λάζομαι

Validation

No

Word-form

λόχμη

Transliteration (Word)

lokhmē

English translation (word)

thicket, bush

Transliteration (Etymon)

lazomai

English translation (etymon)

to seize

Author

Philoxenus

Century

1 BC

Reference

fr. 305

Edition

C. Theodoridis, Die Fragmente des Grammatikers Philoxenos [Sammlung griechischer und lateinischer Grammatiker (SGLG) 2], Berlin: De Gruyter, 1976

Source

Orion

Ref.

Etymologicum, lambda, p. 91

Ed.

F.W. Sturz, Orionis Thebani etymologicon, Leipzig, 1820

Quotation

Λόχμη. ἀπὸ τοῦ λοχᾶν ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις τόποις. ὁ δὲ Φιλόξενος παρὰ τὸ λάζω ῥῆμα. εὐληπτοτέρων ὄντων τῶν δασέων. λάζω οὖν λάξω μέλλων. ὄνομα λαχμὸς, ὡς παρὰ τὸ κράζω κράξω κραγμός· τὸ δὲ γ εἰς χ μεταπεσόντος, λαχμός. τούτου τὸ θηλυκὸν, λόχμη. 

Translation (En)

Lokhmē "thicket": from the fact that one lays ambushes (lokhân) in such places. But Philoxenus derives it from the verb lazō "to seize", thick things being easier to grasp. Lazō, future laxō, noun lakhmos, as from krazō "to croak", kraxō and kragmos "croaking"; and the [g] having changed to [kh], *lakhmos; the feminine of the latter, lokhmē

Comment

Derivation from λάζομαι, old present replaced in Ionic-Attic by λαμβάνω. Philoxenus, as often, starts from the future form – a guess since the future is not attested for this verb (and modern linguistics says in fact the future is attested, it is λήψομαι, future of λαμβάνω), which provides the velar stop [k]. The analogical parallel provided is flawed, as from κράζω, κράξω the derived noun has a voiced [g], not an aspirate [kh], which requires a formal manipulation. The last change required, from *λαχμος with [a] to *λόχμος with [o], is not commented upon. The semantic justification is bewildering: thick things are easier to grasp than thin ones, but λόχμη does not mean "thick", it means "thicket", and one does not grasp a thicket. The thicket is thick (δασύς), hence the association and the etymology which in fact explains semantically the quality of "thick" rather than the nature of "bush"

Parallels

Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 570 (Λόχμη: Θάμνος, ὕλη, σύνδενδρος τόπος· παρὰ τὸ λοχᾶν ἐν αὐτῷ, τουτέστιν ἐνεδρεύειν ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις τόποις. Λοχῶ οὖν, λόχη· καὶ πλεονασμῷ, λόχμη. Ὁ δὲ Φιλόξενος, παρὰ τὸ λάζω ῥῆμα, εὐληπτοτέρων ὄντων τῶν δασέων. Ὁ μέλλων, λάξω, ὄνομα, λαγμός· ὡς παρὰ τὸ κράζω κράξω κραγμός· τοῦ δὲ γ εἰς τὸ χ μεταπεσόντος, λαχμός· τούτου τὸ  θηλυκὸν, λόχμη)

Modern etymology

Λόχμη belongs with λόχος "ambush", λέχος "bed" and means etymologically "lair" of a wild animal, that is, the place where the animal lives. Built from PIE root *legh- "to lie down" found in Lat. lectus "bed" (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

The word still exists in Modern Greek, designating the 'deep part of a forest with dense vegetation, where wild animals find a refuge'.

Entry By

Le Feuvre