Galla (2)

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Galla grece lac inde galaktides lithos .i. lacteus lapis {quasi lactei coloris sit}.


Apparatus:

Galla B ef | Galak AC

galatides lithos AC | gallaktides litos B | galaktides lichos (lintos e) ef

lacteus B ef | lactheus AC

quasi lactei coloris sit add. B {phrase copied from the next entry: Galatina}


Translation:

Galla is Greek for Latin lac {"milk"}, from which is derived the expression galatides lithos, which is in Latin lactheus lapis {"milk stone"}. {And B adds: "it is almost of the colour of milk".}


Commentary:

γάλα /gála/ is Greek for "milk”, genitive γάλακτος /gálaktos/. Witnesses A and C show an example of nominative back formation from γαλακτίτης /galaktítēs/, resulting in a form Galak that does not and cannot as such occur in Greek. However, a final /-k/ of the root of γάλα /gala/ is revealed in all the derivative forms of the word, as e.g. in γαλακτίτης /galaktítēs/. This linguistic fact strongly suggests that the underlying form of γάλα /gála/ is indeed *galak, but since Greek words cannot end in /-k/, the sound is dropped in the nominative.

γαλακτίτης λίθος /galaktítes líthos/ simply translates as "milky stone" as does Latin lacteus lapis; it is glossed by LSJ as a "stone which makes water milky".

For further comment see under: Lapis galatides

WilfGunther 18/11/13

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