κλάω

Validation

No

Last modification

Fri, 08/02/2024 - 12:05

Word-form

κόλπος

Transliteration (Word)

kolpos

English translation (word)

bosom, lap, fold, gulf

Transliteration (Etymon)

klaō

English translation (etymon)

to break

Author

Etym. Gudianum

Century

11 AD

Source

idem

Ref.

Etym. Gudianum, kappa, p. 334

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

Κόλπος, παρὰ τὸ κοῖλον, ὃ σημαίνει τὸ βαθὺ, κοῖλπος, καὶ ἀφαιρέσει τοῦ ι κόλπος· ἔστι δὲ κλῶ κλάσω, ἐξ αὐτοῦ γίνεται κλὸς, καὶ κατ’ ἀναδιπλασιασμὸν κόκλος, καὶ καθ’ ὑπέρθεσιν τοῦ λ, καὶ τροπῇ τοῦ κ εἰς  π, κόλπος

Translation (En)

Kolpos "fold", from koilos, which means "deep", *koilpos, and by aphaeresis of /I/, kolpos. And the is a verb klō "to break", <future> klasō, from it comes *klos, and by reduplication *koklos, and by metathesis od the /l/ and change of the /k/ into /p/, kolpos.

Comment

Derivational etymology, starting from a monosyllabic verb, after Philoxenus' method. This etymology is very costly from the formal point of view. Once the proto-form *klos has been derived, it requires three successive pathē to reach the form of the lemma: reduplication, metathesis and change of a consonant. From the semantic point of view, it relies on the fact that a fold "breaks" the continuity of the straight line.

Parallels

There is no parallel

Modern etymology

Cognate with ONorse half, OEng. hwealf "vault", from *kwelp- "curve" (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

MG still has κόλπος "gulf, bay", or "(anatomical) cavity" , as a learned word

Entry By

Le Feuvre