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episthmh root

Posted: March 31st, 2018, 6:38 pm
by Curtis Dawson
Is pistis or is isthmi at the root of episthmh?

Re: episthmh root

Posted: April 1st, 2018, 8:33 am
by Wes Wood
Curtis Dawson wrote: March 31st, 2018, 6:38 pm Is pistis or is isthmi at the root of episthmh?
First, let me say that I have no idea, but I don't think it is either of these two options. LSJ pairs the word with ἐπίσταμαι.

Re: episthmh root

Posted: April 1st, 2018, 8:10 pm
by Stephen Carlson
πίστις is related to πείθομαι.
ἐπιστήμη is related to ἐπίσταμαι, which itself appears to be very old compound of the forebears of ἐπί and ἵστημι.

Re: episthmh root

Posted: April 2nd, 2018, 6:25 am
by cwconrad
Stephen Carlson wrote: April 1st, 2018, 8:10 pm πίστις is related to πείθομαι.
ἐπιστήμη is related to ἐπίσταμαι, which itself appears to be very old compound of the forebears of ἐπί and ἵστημι.
That is to say: the compound is so old that that it is deemed integral; it is the ἐ of ἐπι-that is augmented: imp. ἠπιστάμην.

Re: episthmh root

Posted: April 2nd, 2018, 10:58 am
by Barry Hofstetter
Let me also point out that etymology is a secondary consideration to usage...

Re: episthmh root

Posted: April 11th, 2018, 1:13 pm
by Curtis Dawson
Do you believe that is always true?

Re: episthmh root

Posted: April 11th, 2018, 1:38 pm
by Barry Hofstetter
Curtis Dawson wrote: April 11th, 2018, 1:13 pm Do you believe that is always true?
Well, at least 99% of the time. Etymology does become rather important for hapax legomena and rare words used in ambiguous contexts. Otherwise, synchronic usage in context is always the primary determiner of meaning. Favorite examples would include the English word "nice" derived ultimately from the Latin "nescius" which means "foolish." Tell a middle school Latin class that, and they will be calling each other "nice" for quite a while... :)

Re: episthmh root

Posted: April 11th, 2018, 6:08 pm
by Curtis Dawson
Was episthmh coined?

Re: episthmh root

Posted: April 12th, 2018, 12:38 pm
by Barry Hofstetter
I think of a coinage as the intentional creation of a new word, rather than one which "naturally evolves" in the process of the language. I suspect that ἐπιστήμη is the latter, but if it were a coinage, it happened so early in the history of the language that nobody would ever have thought of it as a coinage.

Re: episthmh root

Posted: April 12th, 2018, 12:42 pm
by Barry Hofstetter
BTW, real easy these days to use actual Greek fonts, and that is the preferred method for writing Greek on this forum.