Etymologically
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ἀφύη

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /a.pʰý.ɛː/[1]
  • IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /aˈɸy.i/[1]
  • IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /aˈfy.i/[1]

Forms

ᾰ̓φῠ́η (aphúē) f (genitive ᾰ̓φῠ́ης); first declension[1]

Etymology

The origin is disputed.[2][3] An old explanation takes it as the privative prefix with φύω (phúō, “to grow”), “not grown”, like the fish name “nonnats” used in Nice.[2][3] Frisk regarded this as folk etymology, but Meier-Brügger defended it, reconstructing Proto-Indo-European *n̥-bʰuh₂- “without growth”, a recent formation beside Sanskrit अभ्व (ábhva-, “monster”).[2][3][4][1] The accent of the genitive plural, ⟨ἀφύων⟩ and not ⟨ἀφυῶν⟩, points to an old stem in -ῡ-.[2] Chantraine kept open the possibility of a substrate word.[2][1] Bechtel's idea that the fish were named from their whitish colour is wrong, since the words for “whitish” are derived from ἀφύη.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The comic poet Epicharmus names it among small fish, and Aristophanes' Acharnians and Knights make jokes about its price.[5][6][2]

Semantic evolution

It was the name of the small fry of several fishes, such as anchovies, gobies and young sprats, sold cheaply and fried; the Phaleric kind was thought the best.[6][5] Aristotle believed the fry sprang from sea foam, and Aelian from mud.[6] In Attic it was used only in the plural, according to Hesychius.[5][2]

A proverb, “the fry has seen the fire”, meant something done no sooner than said, since such fish cook at once.[5] It was also the nickname of a courtesan.[5] Latin borrowed it as aphyē, and Apicius has dishes of apua.[1][6]

Timeline

  • 5th century BC – Epicharmus and Aristophanes name it as a cheap fish.[5][6]
  • 4th century BC – Aristotle describes it as springing from sea foam.[6]
  • 2nd–3rd century AD – Athenaeus discusses its kinds.[6][5]
  • 5th century AD (probably) – Hesychius notes that Attic used the word only in the plural.[5][2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Small fry of various fishes, such as anchovies and gobies, eaten fried.[5][6]
  2. The nickname of a courtesan.[5]
  • φύω (phúō)
  • Latin aphye

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  4. ^ Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008), Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon, Heidelberg: Winter
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge