ἔρα + σεύω

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Thu, 08/22/2024 - 11:25

Word-form

ἕρση

Transliteration (Word)

ersē

English translation (word)

dew

Transliteration (Etymon)

era + seuō

English translation (etymon)

earth + to rush

Author

Eustathius of Thessalonica

Century

12 AD

Source

idem

Ref.

Comm. Il., vol. 3, p. 150

Ed.

M. van der Valk, Eustathii archiepiscopi Thessalonicensis commentarii ad Homeri Iliadem pertinentes, vols. 1-4, Leiden: Brill, 1:1971; 2:1976; 3:1979; 4:1987

Quotation

Ἰστέον δὲ ὡς, εἰ κατὰ κοινὴν ἐτυμολογίαν ἔρση, ἡ δρόσος, γίνεται ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄρδω, ἄρσω, ὡς τὰ περὶ γῆν ποτίζουσα, ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐν τῇ ἔρᾳ σεύεσθαι, ψιλοῖτο ἂν καὶ αὐτὴ καὶ ἡ ἀπ’ αὐτῆς κατὰ πλεονασμὸν γινομένη ἐέρση. πρὸς ὅπερ ἀντιφωνεῖ τὸ «λωτόν θ’ ἑρσήεντα», καὶ τὸ «χωρὶς δ’ αὖθ’ ἕρσαι», ὡς ἐν Ὀδυσσείᾳ κεῖται. ἀπὸ τούτων γὰρ δασύνεσθαι ἡ ἕρση δείκνυται. διὸ ἔστιν εἰπεῖν ὡς ἀπὸ τοῦ ῥέζω, τὸ πράττω, γίνεται κατὰ μετάθεσιν ἕρζω, καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἕρση καὶ ἑέρση, ἡ ἀνυστικὴ καὶ δραστική, ἵνα οὕτω δασύνοιντο διὰ τὴν θεματικὴν δασεῖαν

Translation (En)

You must know that according to the usual etymology, ersē "dew" comes from ardō "to water", <future> arsō, as the now watering the earthly things, or from "to rush" (seuesthai) to earth (erai): if so, it should have a smooth breathing, as the form eersē derived from it by addition. This is contradicted by ‘lōton th' hersēenta’ ("lotos full of dew", Il. 14.348), and ‘khōris d' auth' hersai’ ("and separately again the dewdrops", Od. 9.222), as found in the Odyssey. Thes show that hersē has a rough breathing. For that reason we may say that from rhezō "to act", comes by metathesis *herzō, and from the latter hersē and heersē, the one that achieves and acts. They have a rough breathing because their base has a rough breathing

Comment

Compositional etymology. The dew drops from heaven, therefore "rushes to earth". Eustathius rejects this etymology, as well as the usual etymology by ἄρδω, on a formal criterion, that of aspiration

Parallels

Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 377 (Ἔρση: Ἡ δρόσος, νοτία, ὁμίχλη· καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ ε, ἐέρση. Παρὰ τὸ ἄρδω ἄρσω, ἄρση, καὶ ἔρση· ποτίζεται γὰρ ὑπ’ αὐτῆς πάντα τὰ φυτὰ, καὶ κατάρδεται. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἔραζε σεύεσθαι· ἢ παρὰ τὸ τὴν ἔραν δεύειν)

Modern etymology

From PIE *h1wers-, cognate with Ved. varṣá- "rain", várṣati "it rains", and in Greek οὐρέω "to urinate" (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

No

Entry By

Le Feuvre