How do you say moo?

Semantic Range, Lexicography, and other approaches to word meaning - in general, or for particular words.
Post Reply
Jonathan Robie
Posts: 4162
Joined: May 5th, 2011, 5:34 pm
Location: Durham, NC
Contact:

How do you say moo?

Post by Jonathan Robie »

Woodhouse has failed me.

How do you say "moo" in Hellenistic Greek?
ἐξίσταντο δὲ πάντες καὶ διηποροῦντο, ἄλλος πρὸς ἄλλον λέγοντες, τί θέλει τοῦτο εἶναι;
http://jonathanrobie.biblicalhumanities.org/
cwconrad
Posts: 2112
Joined: May 5th, 2011, 5:52 pm
Location: Burnsville, NC 28714
Contact:

Re: How do you say moo?

Post by cwconrad »

Jonathan Robie wrote:Woodhouse has failed me.

How do you say "moo" in Hellenistic Greek?
You might try μυκᾶσθαι. In the GNT it's used of a lion roaring (Rev.10:3) and see L&N$§§14.74-86; I would have thought that βοᾶν should derive from βοῦς, but evidently it doesn't. μυκᾶσθαι is the verb, μύκημα the noun for lowing or bellowing.
So: say "moo-cow", add a middle ending, and stir gently ...
οὔτοι ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς πάντα θεοὶ θνητοῖς ὑπέδειξαν,
ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ ζητέοντες ἐφευρίσκουσιν ἄμεινον. (Xenophanes, Fragment 16)

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
Wes Wood
Posts: 692
Joined: September 20th, 2013, 8:18 pm

Re: How do you say moo?

Post by Wes Wood »

A little late to the party. Feel good about the first two (to moo or bellow) and (moo-er or bellower) but the last two entries are for the μυ μυ part of their entries: μυκάομαι, μυκηθμός, μυγμός, μύζω

Citations for the first:
Μυκαλησσὸν δὲ ὁμολογοῦσιν ὀνομασθῆναι, διότι ἡ βοῦς ἐνταῦθα ἐμυκήσατο ἡ Κάδμον καὶ τὸν σὺν αὐτῷ στρατὸν ἄγουσα ἐς Θήβας. ὅντινα δὲ τρόπον ἐγένετο ἡ Μυκαλησσὸς ἀνάστατος, τὰ ἐς Ἀθηναίους ἔχοντα ἐδήλωσέ μοι τοῦ λόγου. (Paus. 9.19)

ἐν δ᾽ ἀγέλην ποίησε βοῶν ὀρθοκραιράων: αἳ δὲ βόες χρυσοῖο τετεύχατο κασσιτέρου τε, μυκηθμῷ δ᾽ ἀπὸ κόπρου ἐπεσσεύοντο νομὸν δὲ πὰρ ποταμὸν κελάδοντα, παρὰ ῥοδανὸν δονακῆα. χρύσειοι δὲ νομῆες ἅμ᾽ ἐστιχόωντο βόεσσι τέσσαρες, ἐννέα δέ σφι κύνες πόδας ἀργοὶ ἕποντο. σμερδαλέω δὲ λέοντε δύ᾽ ἐν πρώτῃσι βόεσσι ταῦρον ἐρύγμηλον ἐχέτην: ὃ δὲ μακρὰ μεμυκὼς ἕλκετο: τὸν δὲ κύνες μετεκίαθον ἠδ᾽ αἰζηοί. τὼ μὲν ἀναρρήξαντε βοὸς μεγάλοιο βοείην ἔγκατα καὶ μέλαν αἷμα λαφύσσετον: (Hom. Il. 18.580)
Ἀσπάζομαι μὲν καὶ φιλῶ, πείσομαι δὲ μᾶλλον τῷ θεῷ ἢ ὑμῖν.-Ἀπολογία Σωκράτους 29δ
Wes Wood
Posts: 692
Joined: September 20th, 2013, 8:18 pm

Re: How do you say moo?

