Gr. ἄφρων [adj.] ‘senseless’: a Reassessment

Authors

  • Romain Garnier University of Limoges, Faculté des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines, 39E Rue Camille Guérin, 87000 Limoges, France

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu20.2021.105

Abstract

The present article offers a reassessment of Hom. ἄφρων [adj.] ‘unreasonable, senseless, foolish’, which is traditionally accounted for as an ablauting compound (of the type πατήρ :  πάτωρ) based on the simplex φρένες [f.pl.tant.] ‘midriff, diaphragm’ (+Il.). This archaic ablauting pattern (viz. °φρων vs. simplex φρήν*) is totally unparalleled for body parts; besides, the Ancients’ interpretation of φρένες as ‘diaphragm’ is flawed. Φρονέω ‘to have (good) understanding or intelligence’ is a back-formation coined after  φρονέω ‘to act senselessly, to be foolish’. From zero-graded  φραίνω (via a synchronic reanalysis of -αίνω as a deverbative suffix of the type °φαίνω), an adverb * φρα-δόν ‘senselessly, foolishly’ was eventually coined, which was the starting point of a whole new group. From this group was reanalyzed a “new” synchronic root √φραδ- ‘to heed, to consider’, reflected by Hom. φράζω. The lack of comparative evidence for this sprawling word family leads the author to assume that Hom. ἄφρων [adj.] ‘senseless, fool, heedless’ is in fact the reflex of a PIE etymon *ń ̥ -gʷʱr(h1)-on- ‘without sense of smell, not able of scenting’, from PIE *gʷʱreh1- ‘to smell’ (cf. Ved. jí-ghr-a- < *gʷʱí-gʷʱr(h1)-V-). This verbal compound of the type νήφων [*-on-adj.] ‘sober’ (< PIE *ń̥ -h1gʷʱ-on- ‘not having drunk’) would have been eventually reanalyzed as a privative bahuvrīhi (viz. ‘lacking φρένες’).

Keywords:

PIE verbal compounds, reanalysis, back-formations, Homeric phraseology, universal semantics

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.
 

References

AnEW = de Vries, J. Altnordisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch. Leiden — Boston — Köln, Brill, 2000 [1961].

Balles I. Air. barae, gr. φρένες, gr. πραπίδες und die Vertretung von idg. *-ḱu ̭ - im Griechischen, in: M. Fritz, S. Zeilfelder (eds). Novalis Indogermanica. Festschrift für Günther Neumann zum 80. Geburtstag. Graz, Leykam, 2002, 1–23.

Beekes R. S. P. Etymological Dictionary of Greek (2 Volumes). Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series, Vol. 10. Edited by Alexander Lubotsky. Leiden — Boston, Brill, 2010.

Darcus S. M.-phrōn Epithets of thumos. Glotta 1977, 55 (3–4), 178–182.

DELG = Chantraine P. Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque, Histoire des mots. Paris, Klincksieck. Nouvelle édition, avec, en supplément, les CEG 1–10 rassemblées par A. Blanc, C. de Lamberterie et J.-L. Perpillou, 2009 [1968].

GEW = Frisk H. Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (3 Volumes), Heidelberg, Winter, 1960–1972.

Kümmel M. J. Das Perfekt im Indoiranischen. Eine Untersuchung der Form und Funktion einer ererbten Kategorie des Verbums und ihrer Weiterentwicklung in den altindoiranischen Sprachen. Wiesbaden, Reichert Verlag, 2000.

LIV2 = Rix H. Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben. Die Wurzeln und ihre Primärstammbildungen. Unter Leitung von Helmut Rix, bearbeitet von Martin J. Kümmel, Thomas Zehnder, Reiner Lipp, Brigitte Schirmer. Wiesbaden, Reichert, 2001 [1999].

Mathys A. À propos des adverbes en -δην, -δον, -δα ou -δά du grec ancien: problèmes morphologiques et syntaxiques, in: A. Blanc, D. Petit (eds), Nouveaux acquis sur la formation des noms en grec ancien. Collection Linguistique de la Société de Linguistique de Paris, Vol. 101. Leuven — Paris, Peeters, 2016, 243–279.

Melchert C. H. New Luvian Verb Etymologies, in: H. Marquart, S. Reichmut, J. V. García Trabazo (eds), Anatolica et Indogermanica. Studia linguistica in honorem Johannis Tischler septuagenarii dedicata. Innsbruck, IBS 155, 2016, 203–212.

Pinault G.-J. Traum-deutung: étymologie du grec ὄναρ, ὄνειρος, arm. anurǰ etc. Wékwos 2014, 1, 191–206.

Pinault G.-J. Avoir du nez: grec νόος. Wékwos 2018, 4, 269–294.

Rau J. The Greek Adverbs in -δον, -δην, -δα. Glotta 2009, 82, 211–220.

Schindler J. Zum Ablaut der neutralen s-Stämme des indogermanischen, in: H. Rix (ed.), Flexion und Wortbildung. Akten des Fachtagung der Indogermanischen Gesellschaft Regensburg, 9–14 September 1973. Wiesbaden, Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 1975, 259–267.

Tu. = Turner R. A comparative dictionary of the Indo-Aryan languages (5 Volumes). London, Oxford University Press, 1962–1966.

von Kamptz H. Homerische Personennamen. Sprachwissenschaftliche und historische Klassifikation. Göttingen, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1982.

Weiss M. On the Non-verbal Origin of the Greek Verb νήφειν ‘be sober’. Historische Sprachforschung 1994, 107, 91–98.

Downloads

Published

2021-07-28

How to Cite

Garnier, R. (2021). Gr. ἄφρων [adj.] ‘senseless’: a Reassessment. Philologia Classica, 16(1), 50–56. https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu20.2021.105

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 1 (2021)

Section

Graecia antiqua

License

Articles of "Philologia Classica" are open access distributed under the terms of the License Agreement with Saint Petersburg State University, which permits to the authors unrestricted distribution and self-archiving free of charge.