LSJ 9 entry
jburke at sprint.com.au
jburke at sprint.com.au
Tue Apr 23 20:17:11 EDT 2002
I really hate to do this, but I need some help.
Correspoding outside this list with someone on the subject of the semantic range of MORFH, I was told that LSJ 9 contains the definition 'essential nature' for MORFH.
I was surprised at this, and I had a look at the entry. I did not find 'essential nature' listed.
I was told that the following entry in LSJ 9 is intended to express the definition 'essential nature':
>
3. *kind, sort*, Eur. Ion 382 , au=Eur. Ion 1068 <(lyr.), Plat. Rep. 397c , etc. (Possibly cogn. with Lat. forma for morg&uup;hmā, with f by dissimilation, êcf. murmx .)
>
The argument given to me was this:
>
..what does "kind" mean? it says under meaning 1 in my dictionary: base gen-: see GENUS 1. (Archaic a) origin b)nature c)manner; way 2. a natural group or division (the rodent kind): sometimes used in compounds (humankind) 3. essential character 4. sort; variety; class...
>
Now my question is less about the meaning of MORFH, and more about LSJ 9.
I really don't see that this is what LSJ 9 is saying. I believe that if the meaning 'essential nature' had been meant here, it would have been listed as such. Stop me if I'm wrong, but if there's a need to go to an English dictionary to select one particular nuance of an English word used in a lexicon to define a Greek word, then something is badly wrong. Someone doesn't know how to use a lexicon.
Of course, LSJ 9 actually cites a number of references as examples of what it means by 'kind, sort'.
Here are two:
Euripedes, Ion 382:
Choros:
POLLAI GE POLLOIS EISI SUMPHORAI BROTON, MORPHAI DE DIAPHEROUSIN: HEN D' AN EUTUCHES MOLIS POT' EXEUROI TIS ANTHROPON BIOI.
Plato, Republic 397c:
TI DE TO TOU HETEROU EIDOS; OU TON ENANTION DEIAI, PASON MEN HARMONION, PANTON DE RHUTHMON, EI MELLEI AU OIKEIOS LEGESTHAI, DIA TO PANTODAPAS MORPHAS TON METABOLON ECHAIN; KAI SPHODRA GE HOUTOS ECHEI.
Now stop me if I'm wrong, but I cannot see that either of these examples refer to 'essential nature'. If someone is confused over the meaning of the English word 'kind', or 'sort', then I can understand them being confused over the use of these Greek passages.
The word MORFH may indeed mean 'essential nature' for all I know (although searches on B-Greek suggest otherwise), but this entry in LSJ 9 does not appear to be saying any such thing.
How am I going?
Thanks,
Jonathan Burke.
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