Some questions

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williamcfritsch
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Some questions

Post by williamcfritsch »

απλότερος, -α, -ον
how is this word related to the concept of age?

βαρύκτυπος, ον
what is the -k-. in the middle of the word, for? why is there an addition of a k?

πολυωνυμος, -ον
why -u- and not -o- for nomos? the word means 'having many names' or 'worshipped under many names'; how does the adjective imply a passive participle? how 'worshipped' or 'having many names'? both meanings are participles of the past. I do not see the logic behind these translations. does anyone else?

ϋποτατος, η, ον
What is the positive form of this adjective? is it a defective adjective?

αμαρτωλοτερον
how did -ωλο- enter? is it from ολλυμι?

γνώριμος, ον
how is this word opposite to απλος?

τρίγωνος, ον
why is this word translated passively as 'three-cornered'? why not just 'with three corners'?

σκαληνός, ή, όν
why is this word translated as 'scalene' and not 'made uneven'? what prevents us from translating it with a passive participle in English?

Please answer my questions!

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Barry Hofstetter
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Re: Some questions

Post by Barry Hofstetter »

It would be helpful if you provided some context for these questions. Are you reading a particular text in Greek? Exercises in a workbook or primer?
N.E. Barry Hofstetter

Cuncta mortalia incerta...

Hylander
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Re: Some questions

Post by Hylander »

απλότερος, -α, -ον
how is this word related to the concept of age? What makes you think it's related to age?

βαρύκτυπος, ον
what is the -k-. in the middle of the word, for? why is there an addition of a k? From κτυπέω:

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/tex ... Dktupe%2Fw


πολυωνυμος, -ον
why -u- and not -o- for nomos? From ονυμα, a Doric/Aeolic form of ονομα; the ω instead of ο avoids a string of five short/light syllables.

the word means 'having many names' or 'worshipped under many names'; how does the adjective imply a passive participle? how 'worshipped' or 'having many names'? both meanings are participles of the past. I do not see the logic behind these translations. does anyone else? Perfectly logical. "Having many names" doesn't include a past participle, and "worshiped under many names" conveys the meaning of the Greek; the past participle in English doesn't necessarily refer to past time.

ϋποτατος, η, ον
What is the positive form of this adjective? is it a defective adjective? If this word exists (I don't find it in LSJ; in any case I would expect υπωτατος), it's obviously formed from υπο, used as an adverb. So yes, defective.

αμαρτωλοτερον
how did -ωλο- enter? is it from ολλυμι? Probably not. The basic adjective is αμαρτωλος, from the noun αμαρτωλη.

γνώριμος, ον
how is this word opposite to απλος? What makes you think it's opposite to απλοoς?

τρίγωνος, ον
why is this word translated passively as 'three-cornered'? why not just 'with three corners'? In English, adjectives meaning "having X" or "provided with X" are sometimes formed by adding as a suffix the ending of the past participle, -ed, just as many nouns in English without any suffix can be used as verbs.

σκαληνός, ή, όν
why is this word translated as 'scalene' and not 'made uneven'? what prevents us from translating it with a passive participle in English? This word can be translated as "rough" or "unequal" in English, but "scalene" is a technical term in English used in geometry.
Last edited by Hylander on Wed Jan 10, 2018 4:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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jeidsath
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Re: Some questions

Post by jeidsath »

Hylander wrote: γνώριμος, ον
how is this word opposite to απλος? What makes you think it's opposite to απλοoς?
Judging by the various word on this list, I believe that he is reading Aristotle. Here is the Nicomachean Ethics 1095b:

ἀρκτέον μὲν γὰρ ἀπὸ τῶν γνωρίμων, ταῦτα δὲ διττῶς· τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἡμῖν τὰ δ’ ἁπλῶς.

What is opposite to τὰ ἁπλῶς here is τὰ ἡμῖν, not γνωρίμων.

***

I have never read any Aristotle, in English or Greek. I should probably correct that.
“One might get one’s Greek from the very lips of Homer and Plato." "In which case they would certainly plough you for the Little-go. The German scholars have improved Greek so much.”

Joel Eidsath -- jeidsath@gmail.com

williamcfritsch
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Re: Some questions

Post by williamcfritsch »

Thanks for your answers.

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