Post by Wes Wood »

Not sure about the Hellenistic Greek part, though...
Ἀσπάζομαι μὲν καὶ φιλῶ, πείσομαι δὲ μᾶλλον τῷ θεῷ ἢ ὑμῖν.-Ἀπολογία Σωκράτους 29δ
Stephen Hughes
Posts: 3323
Joined: February 26th, 2013, 7:12 am

Re: How do you say moo?

Post by Stephen Hughes »

Jonathan Robie wrote:How do you say "moo" in Hellenistic Greek?
It depends on your pronunciation system.

Perhaps if your υ has not closed up the Classical μυκῶμαι is still onomatopoeic, and if it has then you could spell it according to the Mediaeval μουγκούμαι.
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
cwconrad
Posts: 2112
Joined: May 5th, 2011, 5:52 pm
Location: Burnsville, NC 28714
Contact:

Re: How do you say moo?

Post by cwconrad »

Wes Wood wrote:A little late to the party. Feel good about the first two (to moo or bellow) and (moo-er or bellower) but the last two entries are for the μυ μυ part of their entries: μυκάομαι, μυκηθμός, μυγμός, μύζω

Citations for the first:
Μυκαλησσὸν δὲ ὁμολογοῦσιν ὀνομασθῆναι, διότι ἡ βοῦς ἐνταῦθα ἐμυκήσατο ἡ Κάδμον καὶ τὸν σὺν αὐτῷ στρατὸν ἄγουσα ἐς Θήβας. ὅντινα δὲ τρόπον ἐγένετο ἡ Μυκαλησσὸς ἀνάστατος, τὰ ἐς Ἀθηναίους ἔχοντα ἐδήλωσέ μοι τοῦ λόγου. (Paus. 9.19)

ἐν δ᾽ ἀγέλην ποίησε βοῶν ὀρθοκραιράων: αἳ δὲ βόες χρυσοῖο τετεύχατο κασσιτέρου τε, μυκηθμῷ δ᾽ ἀπὸ κόπρου ἐπεσσεύοντο νομὸν δὲ πὰρ ποταμὸν κελάδοντα, παρὰ ῥοδανὸν δονακῆα. χρύσειοι δὲ νομῆες ἅμ᾽ ἐστιχόωντο βόεσσι τέσσαρες, ἐννέα δέ σφι κύνες πόδας ἀργοὶ ἕποντο. σμερδαλέω δὲ λέοντε δύ᾽ ἐν πρώτῃσι βόεσσι ταῦρον ἐρύγμηλον ἐχέτην: ὃ δὲ μακρὰ μεμυκὼς ἕλκετο: τὸν δὲ κύνες μετεκίαθον ἠδ᾽ αἰζηοί. τὼ μὲν ἀναρρήξαντε βοὸς μεγάλοιο βοείην ἔγκατα καὶ μέλαν αἷμα λαφύσσετον: (Hom. Il. 18.580)
I guess that Pausanias figures as Hellenistic, albeit an Atticist (you be the judge!). But I really love the lines from the ἐκφράσις of Hephaestus' new shield of Achilles: just sound out that marvelous opening line -- spondaic, no less: a dactylic hexameter with only two dactyls and four spondees, which underscores the entire moo-cow-lick quality of that line:
ἐν δ᾽ ἀγέ/ λην ποί/ ησε βο/ ῶν ὀρ/ θοκραι/ ράων
οὔτοι ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς πάντα θεοὶ θνητοῖς ὑπέδειξαν,
ἀλλὰ χρόνῳ ζητέοντες ἐφευρίσκουσιν ἄμεινον. (Xenophanes, Fragment 16)

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
Stephen Hughes
Posts: 3323
Joined: February 26th, 2013, 7:12 am

Re: How do you say moo?

Post by Stephen Hughes »

Stephen Hughes wrote:γκ
Off topic, so I'll be brief. To explain the γκ... The Mediaeval γκ for "g" is indirect evidence of a change in the value of γ from a "g" to that throat-clearing sound or a "y" ("j"). That happened in the post-Koine period. In some papyri from the Koine period, there is a substitution of κ for γ (but that is a different period to this later change that I'm mentioning).
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
Post Reply

Return to “Word Meanings”