νέφος
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
νείφω
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
neiphō
English translation (word)
to snow
Transliteration (Etymon)
nephos
English translation (etymon)
cloud
Century
2 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Peri orthographias, Lentz III/2, p. 554
Ed.
A. Lentz, Grammatici graeci III/2, Leipzig 1870
Quotation
νείφω τὸ χιονίζω διὰ τῆς ει διφθόγγου. ἔστι γὰρ νέφος […] ἐκ τούτου οὖν τοῦ νέφος γίνεται νέφω καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ ι νείφω
Translation (En)
Neiphō "to snow", spelled with a diphthong [ei]. There is nephos "cloud" […] and from that nephos one derives *nephō and through adjunction of [i], neiphō
Parallels
Choeroboscus, De orthographia (epitome), p. 241 (idem); Etym. Gudianum, nu p. 404 (idem); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 601 (ἀπὸ τοῦ νέφος, νέφω καὶ νείφω); Joannes Mauropus, Etymologica nominum 88 (πρὸς γῆν νιφετὸς δ’ ἵεταί πως ἐκ νέφους)
Modern etymology
Old verb from *sneigwh- "to snow", cognate with Goth. snails, Engl. snow, Lat. nix, nivis (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
The verb does not occur in Modern Greek, but there still is the derivative νιφάδα "snow flake", from the accusative of νιφάς, which survived in Medieval Greek. The verb was already lost in Byzantine times, and was replaced by χιονίζει.
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
Derivational etymology relying on the causal relationship between the cloud (the origin) and the snow (the result). From the formal point of view, the etymology relies on the usual alternation between ει and ε, of which there are many examples in the cases of compensatory lengthenings (like μένω / ἔμεινα). It is a reversible etymology, and the other derivation is better attested (see νέφος / νείφω)