*ἔπω
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
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Ed.
Quotation
ὄπα· τὴν φωνήν. Φιλόξενος ἐν τῷ Περὶ μονοσυλλάβων παρὰ τὸν ἔψω μέλλοντα, οὗ θέμα ἔπω, τὸ λέγω, ἔψω ἒψ καὶ τροπῇ τοῦ ε εἰς ο ὄψ, ὀπὸς ὀπὶ ὄπα, ὡς ἀπὸ τοῦ ἕλκω ἕλξω ἓλξ ὄνομα καὶ τροπῇ τοῦ ε εἰς ο ὄλξ, κατ’ ἔκτασιν τοῦ ο <εἰς> ω ὦλξ· „ὦλκα βαθεῖαν“ (Call. h. 3, 180) †Ὅμηρος†
Translation (En)
opa "the voice". Philoxenus in his On monosyllables <says> it comes from the future *epsō, the theme of which is *epō "to say": *epsō, *eps, and through change of the e into o, ops, opos, opi, opa, as from helkō "to draw" helxō, *helx (a noun) and through change of the e into o, *olx, and through lengthening of o <into> omega, ōlx "furrow" (ōlka batheian "deep furrow", Callimachus, H. 3.180)
Parallels
Philoxenus, fr. 470 (δόρξ· ... παρὰ τὸ δέρκω δέρξω δὲρξ καὶ δόρξ, ὡς σήπω σήψω σήψ, ἔψω ἒψ καὶ ὄψ); Epimerismi homerici in Iliadem 1, 604 (ὀπί: δοτικῆς πτώσεως γένους θηλυκοῦ. ἡ εὐθεῖα ἡ ὄψ, ὃ σημαίνει τὴν φωνήν. γέγονε δὲ παρὰ τὸ ἔπω, τὸ λέγω, ὁ μέλλων ἔψω, ἀποβολῇ τοῦ ω, ἔψ, καὶ τροπῇ τοῦ ε εἰς ο ὄψ, ὀπός καὶ ἡ δοτικὴ ὀπί); Epimerismi homerici ordine alphabetico traditi, epsilon 84 (ἐνοπῇ (Γ 2): τὸ ἐνοπῇ καὶ κλαγγῇ ἐπιρρήματά εἰσι ποιότητος, ὡς τὸ σιγῇ. γίνεται παρὰ τὸ ὄψ, ὃ σημαίνει τὴν φωνὴν καὶ γράφεται διὰ τοῦ ο μικροῦ· τοῦτο δὲ παρὰ τὸ ἔπω, τὸ λέγω· λοιπὸν ἐκ τῆς ὀπός γενικῆς γίνεται μετὰ τῆς ἔν προθέσεως ἐνοπη); Choeroboscus, Epimerismi in Psalmos, p. 57 (Τὸ ὢψ σημαίνει τρία, τὸ πρόσωπον, καὶ τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν, καὶ τὸ κύριον ὄνομα, τὸν τῆς Εὐρυκλείας πατέρα. Καὶ διὰ τοῦ Ο μικροῦ σημαίνει τὴν φωνὴν, ὃ γίνεται παρὰ τὸ ἔπω τὸ λέγω, ὁ μέλλων ἔψω, καὶ ἀποβολῇ τοῦ Ω ἔψ, καὶ τροπῇ τοῦ Ε εἰς Ο ὄψ·); Etym. Gudianum, omicron, p. 431 (Ὄπα, γένους θηλυκοῦ, ἐκ τοῦ ἔπω τὸ λέγων, ὁ μέλλων ἔψω, ἀποβολῇ τοῦ ω, ἒψ, καὶ τροπῇ τοῦ ε εἰς ο ὄψ); ibid., sigma, p. 495 (Σάλπιγξ, σαλπίζω, τοῦτο παρὰ τὸ ἔπω τὸ λέγω, ὁ μέλλων ἔψω, ἀποβολῇ τοῦ ω ἒψ, καὶ τροπῇ τοῦ ε εἰς ο, ὂψ ὀπὸς, ὀπίζω, καὶ μετὰ τοῦ σέλας, ὃ σημαίνει τὴν λαμπηδόνα γίνεται σελαπίζω, καὶ ἐν συγκοπῇ καὶ ὑπερβιβασμῷ σαλπίζω); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 627 (Ὄπα: Παρὰ τὸ ἔπω, τὸ λέγω, ὁ μέλλων, ἔψω· καὶ ἀποβολῇ τοῦ ω, ἔψ· καὶ τροπῇ τοῦ ε εἰς ο, ὄψ. Κλίνεται ὀπός· σημαίνει δὲ τὴν φωνήν); ibid. p. 432 (ἤνοψ […] Ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἔπω, τὸ λέγω, ἔψω, ἒψ, καὶ ὂψ, ὡς κλέπτω, κλὲψ, κλὸψ καὶ κλώψ· καὶ βλέψω, βλὲψ, βλὸψ, καὶ βλώψ)
Comment
This etymology seems to have been standard in Antiquity. It relates correctly ὄψ to the root of ἔπος "word", εἶπον "I said", although the assumed derivation is fanciful and the basic verbal form, *epō, is a ghost-form (but used as a true present stem by Nicander who probably took it from the teaching of contemporary grammarians). It starts from an inflected form, the ghost future *ἔψω, which provides the ψ of the nominative case ὄψ. The alternation between a verb form with [e] and a nominal form with [o] was well identified by Greek grammarians (λέγω / λόγος type) and is here extrapolated to a different type (ὄψ is athematic, not thematic, contrary to λόγος)