Įž algos / Insigh s 291
CARLO MARIA PERTICA
Uni e si à Ca’ Fosca i Venezia
ORCID id: o cid.o g/0009-0001-3385-5828
Fields o esea ch: Indo-Eu opean and G eek nominal
sys em and e ymology.
DOI: doi.o g/10.35321/all88-13
τέρνακα: AN INDO-EUROPEAN
GHOST?
τέρνακα: indoeu opie iškas žodis aiduoklis?
ANNOTATION
This no e aims o poin ou how Hesychian τέρνακα ‘s alk o he ca doon’, despi e he
no ewo hy closeness o o he Indo-Eu opean o ms, should be a he conside ed a simple
misspelling o an o iginal acc. sing. πτέρνικα om Theoph as us’ His o ia Plan a um.
None heless, he possibili y ha in Theoph as us’ ex was ac ually a es ed τέρναξ, he
G eek adap a ion o an I anian phy onym, canno be comple ely uled ou .
KEYWORDS: Indo-Eu opean e ymology, Hesychius, ex ual c i icism, I anian
languages.
ANOTACIJA
Šio eks o ikslas y a paaiškin i, kodėl Hesichijaus τέρνακα ‘dygiojo a išoko s iebas’,
nepaisan aki aizdaus panašumo į ki as indoeu opie iškas o mas, u ė ų bū i laikomas
pap asčiausia o iginalios ienaskai os galininko o mos πτέρνικα iš Teo as o eikalo
His o ia Plan a um ašybos klaida. Nepaisan o, ne eikė ų a mes i galimybės, kad Teo as o
eikale iš ik ųjų bu o paliudy a o ma τέρναξ – i anėnų i onimo adap acija g aikų kalboje.
ESMINIAI ŽODŽIAI: indoeu opie iška e imologija, Hesichijus, eks o k i ika, i anėnų
kalbos.
In Hesychius’ Lexicon, unde he le e τ (545), he e is a lemma
τέρνακα· τῆς κάκτου τοῦ φυτοῦ καυλός ‘(li .) s em o he plan o he ca doon’.
Alois Walde and Julius Poko ny (1927: 641) we e he i s o associa e his
hapax wi h Sk . ṇa- [n.] ‘g ass, s aw’, Go. þau nus [m.] ‘ ho n, ON þo n [m.]
CARLO MARIA PERTICA
292 Ac a Linguis ica Li huanica LXXXVIII
‘id.’, OHG do n [m.] ‘id.’, OCS ъnъ [m.] ‘id.’, e c. Seman ically, he connec ion
seemed s aigh o wa d due o he ho ny na u e o he ca doon plan , e en i ,
on he o mal side, i was necessa y o assume qui e an a icula ed de elopmen .
Hjalma F isk (1970: 881) ied o sol e his p oblem hypo hesizing ha he
phy onym τέρναξ esul ed om he emodeling on δόναξ, -ακος [m.] ‘ eed’
o an o iginal *τέρνον / τέρνος, ou come o a ull-g ade o m o * ŕnos (o
* ŕnom) ‘ ho n’.1 On he o he side, Pie e Chan aine (1968: 1107) and Robe
Beekes (2010: 1470) op ed o emain cau ious abou he ac ual Indo-Eu opean
o igin o his wo d.2
Ne e heless, a mo e likely solu ion o his li le linguis ic iddle has been
poin ed ou by Pe e A. Hansen and Ian C. Cunningham in hei edi ion o he
Hesychian ex (2009: 30). The “o igin” o his wo d should be, in ac , a he
connec ed o he misspelling o an o iginal acc. sing. πτέρνικα ‘ his le s em’
om Theoph as us’ His o ia Plan a um (4 h–3 d cen u y BC; Thph . HP 6.4.11):
“Ἕτερον δὲ καυλὸν ὀρθὸν ἀφίησιν, ὃν καλοῦσι πτέρνικα”
‘The e is ano he kind which sends up an e ec s em, called he p e nix’.
