πνέω

Validation

Yes

Word-form

πόντος

Transliteration (Word)

pontos

English translation (word)

sea

Transliteration (Etymon)

pneō

English translation (etymon)

to blow

Author

Herodian

Century

2 AD

Reference

Epimerismi, fr. 26; 1, XXVII Lentz

Source

Epimerismi homerici

Ref.

Epimerismi Homerici in Iliadem 1.318

Ed.

A.R. 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: 55-256.

Quotation

πένοντο: ἔστι τὸ θέμα πένω, τὸ δηλοῦν τὸ ἐνεργῶ καὶ κάμνω, ἀφ’ οὗ πόνος καὶ κατὰ πλεονασμὸν τοῦ τ πόντος, καθ’ ὃν πεπόνηται τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος περὶ τὸν πλοῦν. πόνων οὖν ἐπώνυμος ὁ πόντος. οὕτω Φιλόξενος. Ὁ δὲ Ἡρωδιανὸς ἐν τοῖς Ἐπιμερισμοῖς αὐτοῦ λέγει, ὅτι παρὰ τὸ πνέω γέγονε πνότος καὶ μεταθέσει τοῦ ο πόντος, ἀφ’ οὗ αἱ πνοαί· αἶψα δὲ πόντον ἵκανον ἀήμεναι (Il. 23.214)

Translation (En)

Penonto "they toiled": the stem ιs penō, which means "to be active" (energō) and "to toil" (kamnō), and through adjunction of the [t] pontos, on which the human race suffers toils for sea-faring. Therefore pontos"sea" gets its name from ponos. So Philoxenus. But Herodian in his Epimerismi says that from pneō "to blow" is derived *pnotos, and through metathesis of the [o], pontos "sea", from which come the winds: "quickly they came to the sea, to blow" (Il. 23.214)

Comment

This etymology, often repeated in Antiquity because of the authority of Herodian, derives πόντος from a ghost-word *πνότος (no -to-derivative from πνέω is known), from which πόντος is derived through a formal manipulation, "metathesis". It is justified by the Homeric quotation of Il. 23.214, where the winds come to the sea from which they blow (ἄημι): that kind of justification of an etymology sought in a precise Homeric context is usual in Antiquity. An as a matter of fact, in Greece most of the time the wind blows from the sea, so that this notion fits the extra-linguistic reality.

A Geneva scholion to the Iliad (Il. 1.318) attributes to Herodian a different derivation: ὁ δὲ Ἡρωδιανὸς λέγει ὅταν παρὰ τὸ πνέω πνόντος, καὶ ἐκβολῇ τοῦ ἑνὸς ν πόντος, ἀφ’ οὗ αἱ πνοαί "Herodian says it is from pneō "to blow", whence *pnontos, and through dropping of one [n], pontos "sea", from which come the winds"

Parallels

Epimerismi homerici ordine alphabetico traditi, pi 117 (πόντος: ὁ μὲν Φιλόξενος (fr. 582) παρὰ τὸ πένεσθαι, τουτέστι καταπονεῖσθαι καὶ ἐνεργεῖν· οἱ δὲ παρὰ τὸ εἰσρεῖν αὐτὸν πάντας τοὺς ποταμούς, παρὰ τὴν παντός γενικήν. ἡμῖν δὲ δοκεῖ παρὰ τὸ πνέω πνότος, ἐξ οὗ αἱ πνοαί, καὶ πόντος ἐν ὑπερθέσει· Ὅμηρος· αἶψα δὲ πόντον ἵκανον ἀήμεναι); Etym. Gudianum, pi, p. 475 (Πόντος, ἡ θάλασσα, ἀπὸ τοῦ πνέω, ἐν ἧ αἱ πνοαὶ καὶ ἄνεμοι φέρονται); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 682 (Πόντος: Σημαίνει τὴν θάλασσαν· ἀπὸ τοῦ πνέω· ἐν ᾗ αἱ πνοαὶ καὶ οἱ ἄνεμοι φέρονται. Ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ πόνος πόντος, καθ’ ὃν πεπόνηται περὶ τὸν πλοῦν τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος. Καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ πνέω πνότος καὶ πόντος, ἐξ οὗ αἱ πνοαὶ γεννῶνται· Ὅμηρος. Αἶψα δὲ πόντον ἵκανον ἀήμεναι. Καὶ πόνων ἐπώνυμος ὁ πόντος. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ πίνω, ὁ πίνων τοὺς κινδυνεύοντας. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ πέποται, ἀπὸ τοῦ πῶμι); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, pi, p. 1561 (Πόντος. παρὰ τὸ πένω, τὸ ἐνεργῶ, ἀφ’ οὗ πόνος καὶ πόντος, καθ’ ὃν πεποίηται τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος. ἢ παρὰ τὸ πνέω πνότος καὶ μεταθέσει πόντος, ἐξ οὗ αἱ πνοαὶ γεννῶνται); Schol. in Batrachomyomachiam 107 (πόντος λέγεται κυρίως ἡ θάλασσα, καταχρηστικῶς δὲ ἐνταῦθα ... καὶ ἐτυμολογεῖται ἀπὸ τοῦ πνέω πνόντος. ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ πονῶ τὸ ἐνεργῶ, ἀφ’ οὗ καὶ πόνος καὶ πόντος κατὰ πρόσληψιν τοῦ τ, καθ’ ὃν πεπόνηται καὶ μοχθεῖ τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος); Schol. in Oppianum, Hal. 1.1bis; Choeroboscus, Epimerismi in Psalmos p. 180 (παρὰ τὸ πῶμι, πώσω, πέπωκα, πέπομαι, πέποσαι, πέποται· ἢ παρὰ τὸ πίνω, ὁ πίνων τοὺς κινδυνεύοντας· ἢ παρὰ τὸ πνέω, πνότος, καὶ μεταθέσει πόντος, ὁ καταπνεόμενος ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνέμων)

Modern etymology

Πόντος "sea" is an old noun meaning "way", cognate with Latin pons, pontis "bridge", Ru. put' "way", and Sanscrite pantha- "way", from PIE *ponth2o- (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

Ποντος still exists as the name of the region on the S-E coast of the Black Sea (Εύξεινος πόντος after its Ancient Greek name, or Μαὐρη θάλασσα)

Entry By

Le Feuvre