Difference between revisions of "Althea"

Latest revision as of 18:20, 5 December 2016

Althea Dyascorides sive molochisagria et est dictum malva agrestis, latini malvaviscum vocant, hec eviscus et ebiscum dicitur. Sed arabice dicitur cathyn. Macer altheam malve speciem nullus negat esse, alteamque vocant illam que crescit in altum et cetera, et secundum hoc non debet habere .h. litteram.

Apparatus:

Althea | Altea BH p
molochisagria BH fjp | molochisagia AC {“missed letter”} | moluchia ms. e
et om. B
dictum | dc͡a f
dicunt | cicunt B {printing error} | vocãt ACH
{dicunt hec} euiscus added in margin by different hand j
ebiscum | oviscus ms. e | et ebiscum om. f
dicitur cathyn | c. d. ms. p
chatin or chatni ms. e | cathim f | cathyn ACH | cacthin B | cathin j | cathĩ p
Macer althea | a. m. ms. e {Macer} altheam | alteaʒ (-teã B p) BH ep
nullus | nulus B | om. f
alteamque | altheamque H fj
{et cetera} et om. B fp
non | nom͂ p {= nomen}
debet | debent B

Translation:

Althea, according to Dyascorides, is also called molochis agria and that translates into Latin as malva agrestis {“wild mallow”}. Latin speakers call it malvaviscus, and it is also called eviscus and ebiscum. But in Arabic it is cathyn. Macer Floridus says: No one denies that althaea is a kind of malva {“mallow”}; and they call it altea because it grows in altum {“upwards, high”}, etc. According to this {etymology} the word should have no “h” in its spelling.

Commentary:

Simon is either alluding to Dyascorides alphabeticus, Bodmer f 12v [[1]], or Dioscorides Longobardus book III, pp. 441/442, chapter ΡΝΖ' (157) De altea [[2]], but he quotes very little of the original text.

He also quotes Macer, ed. Choulant (1832: 43), IX. ALTHAEA [[3]]:
366: Althaeam malvae speciem nullus negat esse,
367: Althaeamque vocant illam, quod crescat in altum.
368: Hanc ipsam dicunt Eviscum, quod quasi visco
369: Illius radix contrita madere videtur
"That althaea is a kind of malva that no one denies// and they call this plant althaea because it grows high (in altum).// This plant is also called eviscus, because similar to viscus {"mistletoe"}// its root appears to drip when pounded".

Macer took his etymological explanation from Isidore of Seville’s Etymologiae, book XVII, De rebus rusticis, section: de herbis aromaticis ix,75 [[4]]: Althaea - Altea codd. - malva agrestis, sive malvaviscus sed althaea, quod in altum surgit, … “Althea, the wild malva {“mallow”} is also called malvaviscus, but althea is so called because it rises in altum, i.e. "upward; high”. Naturally this is a fanciful etymology as usually encountered in Isidore, but if the word was derived from Latin altus “high”, which it is not, it should be spelled without “h”; for its etymology see next paragraph.

ἀλθαία /althaía/:
Greek ἀλθαία /althaía/ already occurs in Theophrastus. It is associated with ἀλθαίνω /althaínō/ “become whole and sound” and is named after its perceived healing power. It is adopted into Latin as althaea, post classically alt(h)ea.

Molochisagria:
Molochisagria is molochi agria, taken from a genitival phrase like μολόχης ἀγρία{ς εἶδος} /molokhḗs agría{s eîdos}/ “a kind of wild mallow”. The word μολόχη /molókhē/, a variant form of μαλάχη /malákhē/, together with Latin malva and Hebrew מלוח /mallū^aḥ/ {“mallow, a plant growing in salt-marsh”} are all thought to be loans from a prehistoric Mediterranean source.
ἀγρία /agría/ means “{growing} wild”.
Simon offers the late Greek itacist pronunciation /molókhi/.
See also Molochis

Malvaviscus:
See also Malvaviscus.

hibiscus, eviscus, ebiscum:
hibiscus, eviscus, ebiscum are all Latin forms, from which Greek ἰβίσκος /ibískos/, also ἐβίσκος /ebískos/ may have been loaned.
See also Eviscus

cathyn:
For the Arabic see Khitim.

Botanical identification:

Althaea is suspected by most authors to be Althaea officinalis L. “the common marsh mallow” [[5]], cf. Berendes (1902: 358), André (1985: 12), s.v.; Beck (2005: 246); Carnoy (1959: 19), s.v. althæa.

WilfGunther (talk) 11:10, 30 September 2015 (BST)

See Molochis, Malva, Eviscus, Malvaviscus