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ἐπιστομίζειν to gag, silence a speaker

Posted: April 21st, 2014, 2:10 pm
by Stephen Hughes
This is question about derivational morphology.

Is there a good reason why πιστομίζειν (used with an accusative of person) "to gag someone", "to silence a speaker", isn't πιστοματίζειν* ?

It is used once in the New Testament.
Titus 1:11 wrote:οὓς δεῖ ἐπιστομίζειν· οἵτινες ὅλους οἴκους ἀνατρέπουσιν, διδάσκοντες ἃ μὴ δεῖ, αἰσχροῦ κέρδους χάριν.

Re: ἐπιστομίζειν to gag, silence a speaker

Posted: April 21st, 2014, 2:50 pm
by Stephen Carlson
It is ἐπιστομίζειν; the initial epsilon is not an augment. I'd say that the verb is derived, not from the noun στόμα, but from the prepositional phrase ἐπὶ στόμα. Though LSJ does list a related from ἐπιστοματίζειν, so someone in antiquity had your instincts.