This paper discusses the “prefixation folk-etymology” in Bulgárián wordsof Greek origin. This paper discusses the “prefixation folk-etymology” inBulgárián words of Greek origin. This is a phenomenon in which the firstsyllable coïncides phonetically with a prefix, and because of this coincidenceit is erroneously considered as being a prefix and is replaced by another prefix

Tzitzilis, Christos

English

Υπηρεσία Υποστήριξης Διαχείρισης και Έκδοσης Ηλεκτρονικών Επιστημονικών Περιοδικών

CHRISTOS T Z IT Z IL IS“PREFIXATION FOLK-ETYMOLOGY” IN BULGÁRIÁN WORDS OF GREEK ORIGINAlthough thè vocabulary remains thè favourite domain of those who deal with the Greek-Bulgarian linguistic relations, there is stili no special monograph on the problem of folk-etymology in the Bulgárián words of Greek origin. The first to deal with the problem of folk-etymology in Bulgárián was the Bulgárián scholar Ivan Šišmanov in his article “Prinos kăm Bălgarskata narodna etimologija”. In this work he also discusses the alteration of some Greek loan-words in Bulgárián under the influence of other Bulgárián words. In M. F. Bajrova’s book “Grăcki zaemki v săvremenija bălgarski ezik” there is a small chapter devoted to folk-etymology. In the present páper ľll deal with a kind of folk-etymology, which I called “prefixation folk-etymo­logy”. It is the phenomenon in which the first syllable or the first member of a consonantal cluster, which is at the beginning of thè word, coïncides foneti- cally with a prefix, and because of this coïncidence it is considered as being a prefix and is substituted by another prefix or by the zero element (it drops). Thus, the Bulgárián verb izkimasuvam1 'test, try out’ derives, as M. F. Bajrova correctly suggests, from the verb dokimàsvam (<Gr. δοκιμάζω) ‘test, try out’ with the substitution of do- by the prefix iz-, because do- was erroneously considered as being a prefix.I used on purpose the term “prefixation folk-etymology”, which is a neologism, because I wanted to distinguish it from the phenomenon of the “folk-etymology in the préfixés”, in Greek “παρετυμολογία στις προθέσεις”. In this latter case the affected element is phonetically similar to the element which takes its place. In our case the folk-etymology takes place in two phases: In the first phase the folk-etymology changes “neither the form nor the mean- ing of the inducted element, although it is still present in thè false relations of the lexical kinship”. (In the terms of the Rumanian linguist Theodor Hristea21. M. F. Bajrova, p. 93.2. Theodor Hristea, “Románián Vocabulary and Etymology” in “Current Trends in Románián Linguistics” ed. A. Rossetti and Sanda Golopenţia Eretescu, 1978, p. 233.594 Christos Tzitzilii“latent folk-etymology”). In the second phase that part of thè influenced word which is erroneously considered as being a prefix is substituted by another prefix. That means that the new element is not phonetically similar to the inducted element, but belongs to the same grammatical category.The phenomenon of “prefixation folk-etymology” occurs in Bulgárián words of slavic origin: dogani mi set3 ( pogani mi se, zavjăsuvam4 ( navjăsvam, zèmam5 ( vzèmam, izbikaljam6 ( obikaljam, iz-braštam7 8 9 10( obrastam, izbräš- tamP { obräštam, in Bulgárián words of Albánián origin (cf. zgikosam9 ‘die’ ( Alb. vdes ‘die’) etc. In this páper Г11 deal with the “prefixation folk-etymo- logy” in Bulgárián words of Greek origin.The words studied are arranged in alphabetical order : vkèpsvam, kèpcvamIn the BER the verb vkèpsvam10 ‘touch, catch, get one’s hands on’ is described as of unknown origin. In my opinion this verb is connected with the verbs skèpsvam and sképcvam ‘take by surprise, take hold of, catch’ which the Compilers of RRODD11 12 13derive from the Gr. σκέπτομαι. If their position is correct, then the verb vkèpsvam should come from skèpsvam with mutation s- ) v-, because s- was thought to be a prefix.The Bulgárián verb kepcam12 ‘hang up, catch on, patch up, carry off’, which is described by the Compilers of BER as a contamination of the verbs kaptisvam and genósvam, is evidently of the same origin. It comes from skèps­vam with the loss of the initial s-, which was erroneously considered as being a prefix.vkrópcanIn the BER the word vkrópcan13 ‘a man who is always ready to yield,3. BERlt 405.4. BER1: 579.5. BERj, 633.6. BERit 17.7. BER2, 18.8. BERlt 18.9. BERlß 627.10. BERlt 159.11. RRODD, 457.12. BERS, 332.13. BERlt 160.‘Prefixation folk-etymologÿ 595pliant’ is described as of unknown origin. In my opinion it comes from skropsvam ( aorist stem of thè Gr. σκορπίζω, σκορπώ ‘to scatter, to disperse’. This proposai is confirmed by thè existence of thè verb vkropsa se, which is given by N. Gerov in thè text “vkropsalo li sa e, njama prokopsijaot nego"u. The word vkropsalo in this text reminds of thè Gr. dialect σκόρπιος 1) wasteful, 2) a man without method, order14 5.zrigòsvamIn thè BER thè verb zrigòsvam se16 ‘recover, get over’ is described as of unknown origin. This verb is related with thè Gr. άναρραΐζω ‘to recover, to get over’, which according to N. Andriotis17 18 19 20has been preserved in Greek dialects in the form νιρραγώνω. So we háve: νιρραγώνω ) *niragosvam ) *narigosvam, with metathesis i-a ) a-i, ) *srigosvam because na- was erroneously considered as being a prefix and was replaced by the prefix s-, which becomes z in front of r.karpThe word karp18 ‘Helleborus cyclophyllus’ derives, as the Compilers of BER correctly suggest, from Gr. σκάρφη with the loss of the initial which was erroneously considered as being a prefix.kalistirThe word kalistir19 ‘hoe, mattock’derives according to Skorčev’s correct proposai from the Gr. σκα?,ιστήρι ‘small hoe’.kàncam, kàbzamThe verbs kancam and kabzam20 ‘dig’ derive, as the Compilers of the BER correctly suggest, from the aorist stem of the Gr. verb σκάπτω. The initial í- drops because it is confused with the prefix s-.14. N. Gerov, v. 6, p. 55.15. In Pilea, near Thessaloniki.16. BERlt 656.17. N. Andriotis, Lexikon der Archaismen in neugriechischen Dialekten, Wien 1974, p. 103.18. BER2, 252.19. M. F. Bajrova, p. 98.20. BER2, 226.596 Christos Tzitzilisnalimisvam seIn the dialect of Elena is registered thè verb nălimisvăm să21 ‘try to get up: nălimisă da stani, ama ni mužé: he tried to get up, but he couldn’t. There is no doubt that the Bulgárián verb comes from polemisvam(se)22, ‘make ef­forts, take care of, 2) try to eat’ < Gr. πολεμώ in its meaning ‘to strive, to try to do comething’. In this case the first syllable was confused with the prefix po- and afterwards was replaced by the prefix na-.slisvamIn Bulgárián the verb slisvam means “amaze, astonish, stupefy, knock out” and slisvam se ‘be dumb-founded, be taken aback’. Stefan Mladenov23 in his etymological dictionary derives this verb from the Bulgárián prefix s- and the Greek verb λύομαι. This view has been adopted by A. Tahovski24 and M. F. Bajrova25. Actually the verb slisvam comes from zalisvam ((Gr. ζαλίζω) ‘make dizzy’ with the mutation za- ) s-,stàsvam, utàsvamThe verb stàsvam ‘reach’derives from the verb ftàsvam ( aorist stem of the Gr. verb φτάνω. The initial /- is replaced by the prefix s-, because it was erroneously considered as being a prefix. As is known, other linguists hâve tried to explain the change ftasvam ) stasvam in a different way. Some of them26 believe that this change is a phonetic one, others think that it is a resuit of