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RP2005 ψύχος and / or ψῦχος

Posted: April 26th, 2017, 11:18 pm
by Stephen Hughes
John 18:18 "ὅτι ψύχος ἦν" (on the second last full line of the attached text) and Acts "καὶ διὰ τὸ ψῦχος" (on the fourth line of the attached text) in RP2005.

Is the difference in accentuation significant? Is it being suggested that, in my speculation of what is happening, ψύχος is an adjective for ψύχρος, while ψῦχος is a third declension noun?
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[SBLGNT differs in having the accentuation "ὅτι ψῦχος ἦν" in John 18:18.]

Re: RP2005 ψύχος and / or ψῦχος

Posted: April 27th, 2017, 12:52 am
by Stephen Hughes
Sorry, ψυχρός, (as αἰσχρός "shameful" is to αἶσχος "shame")

Re: RP2005 ψύχος and / or ψῦχος

Posted: April 27th, 2017, 6:53 am
by Tony Pope
There is no significance in the different accentuation. This appears to be an accidental inconsistency.

The TR and also Westcott & Hort's edition accent both places as ψύχος, while other 19th century editions, followed by the Nestle editions, use the classical accentuation ψῦχος for both places.

Re: RP2005 ψύχος and / or ψῦχος

Posted: April 27th, 2017, 11:23 am
by Stephen Hughes
Tony Pope wrote: April 27th, 2017, 6:53 am There is no significance in the different accentuation. This appears to be an accidental inconsistency.
Thanks Tony.

How does John 18:18 "ὅτι ψῦχος ἦν" make sense in the Greek then?
[BDAG, ψῦχος "cold" (the English noun)]

Re: RP2005 ψύχος and / or ψῦχος

Posted: April 27th, 2017, 12:06 pm
by Tony Pope
Stephen Hughes wrote: April 27th, 2017, 11:23 am How does John 18:18 "ὅτι ψῦχος ἦν" make sense in the Greek then?
[BDAG, ψῦχος "cold" (the English noun)]
Apparently Greek idiom is different from English in that it uses the noun whereas we would use the adjective. I found the following on the Perseus site:

Aristoph. Eccl. 535 ψῦχος γὰρ ἦν, ἐγὼ δὲ λεπτὴ κἀσθενής
[It was cold, and I am frail and delicate]

Xen Anab 7.4.3 ἦν δὲ χιὼν πολλὴ καὶ ψῦχος οὕτως ὥστε τὸ ὕδωρ ὃ ἐφέροντο ἐπὶ δεῖπνον ἐπήγνυτο καὶ ὁ οἶνος ὁ ἐν τοῖς ἀγγείοις, καὶ τῶν Ἑλλήνων πολλῶν καὶ ῥῖνες ἀπεκαίοντο καὶ ὦτα.
[There was deep snow (on the plain), and it was so cold that the water which they carried in for dinner and the wine in the jars would freeze, and many of the Greeks had their noses and ears frost-bitten.]

Re: RP2005 ψύχος and / or ψῦχος

Posted: April 27th, 2017, 1:31 pm
by Stephen Hughes
Yes. Yes. You're right. The idiom is true for the opposite word too. Luke 12:55 "Καύσων ἔσται" - "there will be a sudden hot spell", "a heat wave is coming".

From the Modern Greek point of view, Τριανταφυλλίδης says that when referring to weather, ψύχος is a "cold wave" (what I know as a "cold snap" - sudden and severe cold temperatre compared to what would normally be expected. In Sydney we say, "a Southerly change"). If it has less-technical sense in the pre-modern (moden = science of meteorology modern) it may mean, "it suddenly got cold in a way that they weren't prepared for".

[Off the topic, and just to indulge myself, because I like words, and especially to see them happy together with other words, let me ask:

Is this a workable scale (including non-scalable extremes)?
  • ψύχος "unusually cold weather" (n. τό),
  • κρύον "(icy) cold" (adj.) ,
  • δροσερόν "dewy" = "cool" (adj.),
    [Those two seem to be describing temperature by the way that (atmospheric) moisture behaves.]
  • ἤπιον "agreeable", "mild" (adj.),
  • χλιαρόν "warm",
  • ζεστόν "hot"
    [Not just in the sense of how something was cooked, but was temperature it is after that kind of cooking, and hence the temperature itself],
  • καύσων "heatwave" (n. ὁ, -ῶνος).
]