emauta^i (fem. dat. of emautou ?)

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Junya
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emauta^i (fem. dat. of emautou ?)

Post by Junya »


Hi.

I'm unsure about this word, emauta^i.
I wonder if the fem. dat. ending -e^i should be -a^i in some district of Greece.
By what index key word should I search about this form variation in Smyth ?


te^n pros Anebo^ ton emon mathe^te^n pemphtheisan epistole^n emouta^i gegraphthai nomisas

------
the meaning would be "considering the letter sent to Anebo my disciple to have been written to me myself".
But this "me" should be a male, named Abammo^n.
So I'm doubly unsure about this emouta^i

Qimmik
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Re: emauta^i (fem. dat. of emautou ?)

Post by Qimmik »

I don't think I can help you beyond providing links to the relevant entries in LSJ:

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/tex ... 9mautou%3D

and Smyth:

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/tex ... 99.04.0007

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/tex ... %3D329%20D

emout- looks like Herodotus Ionic (with omega), but the ending in -ai looks Doric or Aeolic, if this is earlier than the fourth or third century BCE. And I don't know why a feminine ending would be used if the referent is masculine. Is this an inscription?

Junya
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Re: emauta^i (fem. dat. of emautou ?)

Post by Junya »

Thank you, Qimmik. :)

In Perseus Liddell & Scott,

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/tex ... 9mautou%3D

the form emauta^i is shown as Aeolic.
I didn't notice it when seeing my LSJ, thank you, though I don't know when and where the Aeolic was used.


The writer is a NeoPlatonist philosopher, Iamblichos, who lived in the 3rd to 4th century AD.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iamblichus
The book is De Mysteriis Aegyptiorum.
The editor of the text I'm seeing gives emauto^i as an alternative in the footnote.
So, emauto^i is pretty understandable, but
I'm still in doubt about that feminine gender.
I guessed that introducing oneself in the feminine form might be some custom, or a polite way of expression.

Qimmik
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Re: emauta^i (fem. dat. of emautou ?)

Post by Qimmik »

pemphtheisan is feminine because it modifies epistolen, a feminine noun, not Anebo the disciple.

Aeolic was prevalent in certain parts of Greece, Asia Minor and the island of Lesbos in the period before the Hellenistic era (after the death of Alexander). It's represented in archaic poetc texts (Sappho and Alcaeus) from the archaic period (cir. 600 BCE) and inscriptions. By Iambilichus' era, Aeolic Greek was probably extinct, and it certainly wouldn't have been used by Iambilichus--he would be writing Attic Greek or koine.

It looks as if emauto^i is probably the correct reading, but it's difficult to understand how emauto^i could be corrupted into emautai.

Can you tell us more about the edition you are using?

Junya
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Re: emauta^i (fem. dat. of emautou ?)

Post by Junya »

Hi, Qimmik.

Thank you for the information about the Aeolic dialect.

About pemphtheisan I added in a confused state of mind, I'm sorry :oops: , I deleted it.

The edition I'm seeing is in Google Play,
https://play.google.com/books/reader?id ... er=0&hl=ja

The emauta^i is found in p. 54.

Qimmik
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Re: emauta^i (fem. dat. of emautou ?)

Post by Qimmik »

I see what the problem is. The text actually does read ἐμαυτῷ, but the right edge of the omega has been cut off in the process of printing, so that it looks like an alpha with iota subscript.

Junya
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Re: emauta^i (fem. dat. of emautou ?)

Post by Junya »

oh, yes, I thought the printing of the letter was looking a little erased.
That was omega, not alpha, ah.
Thank you. :)

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