φρίσσω

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No

Last modification

Thu, 08/05/2021 - 14:03

Word-form

ῥῖγος

Transliteration (Word)

rhigos

English translation (word)

frost, cold

Transliteration (Etymon)

phrissō

English translation (etymon)

to shiver

Author

Herodian

Century

2 AD

Reference

Peri Pathôn, Lentz III/2, p. 189

Edition

A. Lentz, Grammatici Graeci, vol. 3.2, Leipzig, Teubner, 1870

Source

Theognostus

Ref.

Canones sive De orthographia 519

Ed.

J.A. Cramer, Anecdota Graeca e codd. manuscriptis bibliothecarum Oxoniensium, vol. 2, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1835 (repr. Amsterdam: Hakkert, 1963)

Quotation

Ῥίγος τὸ ρι †υ· ἀπὸ γὰρ τοῦ φρίσσω φρίγος, καὶ ἀποβολῇ τοῦ φ ῥίγος· οὕτως Ἡρωδιανὸς ἐν τῷ περὶ παθῶν

Translation (En)

Rhigos "cold", the ri †. From phrissō "to shiver", *phrigos, and by dropping of the [ph], rhigos. This is what Herodian says in the Peri pathôn

Comment

Derivational etymology relying n the phonetic similarity and the similar meaning of the denominative verb ῥιγέω "to shiver", like φρίσσω. Although ῥῖγος itself never has this meaning, shivering and cold are associated because the one is cause of the other. Notice that in Herodian's etymology the etymon is the consequence and the lemma the cause. In that specific case, one may wonder whether the etymology is purely Greek or the Latin word frigus "cold" played a role in suggesting φρίσσω, as it happens to be a word meaning "cold" with initial [fri]. Since a then widespread theory derived Latin from Greek (via an Aeolic dialect), it was not absurd to use Latin words in the etymologizing inquiry on Greek words. Orion preserves an interesting point: the loss of the φ would have triggered the lengthening of the [I], for which the Epimerisms provide a parallel (in the case of γίγνομαι, this is a real compensatory lengthening because of the loss of a consonant after the vowel, whereas in the case of ῥῖγος the allegedly lost consonant was before the vowel, but Greek grammarians did not pay attention to the position of the phonemes)

Parallels

Herodian, Peri pathôn, Lentz III/2, p. 577 (ap. Choeroboscus, De orthographia (epitome), p. 255) (ῥῖγος: ι· ἀπὸ γὰρ τοῦ φρίσσω γέγονε φρίγος καὶ ἀποβολῇ τοῦ φ ῥῖγος. τὸ δὲ φρίσσω διὰ τοῦ ι γράφεται, ἐπειδὴ οὐδέποτε πρὸ τῶν δύο σσ ει δίφθογγος εὑρίσκεται); Orion, Etymologicum, rho, p. 139 (Ῥῖγος. ἐὰν διὰ τοῦ φ, φρίγος, παρὰ τὸ φρίσσω, καὶ ῥῖγος. ἔνθεν διὰ τοῦ ι γράφεται· εἰ δὲ ἀποβολῇ ἔκτασιν πεποίηκε τοῦ ι); Epimerismi homerici Il. 1.563b (ῥίγιον: ἔστιν ὀνόματος γένους οὐδετέρου. γέγονε δὲ παρὰ τὸ φρίσσω φρῖγος καὶ ἀφαιρέσει τοῦ φ ῥῖγος καὶ ῥίγιον); Epimerismi homerici ordine alphabetico traditi, rho 2 (τὸ ῥιγῶ ἐκ τοῦ ῥῖγος, ὃ σημαίνει τὸν φόβον· τοῦτο ἐκ τοῦ φρίσσω φρῖγος καὶ ῥῖγος (τὸ ρι μακρόν· τὰ γὰρ θέσει μακρά, ἡνίκα ἀποβάλλουσι σύμφωνον, εἰς φύσει μακρὸν μεταβαίνουσιν, οἷον γιγνώσκω γινώσκω)); Etym. Gudianum, rho, p. 492 (Ῥίγος, διὰ τοῦ ἰῶτα, ἐκ τοῦ φρίσσω φρίγος, καὶ ἀποβολῇ τοῦ φ, ῥίγος); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 704 (Ἀμφότερα δὲ ἐκ τοῦ ῥῖγος γίνεται· τοῦτο ἀπὸ τοῦ φρίσσω φρίγος καὶ ῥῖγος· ὅθεν τὸ ι μακρόν· ἡ γὰρ ἀποβολὴ τοῦ φ ἔκτασιν πεποίηται τοῦ ι); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, rho, p. 1617 (Ῥῖγος. τὸ ψύχος. ἀπὸ τοῦ φρίσσω φρίγος καὶ ἀποβολῇ τοῦ φ ῥῖγος. ἡ δὲ ἀποβολὴ τοῦ φ ἔκτασιν πεποίηκε τοῦ ι)

Modern etymology

Cognate with Lat. frīgus "cold", PIE *sriHg-. Isolated within Greek (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

MG still has ρίγος "shivering" as a learned word

Entry By

Le Feuvre