ἐλλός
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
ἔλαφος
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
elaphos
English translation (word)
deer
Transliteration (Etymon)
ellos
English translation (etymon)
fawn
Century
11 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Etym. Gudianum Additamenta, epsilon p. 450
Ed.
E. de Stefani, Etymologicum Gudianum 1 , Leipzig 1909
Quotation
Ἔλαφος· ἔλοφός τις οὖσα παρὰ τὸ ἑλεῖν τοὺς ὄφεις· ἢ ὁ ἐν ἕλει τὰς διατριβὰς ἔχων· ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐλλός, τὸ ἔλαφος, παρήχθη παραγ⟦ώγ⟧ως ἔλ⟦α⟧φος, ὡς κ⟦όρ⟧σ⟦η⟧ κό⟦ρ⟧σαφος καὶ ἐν ὑ⟦περβιβασμῷ⟧ καὶ τροπῇ τοῦ ⟦ς⟧ εἰς τ κρό⟦τα⟧φος. ⟦οὕτως οὖν ἔλαφος⟧
Translation (En)
Elaphos "deer": it is an *elophos, as it were, from the fact that it catches (heleîn) snakes (opheis); or because it lives in swamps; or the name elaphos was derived from the name of the "fawn", ellos, as from korsē "temple" *korsaphos and through metathesis and change of [s] into [t] krotaphos "temple", so elaphos
Parallels
There is no parallel
Modern etymology
Derivative of the old name of the deer, PIE *h1el-n-, found in Slavic jelenь, Lith. élnis, Arm. ełn (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
The usual word in Modern Greek is ελάφι, while the older έλαφος is preserved as a learned form
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
This etymology is of the mimetic type: since the adult deer (A) evolved from the fawn (B), the name of the fawn (B') is assumed to be the etymon of the name of the deer, (A') as in the extralinguistic reality the former is the "origin" of the latter. The noun ἔλαφος is analyzed as a derivative in -αφος, for which a parallel is provided, that of two names of the "temple", according to the analogical principle. This etymology also implies to delete the geminate [ll] and to replace it by a single consonant, which means that geminates were no longer pronounced. As a matter of fact, modern etymologists consider that both words are related, since ἐλλός comes from *h1el-no- "deer" and ἔλαφος from *h1el-n̥-bho- "deer". Note that the word is also written with rough breathing (ἑλλός) ; see e.g. Choeroboscus, De spiritibus, 195, 28 Valckenaer