The simila i y o he wo o ms, he accusa i e case, oge he wi h he
ex ual con ex , s ongly a gue in a o o conside ing τέρνακα a mons um
o igina ing om πτέρνικα, a de i a i e o πτέρνη [ .] ‘heel’.3 The p esence o
πτέρνικα in his passage is, mo eo e , con i med by A henaeus’ Deipnosophis ae
(3 d cen u y AD; 2.70e). The ac ha his wo d is lis ed unde he le e τ poses
no p oblem since i is ce ainly possible ha Hesychius (5 h o 6 h cen u y AD), i
no an ea lie lexicog aphe u ilized by him, ound his wo d in a Theoph as us’
o A henaeus’ al eady co up ed ex (no e how πτέρνικα is no elsewhe e
p esen in he Lexicon).
Fo he sake o comple eness, an al e na i e scena io should, howe e , be
aken in o accoun . The su ixal ex ension -ακ- s ongly esembles he one in
*-aka o he I anian languages and, mo eo e , aces o a hypo he ical I anian
p o o o m * n-aka- a e ound in some Middle I anian languages: c . Kho an
Saka a a- ‘he b, g ass’, Zo . Pahla i lk / a ak/ ‘ga den he bs’, and, hen,
Classical Pe sian a ah ‘Schni lauch’ (Bailey 1979: 123; May ho e 1992: 664).
The wo d is un o una ely no known in A es an, whe e in he sequence CRnV
1 Hypo hesis accep ed e.g. in Mallo y & Adams 1997: 575.
2 Mo e bibliog aphy a Lloyd, e al. 1998: s. . do n1.
3 Seemingly on he model o o he phy onyms in -ιξ such as ἅρπιξ / ἅπριξ ‘ ype o ho nbush’, e c.
C . Rigobianco 2021: 18 o a case o modeling o phy onyms a e lexical connec ions in Ancien
G eek.
τέρνακα: An Indo-Eu opean Ghos ?
Įž algos / Insigh s 293
he esonan s n a e p ese ed wi hou any assimila ion (c . a ənā- ‘animal
wool’ < *(h2)ulh1-neh2-).
Conside ing his in o ma ion (as well as he ac ha πτέρνικα i sel is no
elsewhe e a es ed), one migh ce ainly also concei e ha in His o ia Plan a um
6.4.11 was o iginally epo ed τέρνακα, a G eek adap a ion o some Old Pe sian
o Median o m ou come o PI . * n-aka-.4 The Hesychian Lexicon would, hus,
be he sole wi ness o he co ec lesson.
To conclude, he econs uc ion o Co e P o o-Indo-Eu opean * ŕnos /
* ŕnom ‘ ho n’ does no change d as ically a e he e lec ions he eby p o ided:
i is simply no longe equi ed o somehow assume an unso ed ull-g ade G eek
o ma ion.
PIE * ŕnos [m.] / * ŕnom [n.] ‘ ho n’
PII . * ŕnam [n.] ‘ ho n; blade o g ass’ (bo owed in o P o o-U alic,
c . * a na in Holopainen 2019: 273–274)
PNu . (S and 2011)
Wes e n and No heas e n Ka ë â·′i ‘ ho n; b amble’
Sou heas e n Ka ë âňʹi ‘id.’
PIA . * ŕnam
Sk . ṛṇa- [n.] ‘g ass, he b’, e c.
PI . * n-(aka-)
Kho an Saka a a- ‘he b, g ass’, e c.
BSl. * í nas [m.] ‘ ho n’
PSl. * ь nъ [m.] ‘id.’ (De ksen 2008: 505)
OCS ъnъ ‘ἄκανθα’, e c.
PGm. *þu na- [m.] ‘ ho n, b ia ’ (K oonen 2013: 552–553)
Go. þau nus [m.] ‘ ho n’ (< *þu nu-), ON þo n [m.] ‘id.’, e c.
4 OP kā a aka- ‘ a ele ; o eign me cena y’ ~ G . κάρδαξ, -κος ‘Pe sian e m o o eign
me cena ies’ (Hinz 1975: 148) would be a good analogous case. The p ese a ion o he clus e
n and he ela su ix is con i med by Elami e ansc ip ions o Old Pe sian and Median wo ds
and an h oponyms: c ., among o he s, ši- a-ba -na /çī a- a nah-/, i.e. ‘whose Fo une is beau i ul’
(Hinz 1975: 76) o he n clus e and ši- a-ak-qa /çī akā/ (Hinz 1975: 77) o he ela su ix.
