ῥέω

Validation

Yes

Last modification

Sun, 07/04/2021 - 15:08

Word-form

ῥίς

Transliteration (Word)

rhis

English translation (word)

nose

Transliteration (Etymon)

rheō

English translation (etymon)

to flow

Author

Aristarchus

Century

2 BC

Source

Etym. Gudianum Additamenta

Ref.

Etym. Gudianum Additamenta, alpha, p. 77

Ed.

E.L. de Stefani, Etymologicum Gudianum, fasc. 1 & 2, Leipzig: Teubner, 1:1909; 2:1920

Quotation

τὸ δὲ θίς καὶ ῥίς ὁ Ἀρίσταρχος διὰ τῆς ει διφθόγγου ἀξιοῖ γράφεσθαι καὶ ἀκολουθῶν τῇ ἐτυμολογίᾳ ἔλεγεν, ὅτι τὸ θείς παρὰ τὸ θείνεσθαί ἐστι, καὶ γὰρ ἐν τῷ αἰγιαλῷ θείνονται καὶ τύπτονται τὰ κύματα· ἢ παρὰ τὸ θέειν, καὶ γὰρ ἐν τῷ αἰγιαλῷ τρέχει τὰ κύματα. τὸ δὲ ῥ<ε>ίς παρὰ τὸ ῥεῖν γέγονε, καὶ γὰρ ἐκ τῆς ῥινός ῥέουσι καὶ κατέρχονται τὰ περιττώματα τῆς κεφαλῆς. ἀκολουθῶν οὖν ταύτῃ τῇ ἐτυμολογίᾳ εἴρηκεν αὐτὰ διὰ τῆς ει διφθόγγου. ἡ δὲ παράδοσις οἶδεν αὐτὰ διὰ τοῦ ι

Translation (En)

Aristarchus thinks the words thīs ("heap (of sand)") and rhīs ("nose") should be spelled with a <diphthong> [ei], and he said that, in agreement with etymology, theis comes from theinesthai ("to be stricken", because the waves strike and beat on the shore, or from theein ("to run"), because the waves run onto the shore. And rhis ("nose") comes from the verb "to flow" (rheîn), because through the nose flow and are evacuated all the superfluous <liquids> of the head. According to this etymology, then, he said that they should be spelled with [ei]. But the tradition knows only the form with [i]

Comment

This is a rare instance of an etymology by Aristarchus, who seldom engaged in etymology. It is erroneous by modern standards. However, it shows how etymology was used as a tool for determining the correct spelling of a word. Here the name of the nose receives a functional etymology, as the function of the nose is to allow a form of regulation of what is in the head by letting liquids in excess flow out. The etymology is paronymic, and since ῥέω has no forms in ῥι-, but only forms in ῥε- or ῥυ-, the logical conclusion is that the correct spelling of "nose" must be ῥείς, even though this spelling is not found anywhere, as the scholiast objects. The etymology implies that [ei] and [i] were pronounced alike at the time. This claim of Aristarchus relies on the fact that ῥῑ́ς has a long [ī], metrically equivalent to a diphthong, and could be backed by several cases where tradition hesitates between a spelling ει and a spelling ι, as for τίνυμαι / τείνυμαι "to (make) pay", or by dialectal variants like Attic ἱμάτιον / Ionic εἷμα "cloth, coat", Attic χίλιοι / Ionic χείλιοι "thousand", all with a long [ī]: from the latter cases Aristarchus may have deduced that the authentic Ionic form must have had ει, too