contamination27. I think that my proposai is confirmed by the existence of the verbs utasvam and dotasvam which, as the bulgarian linguist K. Kostov28 has already proved, are from the verb ftasvam.We should add that according to K. Kostov stàsvam derives from ftàsvam with the mutation /- ) s- because / was confused with the prefix / ((v).21. BDial VII, p. 98.22. M. F. Bajrova, p. 14323. Stefan Mladenov, Etimologičeski i pravopisen rečnik na bătgarskija ezik, Sofija 1941, p. 591.24. A. Tahovski, Grčki zborovi vo makedonskiot naroden govor, Skopje 1951, p. 37.25. M. F. Bajrova, p. 157.26. B. Simeonov, Za substitucija na grăckija φ(φ) v zapadnite bălgarski govori. BEz 12/2, 1962, 20-25.27. M. F. Bajrova, p. 158.28. K. Kostov, Ošte po văprosa za prehoda ftasvam ) stasvam, BEz 12/5 1962,439-443.‘Prefixation folk-etymology' 597stisvamThe verb stisvam29 ‘build’ derives from its synonym ftišam, which is from thè Gr. χτίζω with thè mutation h )/ in bulgarian. The change/- ) í- is due to the causes described above.trèksvamThe dialect verb trèksvam90 comes from its synonym strèksvam ((Gr. στρέ- γω, στέργω) ‘agréé, come round’. The initial j-drops because it is confused with the prefix s-.trekjósvamIn the dialect of Strandža is registered the verb trekjósvam31 ‘to glaze a clay poť. The Bulgarian verb derives from the Gr. (ό)στρακώνω ‘to spread with lime mortar, to glaze’ with the loss of the initial s-, This opinion is con- firmed by the existence of the verb *tarkjosvam which is given by N. Gerov32 in the text:tremče varosano tremče tarkjosanoIt is evident that the word tarkjosano means ‘covered with lime mortar’ and derives from the aorist stem of the Gr. (ό)στρακώνω with metathesis of r and the loss of the initial s-.We should notice that the loss of the initial í- takes place in Greek words as well, but the causes which produce the two phenomena are completely different. In Greek the forms πιθαμή, βήνω come about from the juncture σπιθαμή ) τις σπιθαμές ) ή πιθαμή, σβήνω ) τους σβήνω ) βήνω33.In some cases a new prefix is added to the verb which is formed after “pre­fixation folk-etymology” has taken place. So we have: φτάνια ) vtasvam ) stasvam ) do-stasvam3*, δοκιμάζω ) dokimàsvam j izkimasuvam ) za-iskimasu- vam3b. This latter is described in the BER as of unknown origin.29. M. F. Bajrova, p. 159.30. M. F. Bajrova, p. 164.31. BDial I p. 145.32. N. Gerov, v. 6, p. 304.33. Ch. Pantelidis, Προσθήκη καί άφαίρεσις σ προ συμφώνου έν τή Αρχαία, Μέση καί Νέοι Ελληνική, Byzantinisch-Neugriechische Jahrbücher 6 (1928) 401-431.34. N. Gerov, v. 6, p. 102.35. BERlt 589.598 Chris tos TzitzilisAfter having examined all these words we should touch briefly on a theo- retical problem: Is really thè above-described phenomenon a kind of folk- etymology? I think that the answer can not be negative, because it is produced by the same causes and, what is most important, it has a similar mechanism with the other kinds of folk-etymology.BIBLIOGRAPHYBDial = Bolgarska dialektologija. Proučvanija i materiali, 1-11, Sofija BAN, 1962-1981. BER = Bolgarski etimologičen rečník t. I-II, Sofija 1971-1979.M. F. Bajrova = M. Filipova-Bajrova, Gräcki zaemki v sävremenija bolgarski ezik, Sofija1969.RRODD = Rečnik na redki, ostareli i dialektni dumi v literaturata ni ot XIX i XX vek, Sofija 1974.N. Gerov = N. Gerov, Rečnik na bälgarskija ezik s tälkuvane rečite na ruski, v. 1-6, Plovdiv,1895-1904.

“Prefixation folk-etymology” in Bulgárián words of Greek origin

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“Prefixation folk-etymology” in Bulgárián words of Greek origin

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Υπηρεσία Υποστήριξης Διαχείρισης και Έκδοσης Ηλεκτρονικών Επιστημονικών Περιοδικών