ἐφοράω
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
Κρήτῃ ἐπίουρον. τοῦτο τριχῶς ἀνεγνώσθη. Ζηνόδοτος γάρ, ὡς ἐπίκουρον, ἐκδεχόμενος βασιλέα καὶ φύλακα. καὶ Ἀρίσταρχος δὲ οὕτως, ἐκδεχόμενος τὸν φύλακα, μέμνηται δὲ καὶ ὁ Δίδυμος τῆς ἀποδόσεως καὶ Τρύφων. ἐκεῖνο δὲ προστίθησιν ὁ Τρύφων, ὅτι ὁ ἐπίουρος, ὡς ἐπίσκοπος, οὐ πάντως ἔχει ἐγκείμενον τὸν οὖρον τὸν φύλακα κατὰ ταύτην τὴν ἀπόδοσιν· τί γὰρ κεκώλυκε παρὰ τὸ ὁρῶ εἶναι ἐπίορον καὶ ἐπίουρον τὸν ἐπιορῶντα, ἐψιλῶσθαι δὲ διὰ τὴν ἐπένθεσιν τοῦ υ;
Translation (En)
Krētēi epiouron (Il. 13.450). This has been interpreted in three different ways. Zenodotus understood the word as "king" and "guardian" (epikouron). Similarly, Aristarchus understood the word to mean "guardian". Didymus and Tryphon also mention this explanation. And here is the suggestion by Tryphon: epiouros, as episkopos "watcher", does not contain at all the word "guardian", in this explanation. For what opposes the idea that from horaō "to see" is derived *epioron, and epiouron the one watching over (epiorônta), and that the word then loses its aspiration due to the epenthesis of /u/?
Parallels
Herodian, Περὶ Ἰλιακῆς προσῳδίας, Lentz III/2, p. 87 (idem); Herodian, Περὶ Ὀδυσσειακῆς προσῳδίας, Lentz III/2, p. 156 (ὅς τοι ὑῶν ἐπίουρος: ἐπίσκοπος. δύναται ἡ πρόθεσις εἶναι καὶ ἐν πλεονασμῷ, ἵν’ ᾖ ἐφορῶν καὶ ἐπιβλέπων· ἢ παρέλκει ὡς τὸ βοῶν ἐπιβουκόλος); Scholion Od. 13.405 (idem); Orio, Etymologicum, epsilon, p.66 (Ἐπίουρος. φύλαξ, παρὰ τὸ ἐφορᾶν, πλεονασμῷ τοῦ υ, ἐπίουρός τις ὤν); Etym. Symeonis, epsilon 655 (Ἐπίουρος· ὁ ἐφεστηκὼς φύλαξ· παρὰ τὸ ὁρῶ γίνεται ἐπίουρος, ὁ ἐπιορῶν· ψιλοῦται δὲ διὰ τὴν ἐπένθεσιν τοῦ υ); Eustathius, Comm. Il., vol. 3, p. 337 (οὖρος Ἀχαιῶν, ὅ ἐστι φύλαξ, [ἔφορος, ὁ ἐν ἄλλοις ἐπίουρος.])
Comment
Derivational etymology. Trypho, instead of parsing the word as a compound of οὖρος "guardian", analyses it as a derivative of ἐφοράω, along the following chain: ἐφοράω → *ἐφορός → ἐφουρός → ἐπίουρος. The insertion of /u/ would trigger the loss of aspiration in the verb, and change the preverb ἐφ- to ἐπ-. Tryphon does not comment on the /i/ and the hiatus, for in his theory now would expect *ἐπουρος. His reasoning rests on the model of ἐπίσκοπος, which is not a compound of ἐπί + σκοπός, but a derivative of ἐπισκέπτομαι "to observe" (or for Tryphon, of ἐπισκοπέω). From the semantic point of view, the explanation is typical of the tendency to take as a starting point for etymologies a verb (ἐφοράω) rather than a noun (οὖρος)