Parallels

Apollonius Soph., Lexicon hom., p. 86 (θεῖνα τὸν αἰγιαλόν, ἀπὸ τοῦ θείνεσθαι τοῖς κύμασιν, ὅ ἐστι τύπτεσθαι. κατὰ δὴ τοῦτον τὸν λόγον γράφοι τις ἂν καὶ τὴν ῥῖνα διὰ τοῦ ε καὶ ι· εἴρηται γὰρ ἀπὸ τοῦ δι’ αὐτῆς ῥεῖν τὴν φυσικὴν ἀπὸ τῆς κεφαλῆς τῶν ὑγρῶν ἐπίρρυσιν· ἀλλ’ οὐ γράφεται τῷ ὀνοματικὸν εἶναι); Herodian, Peri orthographias, Lentz III/2, p. 431 (same formulation as the Etym. Gudianum from which Lentz took it); ibid., Lentz III/2, p. 577 (ῥίν ὤφειλε διὰ διφθόγγου γράφεσθαι. ἀπὸ γὰρ τοῦ ῥέω γίνεται· ἐκ γὰρ τῆς ῥινὸς ῥεῖ καὶ κατέρχεται τὰ περιττώματα τῆς κεφαλῆς. ἀλλ’ ἡ παράδοσις διὰ τοῦ ι ὡς δικατάληκτον); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p.  704 (idem); Orion, Etymologicum, rho, p. 139 (Ῥίν. παρὰ τὸ ῥέειν δι’ αὐτῆς τὰ ὑγρὰ τῆς κεφαλῆς); Meletius, De natura hominis p. 72 (Αἱ δὲ ῥῖνες δι’ ὧν ἡ ὄσφρησις γίνεται λέγονται καὶ μυκτῆρες· ῥῖνες μὲν, διὰ τὸ δι’ αὐτῶν ῥεῖν τὰ ἐξ ἐγκεφάλου ὑγρά); Leo Medicus, De natura hominum synopsis 44 (Διατί λέγονται ῥῖνες καὶ μυκτῆρες; ῥῖνες μὲν διὰ τὸ ῥεῖν τὰ ἐξ ἐγκεφάλου ὑγρά); Choeroboscus, Epimerismi in Psalmos p. 177 (Ῥίνας, ἡ ῥὶν, παρὰ τὸ ῥέεσθαι δι’ αὐτῆς τὰ ὑγρά. Καὶ ὤφειλε γράφεσθαι κατὰ τὴν ἐτυμολογίαν δίφθογγον· ἀλλὰ τὰ εἰς ΡΙΝ δικατάληκτα δίφθογγον οὐκ ἔχει); Etym. Gudianum, rho, p. 492 (Ῥίνας, ἡ εὐθεῖα ῥὶν, διὰ τὸ ῥέεσθαι δι’ αὐτῆς τὰ ὑγρὰ, παρὰ τὸ ῥεῖν ἄνωθεν· ἤγουν τὰ τῆς κεφαλῆς ὑγρά); Etym. Gudianum Additamenta, alpha, p. 77 (τὸ θίν, κἂν παρὰ τὸ θέω ἐστί, διὰ τοῦ ι γράφεται· κἂν παρὰ τὸ ῥέειν, ἡ ῥίν); Joannes Mauropus, Etymologica nominum 172 (καὶ ῥὶς δ’, ἐπεὶ ῥεῖ, τὸ τριώνυμον μέλος); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 704 (ὁ δὲ Ὦρος λέγει, ῥινὸς λέγεται, ὅτι δι’ αὐτοῦ ῥέουσιν οἱ ἱδρῶτες); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, rho, p. 1616 (ὁ δὲ Ὦρος ὁ Μιλήσιος λέγει, ὅτι ῥίνος λέγεται, ὅτι δι’ αὐτοῦ ῥέουσιν οἱ ἱδρῶτες); ibid., p. 1617 (Ῥὶν καὶ ῥίς. ἡ μύτις. καὶ κλίνεται ῥινός. [ὡς δικατάληκτον διὰ τοῦ ι γράφεται· ἔδει γὰρ διὰ τῆς ει διφθόγγου. ἀπὸ τοῦ ῥέω ῥίν· ἐκ γὰρ τῆς ῥινὸς ῥέουσι καὶ κατέρχονται τὰ περιττώματα.]); Schol. Od. ε 426c Pontani (“ῥινὸς” ἐτυμολογεῖται ἀπὸ τοῦ “ῥέω”, “ῥινός”)

Modern etymology

Unknown. No counterpart in other Indo-European languages (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

Ριν(ο)- stilll exists in Modern Greek in vernacular and medical compounds that concern the 'nose', although in MG the word for the nose is "μύτη". See also derivatives like ρινικός.

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