κελαινός + φάω
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Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
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Quotation
οὕτως ἐκ τοῦ κελαίνω τὸ μελαίνω καὶ τὸ νέφος γίνεται κελαινεφής κατὰ συγκοπὴν ὡς τανύω τανύπεπλος. ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ αἵματος ἐκ τοῦ φῶ τὸ φαίνω καὶ τοῦ κελαινόν γίνεται κελαινοφής κελαινεφής ὡς ἐπὶ τοῦ θηροφόνα θηρεφόνα· καὶ δῆλον ὅτι οὐ συγκοπή. οὕτως Ἡρωδιανός
Translation (En)
Similarly, from kelainō “to black” and nephos "cloud" comes kelainephēs (“of the black cloud“), through syncope as in tanuō, tanupeplos; but for blood, it comes from phô ("to shine") and kelainos ("black") yielding *kelainophēs <and then> kelainephēs, as in thērophona, thērephona. And it is clear that it is not <in that case> a syncope. This is what Herodian says
Parallels
Herodian, Peri pathôn, Lentz III/2, p. 363, ap. Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 60 (Ἁλοτρίβανον οὖν καὶ ἁλετρίβανον κατὰ τροπήν· ὡς κελαινοφὴς καὶ κελαινεφὴς, ἀπὸ τοῦ κελαινὸν καὶ τοῦ φῶς· οὐ γὰρ ἀπὸ τοῦ νέφος); Etym. Symeonis 1, p. 272 (idem); Eustathius, Comm. Il. 1, 188 (Ζεὺς δὲ κελαινεφὴς παρὰ τὸ κελαινὸς φαίνεσθαι· τοιοῦτος γὰρ ὁ ἀήρ. ἐντεῦθεν δὲ καὶ αἷμά που ἐρεῖ κελαινεφές. ἢ παρὰ τὸ κελαίνεσθαι καὶ νείφειν, οἱονεὶ κελαινονεφής· ἢ παρὰ τὸ κελαίνεσθαι νέφεσι· νεφεληγερέτης γάρ. εἰ δὲ εἰς νοῦν ἀλληγορεῖται, τότε κάλλιόν ἐστιν εἰπεῖν αὐτὸν κελαινὸν μὲν διὰ τὸ βαθύ, φαεινὸν δὲ διὰ τὸ φύσει φωσφόρον); Eustathius, Comm. Od. 1, 386 (Ὅτι ἐν μὲν τῷ, Ζεὺς κελαινεφὴς, ἔγκειται τὸ νέφος. ἔστι γὰρ κελαινεφὴς ἐκεῖνος, ὡς τὰ νέφη μελαίνων τῇ πυκνώσει, νεφεληγερέτης γάρ. ἐν δὲ τῷ, (Vers. 35) μῆλα λαβὼν ἀπεδειροτόμησα εἰς βόθρον, ῥέε δ’ αἷμα κελαινεφὲς, ἡ λέξις τὸ κελαινεφὲς δηλοῖ, ἤγουν τὸ μέλαν. ἐπεὶ καὶ μέλαν αἷμα φησὶ πολλαχοῦ. καὶ μὴν καὶ Ζεὺς κελαινεφὴς κατὰ ἀλληγορίαν, ὁ μέλας ἰδεῖν καὶ οἱονεὶ αὐτὸς κελαινοφαὴς διὰ τὸ τοῦ νοῦ δυσόρατον)
Comment
This is a complementary etymology: next to the usual analysis of kelainephēs as a compound *kelainonephēs "of the black cloud" with syncope, fitting when the adjective is used as an epithet of Zeus, there is a complementary etymology accounting for another context, when the adjective is epithet of haima "blood" (Il. 4.140 αὐτίκα δ᾿ ἔρρεεν αἷμα κελαινεφὲς ἐξ ὠτειλῆς "immediately the black blood flew from the wound") and where obviously there can be no cloud. For modern linguists, it is simply a mere extension of the use of kelainephēs, which was more or less taken as an extended metrical variant of kelainos, hence the possibility of applying it to blood. For Greek etymologists, that implied a different etymology, suitable for this context, and the word is parsed as a compound of phaō "to shine", an archaic form found in Homer. A variant of this etymology identifies the second element not as phaō but as phaos "light" (see Parallels). Notice that some managed to unite the two uses of kelainephēs by assuming a different compound structure, namely a comparative compound: D Schol. Il. 4.140 Κελαινεφές. Μέλαν ὡς νέφος "black as a cloud"