The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville - Pot-pourri
The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville - Pot-pourri
The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville - Pot-pourri
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For example, flumen (“river”) is so called from fluendum<br />
(“flowing”) because it has grown by flowing. 2.<strong>The</strong><br />
knowledge <strong>of</strong> a word’s etymology <strong>of</strong>ten has an indispensable<br />
usefulness for interpreting the word, for when<br />
you haveseenwhenceawordhasoriginated, you understand<br />
its force more quickly. Indeed, one’s insight into<br />
anything is clearer when its etymology is known. 30 However,<br />
not all words were established by the ancients from<br />
nature; some were established by whim, just as we sometimes<br />
give names to our slaves and possessions according<br />
to what tickles our fancy. 3. Henceitisthe case that<br />
etymologies are not to be found for all words, because<br />
some things received names not according to their innate<br />
qualities, but by the caprice <strong>of</strong> human will.<br />
<strong>Etymologies</strong> <strong>of</strong> words are furnished either from their<br />
rationale (causa), as ‘kings’ (rex,gen.regis)from[‘ruling’<br />
(regendum) and] ‘acting correctly’ (recte agendum); or<br />
from their origin, as ‘man’ (homo) because he is from<br />
‘earth’ (humus), or from the contrary, as ‘mud’ (lutum)<br />
from ‘washing’ (lavare,ppl. lutus), since mud is not clean,<br />
and ‘grove’ (lucus), because, darkened by its shade, it<br />
is scarcely ‘lit’ (lucere). 4. Somearecreated by derivation<br />
from other words, as ‘prudent’ (prudens)from‘prudence’<br />
(prudentia); some from the sounds, as ‘garrulous’<br />
(garrulus) from ‘babbling sound’ (garrulitas). Some are<br />
derived from Greek etymology and have a Latin declension,<br />
as ‘woods’ (silva), ‘home’ (domus). 5.Otherwords<br />
derive their names from names <strong>of</strong> places, cities, [or]<br />
rivers. In addition, many take their names from the languages<br />
<strong>of</strong> various peoples, so that it is difficult to discern<br />
their origin. Indeed, there are many foreign words unfamiliar<br />
to Latin and Greek speakers.<br />
xxx. Glosses (De glossis) 1. ‘Gloss’ (glossa) receivesits<br />
name from Greek, with the meaning ‘tongue.’ Philosophers<br />
call it adverbum, because it defines the utterance<br />
in question by means <strong>of</strong> one single word (verbum): in<br />
one word it declares what a given thing is, as contiscere est<br />
tacere (“‘to fall still’ is ‘to be silent’”). 2.Again in (Vergil,<br />
Aen. 10.314):<br />
Latus haurit apertum (gouges the exposed flank),<br />
30 Fontaine 1981:100 notes that this sentence is adapted from a<br />
legal maxim cited by Tertullian, De Fuge 1.2: “Indeed, one’s insight<br />
into anything is clearer when its author is known” – substituting<br />
etymologia cognita for auctore cognito.<br />
31 <strong>Isidore</strong> wrote a separate treatise, De differentiis,onthis subject.<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Etymologies</strong> I.xxix.2–xxxii.4 55<br />
‘gouges’ (haurit, lit. “drinks”) is glossed as ‘pierces<br />
through’ (percutit). And again, as when we gloss ‘termination’<br />
(terminus) as‘end’ (finis), and we interpret<br />
‘ravaged’ (populatus) tobe‘devastated’ (vastatus), and<br />
in general when we make clear the meaning <strong>of</strong> one word<br />
by means <strong>of</strong> one other word.<br />
xxxi. Differentiation (De differentiis) 31 A differentiation<br />
(differentia)isatype<strong>of</strong>definition,whichwriterson<br />
the liberal arts call ‘concerning the same and the different.’<br />
Thus two things, <strong>of</strong> the kind that are confused with<br />
each other because <strong>of</strong> a certain quality that they have<br />
in common, are distinguished by an inferred difference,<br />
through which it is understood what each <strong>of</strong> the two is.<br />
For instance, one asks what is the difference between a<br />
‘king’ and a ‘tyrant’: we define what each is by applying a<br />
differentiation, so that “a king is restrained and temperate,<br />
but a tyrant is cruel.” Thus when the differentiation<br />
between these two has been given, then one knows what<br />
each <strong>of</strong> them is. And so on in the same way.<br />
xxxii. Barbarism (De barbarismo) 1. A barbarism<br />
(barbarismus) isawordpronouncedwithacorrupted<br />
letter or sound: a corrupted letter, as in floriet (i.e. the<br />
incorrect future form <strong>of</strong> florere, “bloom”), when one<br />
ought to say florebit (“will bloom”); a corrupted sound,<br />
if the first syllable is lengthened and the middle syllable<br />
omitted in words like latebrae (“hiding places”), tenebrae<br />
(“shadows”). It is called ‘barbarism’ from barbarian<br />
(barbarus)peoples, since they were ignorant <strong>of</strong> the purity<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Latin language, for some groups <strong>of</strong> people, once<br />
they had been made Romans, brought to Rome their<br />
mistakes in language and customs as well as their wealth.<br />
2.<strong>The</strong>reis this difference between a barbarism and a borrowing<br />
(barbarolexis), that a barbarism occurs in a Latin<br />
word when it is corrupted, but when foreign words are<br />
brought into Latin speech, it is called ‘borrowing.’ Further,<br />
when a fault <strong>of</strong> language occurs in prose, it is called a<br />
barbarism, but when it occurs in meter, it is called a metaplasm<br />
(metaplasmus). 3. Inaddition, a barbarism can<br />
occur in written or spoken language. In written language<br />
it occurs in four ways: if someone adds, changes, transposes,<br />
or removes a letter in a word or syllable. In spoken<br />
language it may occur in length, intonation, aspiration,<br />
and other ways that will follow. 4.Abarbarism by length<br />
is made if someone says a short syllable for a long, or a<br />
long for a short. A barbarism by intonation, if the accent