Eufrosinum

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Eufrosinum secundum Plinium vocant greci buglosam et est eius expositio bone letitie nam frosini grece letitia.


Apparatus:

Eufrosinum | Eufeosinũ f {'r' misread as 'e'}
buglossam efp | -glosam (-ã AB) ABC j
letitie AC p | leticie B ef | licẽtie j
frosini AC | frosin B e | frosim fjp
letitia AC p | leticia B ef | licentia j
{licentia} latine dicitur add. j


Translation:

According to Pliny the Greeks call buglosa also by the name eufrosinum, and this name’s explanation is "good cheer" for frosini is Greek for "cheerfulness".


Commentary:

In this entry Simon alludes to Pliny, 25, 40, 81, ed. Rackham (1938-63: VII.194), which reads: Iungitur huic buglossos, boum linguae similis, cui praecipuum, quod in vinum deiecta animi voluptates auget et vocatur euphrosynum – "To this {i.e. Pliny’s account of plantago 'plantain'} must be joined buglossos, a plant reminiscent of the tongue of oxen, and which has the unique property that when added to wine it boosts the enjoyment, and this is why it is also called euphrosynum".

Eufrosinum:
Latin euphrosynum is adopted from Greek εὐφρόσυνον /euphrósynon/, the neuter from of an adjective meaning "cheery, merry". For his etymological explanation Simon quotes the nominal form: εὐφροσύνη /euphrosýnē/ meaning "good cheer, festivity". This word, like the forementioned adjective εὐφρόσυνος /euphrósynos/, is derived from the adjective εὔφρων /eúphrōn/ "cheerful, merry (of persons)", consisting of εὔ- /eú-/ "well, good" + φρων /phrōn// the latter being derived from φρήν /phrḗn/ "diaphragm", an organ that was until quite recently seen by some as the place of emotions, the seat of the soul; εὔφρων /eúphrōn/ therefore literally means "in good mood or having pleasant emotions". It is not quite clear whether Simon was simply analysing the word εὐ-φροσύνη /eu-phrosýnē/, but it must be said that no independent word *φροσύνη /phrosýnē/ with a Latin equivalent laetitia {"joyfulness, delight"} exists in Greek. Simon transcribes this last element in the medieval itacist pronunciation showing the following sound changes υ > ι {/y/ > /i/} and η > ι {/ē/ > /i/} resulting in /frosíni/.

For the botanical identification see Buglosa.


WilfGunther (talk) 15:11, 19 March 2016 (GMT)


See also Buglosa


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