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Re: Another OT question: singular of "epagomenae"

From:R A Brown <ray@...>
Date:Friday, December 23, 2005, 20:40
Mark J. Reed wrote:
> On 12/23/05, *R A Brown* <ray@carolandray.plus.com > <mailto:ray@...>> wrote: > > Spot on! It's a Latinized version of a Greek borrowing, which is quite > common practice in English. > > > Was it borrowed first from Greek into Latin and then from Latin into > English, or was it borrowed directly from Greek into English but treated > as Latin?
The word is not attested in Classical Latin. I suspect it was borrowed strait from Greek, but Latinized in the way that borrowings from Greek generally were.
> > It is actually a passive participle in Greek > and is feminine because it agrees with the word for 'day' which, if > context is clear, can be omitted (or "understood"): > hai epagomenai [he:merai] = the intercalated [days] > > singular: > he: epagomene: [he:mera:] = the intercalated [day] > > > Ah! In the original Egyptian calendar the epagomenal period was > nameless (although the individual days eventually acquired names), but > by the time the Copts adopted it the period was treated as a short 13th > month named "Epagomene:". That must have originated from referring to > them as "epagomenal [day] 1, epagomenal [day] 2", etc., which got > re-analyzed with "epagomenal" as the name of the month.
Presumably - the Greek word for month was masculine (meis, [gen.] me:nos). It looks as tho the Copts adopted the Greek feminine singular, re-analyzing it in the sort of way you suggest. >Thanks! You're welcome. Kala Khristougenna! -- Ray ================================== ray@carolandray.plus.com http://www.carolandray.plus.com ================================== MAKE POVERTY HISTORY