait de nouveau un verbe, *potō « voler », à partir de *petō : « mētēr d’ amphepotato » [« et la mère voltigeait autour »] (B 315), par transposition de /t/, ptoō « frapper d’effroi », d’où eptoēthēn « je fus frappé d’effroi », †comme katapeptōke†.
Parallels
Lexicon αἱμωδεῖν, pi 93 ([πτοία (?): ἐκ τοῦ πέτω ποτῶ καὶ ὑπερθέσει τοῦ τ πτοῶ πτοή]σω, [ὁ] παρακείμενος πεπτοίηκα κ[αὶ πτοία])
Comment
Derivational etymology implying a metathesis: ποτῶ > πτοῶ. The fact that ποτῶ is ποτάομαι, of the -άω type, whereas πτοέω is of the -έω type, is not seen as an objection in so far as the relationship is established between the two verbs under the form of the lemma, that is, the 1sg, where the two conjugations are not distinguished. From a semantic point of view, the relationship is difficult, but the line of the Iliad quoted, with the bird flying around its chicks while the snake eats them, is interpreted as "the bird flies in terror", which makes it possible to derive πτοέω "to terrify". That is, a semantic feature absent from the etymon ποτάομαι, but present in the context of a specific occurrence, is incorporated into the meaning of the etymon so as to account for the meaning of the lemma πτοέω, which has nothing to do with flying, but may have something to do with flying in terror.