Kilia

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Kilia grece alvus uterus venter inde kiliaca passio fluxus ventris dyariam nos ciliacam dicimus.


Apparatus:

In B Kilia is not rubricated, but it is part of the column beginning with Kicli.

kiliaca ABC f | kaliaca e

passio AC ef | pasio B

dyariã A | dyãria C | diaria B | dyaria e | dyarria f


Translation:

Kilia is Greek for Latin alvus {"belly, paunch, bowels"}, uterus {"womb, matrix"}, venter {"belly; womb; bowels, entrails"}; kiliaca passio is belly flux or diarrhoea, and we call it ciliaca.


Commentary:

Greek κοιλία /koilía/ has a wide range of meanings according to LSJ: "cavity of the body, i.e. thorax with abdomen; belly, stomach; intestines; excrement; any cavity in the body, ventricle, chamber, as in the heart, liver, brain; socket of a bone; womb". This explains the range of translations Simon is offering. Ciliaca passio, or ciliaca in short, is explained as fluxus ventris "flux of the belly" or diarrhoea.

The pronunciation of κοιλία in Classical Greek was /koilía/, but in later Greek the sound change οι > ι {/oi/ > /i/} occurred, resulting in /kilía/, Simon's form. The letter "k" is used to prevent an affricate pronunciation, i.e. if written cilia it could have been perceived as representing the sound /tš/ as initially in English "chest" or Italian "cielo", but Simon does not consistently use "k" in this circumstance, as is witnessed by his spelling of ciliacam.

Against the expected Latinized form celia, reflecting the usual adaptation pattern: Greek "oi" > Latin "oe" > later Latin "e", the forms imitating the Greek pronunciation, i.e. beginning with kil-, cil-, cyl-, quil-, are the spellings predominantly found in late Antiquity and medieval medical literature.

Wilf Gunther 10/12/13


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