Idor

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Idor grece aqua inde ydropisis et alia sed quia melius per .y. scribitur infra queratur.


Apparatus:

ydropisis ABC e | Idorpiscis f | idropsis p | ypidropisis j
{per} .y | {per} .I ms. f
queratur om. j


Translation:

Idor is Greek for Latin aqua {"water"}, with which ydropisis {"dropsy"} and other words are compounded, but because it is better to write it with 'y' it should be looked up further down {i.e. entry: Ydro}.


Commentary:

Greek ὕδωρ /hýdōr/ "water" is portrayed by Simon in its medieval Greek pronunciation with loss of /h/ and υ > ι {/y/ > /i/}, resulting in /ídor/.

Hydropisis "the dropsy" is a form of the word known from Pliny, 20, 43, ed. Rackham (1938-63: VI.26), where he speaks of incipientes hydropises "incipient dropsy", using a plural form. The Greek word is ὕδρωψ /hýdrōps/.

Simon's opinion that the word is better written with the letter 'y' shows his etymologising attitude towards the transliteration and transcription of Greek, a view that was newly reinforced during the Renaissance and has indeed prevailed ever since and is rigorously insisted upon even to this day in many modern European orthographies.

WilfGunther 29/11/2013


See also: Ydro

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