CARLO MARIA PERTICA
294 Ac a Linguis ica Li huanica LXXXVIII
REFERENCES
Bailey Ha old W. 1979: Dic iona y o Kho an Saka, Camb idge: Camb idge
Uni e si y P ess.
Beekes Robe 2010: E ymological Dic iona y o G eek, wi h he assis ance o
L. an Beek, Leiden, Bos on: B ill.
Chan aine Pie e 1968: Dic ionnai e é ymologique de la langue g ecque, Pa is:
Klincksieck.
De ksen Rick 2008: E ymological Dic iona y o he Sla ic Inhe i ed Lexicon, Leiden,
Bos on: B ill.
F isk Hjalma 1970: G iechisches e ymologisches Wö e buch, Bd. 2, Heidelbe g: Ca l
Win e .
Hansen Pe e A., Cunningham Ian C. 2009: Hesychii Alexand ini Lexicon,
ol. 4 (T–Ω), Be lin: De G uy e .
Hinz Wal he 1975: Al i anisches Sp achgu de Nebenübe lie e ungen, Wiesbaden:
Ha assowi z.
Holopainen Sampsa 2019: Indo-I anians bo wings in U alic, Helsinki: Facul y o
A s, Uni e si y o Helsinki: PhD disse a ion.
K oonen Guus 2013: E ymological Dic iona y o P o o-Ge manic, Leiden, Bos on:
B ill.
Lloyd Albe L., Lüh Rosema ie, Sp inge O o 1998: E ymologisches
Wö e buch des Al hochdeu schen 2, Gö ingen: Vandenhoeck & Rup ech .
Mallo y James P., Adams Douglas Q. 1997: Encyclopedia o Indo-Eu opean
cul u e, London: Fi z oy Dea bo n.
May ho e Man ed 1992: E ymologisches Wö e buch des Al indoa ischen 1,
Heidelbe g: Ca l Win e .
Rigobianco Luca 2021: I i onimi φέως, ἱππόφεως, ἱπποφαές e ἱππόφαιστον: una
his oi e des mo s. – A chi io Glo ologico I aliano 106, 195–221.
S and Richa d 2011: Lexicons o he Hindu-Kush: Kâm ʹi i, Kâ ʹa- a i, Kalaṣa-alâ,
Saňu- i: i, Aćha ê âʹ, Bhaṭʹesa-zib, and Pax ʹo, on-line e sion. A ailable a : h p://
nu is an.in o/lngF ameL.h ml [ e ie ed 2023-04-09].
Walde Alois, Poko ny Julius 1927: Ve gleichendes Wö e buch de indoge manischen
Sp achen, Be lin, Leipzig: De G uy e .
τέρνακα: An Indo-Eu opean Ghos ?
Įž algos / Insigh s 295
Acknowledgmen s: I am g ea ly indeb ed o he anonymous Indo-Eu opeanis
e iewe (s) o poin ing ou a possible I anian solu ion, as well as o D . Luca Rigobianco
and Simone Ma cazzan o hei ex emely help ul eedback.
τέρνακα: indoeu opie iškas žodis aiduoklis?
SANTRAUKA
G aikų kalbos žodis τέρνακα (gal.) ‘dygiojo a išoko s iebas’, Hesichijaus hapax, anksčiau
bu o į ai iai siejamas su indoeu opiečių p okalbės pama inio šaknies balsių kai os laipsnio
a ian u * ŕnos / * ŕnom ‘spyglys’, paliudy u indoi anėnų, sla ų i ge manų kalbose. Šio
palyginimo eikė ų a sisaky i, nes ikė ina, kad τέρνακα eikė ų sie i su eks u, ku iame
bu o pada y a πτέρνικα (gal.) ‘usnies s iebas’ ( edinys iš Teo as o πτέρνη ‘kulnas’) ašybos
klaida. Vis dėl o, negalima a mes i galimybės, kad Teo as o eks e o iginali o ma bu o
τέρνακα – i anėnų i onimo, kilusio iš i anėnų p okalbės žodžio * n-aka- ‘žolė’ (ku io
pėdsakai andami kai ku iose idu io i anėnų kalbose), adap acija g aikų kalboje. Tai
eikš ų, kad Hesichijus bu o ienin elis o iginalios o mos liudininkas.
Į eik a 2023 m. balandžio 11 d.
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