ἐγγύς + ἅλς

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Last modification

Tue, 08/01/2023 - 10:50

Word-form

αἰγιαλός

Transliteration (Word)

aigialos

English translation (word)

seashore

Transliteration (Etymon)

engus + hals

English translation (etymon)

near + sea

Author

Orion

Century

5 AD

Reference

Etymologicum (Excerpta e cod. regio 20610), p. 174

Edition

G.H.K. Koës, Orionis Thebani etymologicon (ed. F.G. Sturz), Leipzig: Weigel, 1820 (repr. Hildesheim: Olms, 1973)

Source

Epimerismi Homerici

Ref.

Epimerismi homerici In Iliadem 1.34c

Ed.

A. Dyck, Epimerismi Homerici, pars prior epimerismos continens qui ad Iliadis librum Α pertinent [Sammlung griechischer und lateinischer Grammatiker (SGLG) 5.1. Berlin: De Gruyter, 1983]

Quotation

Epimerismi homerici: παρὰ ⸤θῖνα: […] ⸤αἰγιαλός μὲν οὖν κοινῷ⸥ εἴρηται ⸤ὀνόμα⸥τι, καὶ ἔστι παρὰ τὸ αἶαν ἐγγὺς ἁλὸς ἔχειν.

Orion, Etymologicum (Excerpta e cod. regio 20610) and Etymologicum (Excerpta e cod. Vat. gr. 1456): Αἰγιαλός· ὁ ἐγγὺς τῆς ἁλὸς, ἤγουν τῆς θαλάσσης.

Translation (En)

Para thina "on the beach" […] aigialos "seashore" is used as a common noun, and it is the land (aian) that has the sea (halos) near (engus) it.

Orion, Etymologicum (Excerpta e cod. regio 20610) and Etymologicum (Excerpta e cod. Vat. gr. 1456)Aigialos "seashore": the one near (engus) the sea (halos

Comment

This etymology is a modification of the etymology αἰγιαλός / αἶα + γείτων + ἅλς, in which γείτων was replaced by a synonym, ἐγγύς. The complete formulation is found in the Epimerisms, where αἰγιαλός is etymologized as a three-member compound. This was probably the formulation in Orion, but what survive is only a shorter formulation in which αἶα is dropped and the etymology reduced to ἐγγύς ἅλος, that is, the transposition of a prepositional phrase. This etymology became autonomous and is repeated in the Gudianum as a different etymology, next to the older one by αἶα + γείτων + ἁλς

Parallels

Etym. Gudianum, alpha, π. 36 (Αἰγιαλός· ἐτυμολογεῖται παρὰ <τὸ> τὴν αἶαν γείτονα εἶναι τῆς ἁλός· ἐξ αὐτοῦ γράφεται διὰ τῆς αι διφθόγγου. ἐκ τοῦ αἶα, ὃ σημαίνει τὴν γῆν· τοῦτο ἐκ τοῦ γαῖα ἀποβολῇ τοῦ γ. ἢ ὁ ἐγγὺς τῆς ἁλός, ἤγουν τῆς θαλάσσης. ἢ παρὰ τὸ τὴν ἅλα ἐκεῖ κλᾶσθαι. ἢ παρὰ τὸ κατάγνυσθαι ἐν αὐτῇ τὰ κύματα, ἤτοι κλᾶσθαι, ὡς Ἀπολλόδωρός <fr. deest ap. Heyne> φησιν· ἄξαι γὰρ τὸ κλάσαι λέγεται. αἰγιαλός ἐστι μέχρις οὗ τὸ μέγιστον τῆς θαλάσσης ἐκτρέχει [ῥῆμα ἤγουν] κῦμα)

Modern etymology

Unknown. The word may be attested in Mycenaean in the derived adjective a3-ki-a2-ri-jo /aigihalios/ (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

MG still has αιγιαλός "seashore" as a scientific term. The usual word is γιαλός < αίγιαλός

Entry By

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