λα- + φύρω

Validation

No

Last modification

Sat, 12/30/2023 - 22:52

Word-form

λάφυρον

Transliteration (Word)

laphura

English translation (word)

spoils

Transliteration (Etymon)

la- + phurō

English translation (etymon)

much + to stain

Author

Scholia in Sophoclem

Source

idem

Ref.

Scholia in Ajacem 93d

Ed.

G.A. Christodoulos, Τὰ ἀρχαῖα σχόλια εἰς Αἴαντα τοῦ Σοφοκλέους, Athens: University of Athens, 1977:

Quotation

λάφυρον παρὰ τὸ λίαν φύρεσθαι. ἢ λάφυρον ἐκ τοῦ λα ἐπιτατικοῦ μορίου καὶ τοῦ φέρω

Translation (En)

Laphuron "spoils", from the fact they are much (lian) stained (phuresthai). Or laphuron, from the intensive prefix la- "much" and pherō "to carry"

Comment

Compositional etymology, in which the first member is identified as the intensive prefix λα- (here glossed λίαν "very", as often in the glosses). The spoils are the "much stained" ones (presumably, with blood and dust). The second part of the scullion may be a variant of this etymology, in which φέρω is a mistake for φύρω (φέρω being much more common) added by a copyist who did not notice that the intensive λα- and the gloss λίαν refer to one and the same thing.

Modern etymology

Unclear (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

MG still has λάφυρο "spoils" as a learned word

Entry By

Le Feuvre