σῶς + φημί
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
σοφός
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
sophos
English translation (word)
clever, wise, skilled
Transliteration (Etymon)
sôs + fēmi
English translation (etymon)
safe and sound + to say
Century
11 AD
Source
idem
Ref.
Etym. Gudianum, sigma, p. 507
Ed.
F.W. Sturz, Etymologicum Graecae linguae Gudianum et alia grammaticorum scripta e codicibus manuscriptis nunc primum edita, Leipzig: Weigel, 1818 (repr. Hildesheim: Olms, 1973): 229-584
Quotation
Σοφία, παρὰ τὸ σοφός· τοῦτο παρὰ τὸ σέβω, ἢ ἡ τὸ φῶς σώζουσα τῆς οἰκείας φύσεως· ἢ διὰ τὸ σῶα φῆν, ἤγουν λαλεῖν
Translation (En)
Sophia "cleverness", from sophos "wise". The latter from sebō "to revere"; or the one saving the light of the proper nature; or because he says (phēn), that is, speaks, sound (sôa) things
Parallels
Etym. Gudianum, sigma, p. 507 (Σοφὸς, παρὰ τὸ σῶα φάσκειν); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, p. 1661 (Σοφός. παρὰ τὸ σέβω. τὸν γὰρ σοφὸν πάντες σεβόμεθα. ἢ παρὰ τὸ σῶα φάσκειν, κατὰ τροπὴν τοῦ ω εἰς ο)
Modern etymology
Unknown (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
MG still has σοφός as a learned word
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Compositional etymology. The wise one is the one who speaks sound words. The compound is of the OV type. The etymology dates back to a time when vocalic quantity was no longer distinctive, since the lemma σοφός has a /ŏ/ whereas the etymon has a /ō/