Re: Greek (Tsou)knida

From: mb (azythos2_at_hotmail.com)
Date: 12/12/04 

Date: 12 Dec 2004 14:02:35 -0800

Douglas G. Kilday wrote:
> <azythos2@hotmail.com> wrote ...
> >
> > Nigel Greenwood wrote:
>

> > Tsouknida is a "folk-etymologic chimaera". Knide^ is part of it,
and
> > also "tsouzo^" = to nettle, to irritate (physically), to cause a
> > burning or itching sensation.
> >
> > Etymology of "tsouzo^" is given as "sizo^" (to produce a strident
> > noise) by Andriotis. Further development (see Babiniotis) surizo^
(see
> > syrinx, still with the auditive connotation) > tsurizo^ > tsou-
>
> <sizein> was originally intr. 'to hiss, sizzle' (prob. imit.), of hot
iron
> in water, or the Cyclops' eye (Od. IX.393-4). From this comes the
> transitive sense 'to set (a dog) on, to sic', since a hiss was the
command
> to the dog. If <tsouzein> is in fact derived from <sizein>, the
sense 'to
> irritate' is plausibly devalued from 'to attack with a dog'.
>
> <surizein> is entirely independent of <sizein> and not imitative,
since it
> is formed from <surigx> 'shepherd's pipe' which belongs to a small
group of
> non-IE words in <-igx> denoting musical instruments: <salpigx>
'trumpet' and
> <phormigx> 'lyre' belong here. From the literal sense 'to play the
> shepherd's pipe', <surizein> acquires the sense 'to make a piping or
> whistling sound', and transitively 'to hiss (an actor) off the
stage'. This
> is much less likely than <sizein> to develop into a verb of
irritating or
> nettling.

That is all correct and logical, but doesn't exclude the fact that
Andr. and Bab, do in fact trace the jump. "Sizo^" and "Syrizo^" (of
course as sourizo^)both acquire the 'physical irritation / burning'
sense in Byzantine Greek, and to my knowledge both were still used in
some local dialects, including that of Constantinople, as alternates to
tsouzo^. I can't see why there wouldn't be a likelihood of association
of the two with each other, and of the two with nettling, in the
popular mind --the switch did happen, while syrin(x)ga got assigned a
totally different specialized meaning.