Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age, Vol. 1 of 3: I. Prolegomena II. Achæis; or, the Ethnology of the Greek RacesGladstone, W. E. (William Ewart)
History
Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age, Vol. 1 of 3: I. Prolegomena II. Achæis; or, the Ethnology of the Greek Races
Gladstone, W. E. (William Ewart)
Civilization, Homeric; Epic poetry, Greek -- History and criticism; Homer
The survey taken by Niebuhr appears to have been rapid; and the list
of words supplied by him is very meagre. Bishop Marsh[533] and other
authors have, with a variety of views, supplied further materials. The
most comprehensive list, to which my attention has been directed, is
in the ‘Lateinische Synonyme und Etymologieen’ of Döderlein[534]. The
subject is essentially one which hardly admits of a fixed criterion or
authoritative rule, or of a full assurance that its limits have been
reached. Mindful of the reserve which these considerations recommend, I
should not wish to lay down inflexible propositions. But I venture to
state generally, that those words of the Latin and Greek tongues, which
are in the closest relationship, are connected
1. With the elementary structure of language, such as pronouns,
prepositions, numerals.
2. With the earliest state of society.
3. With the pursuits of peaceful and rural industry, not of highly
skilled labour.
_Classes of words which agree._
Examples, numerous enough to show a most extensive agreement, will
readily suggest themselves under the first head. To illustrate the
other propositions, though it can only be done imperfectly, I will
follow both the positive and the negative methods. The first, by
comparing words which denote elementary objects, both of animate
and inanimate nature, or the simplest products of human labour for
the supply of human wants, or the members of the human body, or the
rudiments of social order. The second, by contrasting the words which
relate (1) to intelligence and mental operations, (2) to war, and (3)
to the metals, the extended use of which denotes a certain degree of
social advancement. It will I hope be borne in mind, on the one hand,
that these lists are given by way of instance, and have no pretension
to be exhaustive: and, on the other hand, that exceptions, discovered
here and there, to the rule they seem to indicate, would in no way
disprove its existence, but should themselves, if purely exceptions, be
treated, provisionally at least, as accidental.
Class I.--_Elementary objects of inanimate Nature._
ἔρα, terra
ἀήρ, aer
αἴθηρ, æther
αὖρα, aura
ἀστήρ {astrum
ἀστέρος {stella
{sterula
κοίλον, cælum
ἥλιος, sol
σε-λήνη, luna
νὺξ, nox
(Ζεὺς) Διὸς, dies
πόντος, pontus
ἃλς } sal
θάλασσα } salum
πόλος, polus
λυκὴ in λυκάβας, } lux
λεύσσειν }
χείμων, hyems
ἔαρ, ver
ὥρη, hora
ἑσπέρα, vesper
νέφος {nubes
{nebula
(νιψ) νιφος, nix, nivis
δρόσος, ros
ὕετος {fluvius
{pluvia
ῥῖγος, frigus
χάμαι, humus
πευκὴ, pix
κῆπος } sepes
σῆκος }
λακκὸς } (_a pit_), lacus
λάχυς }
ἄμπελος, pampinus
ὕλη, sylva
φύλλον, folium
ῥόδον, rosa
λαὰς, lapis
ἄγρος, ager
ἄρουρα, arvum
ἄντρον, antrum
φῦκος, fucus
σπέος } spelunca
σπήλαιον }
ἴον, viola
σκόπελος, scopulus
ὕδωρ, sudor.
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