Re: Dicussion on 'hermaphrodite' (was Of accents & dialects

Edgard Bikelis wrote:
> Well, on hair-splitting matters: andros is the genitive of ane:r, but
> it's not the genitive form that forms ; ) the word, for it lacks the
> -s-...
Exactly - you beat me to it    :)

> so it's the theme of ane:r (genitive less -os I guess), with
> the 'connective o' (probably analogical from the second declension)
Possibly - it's what 'Josephos Peanou' called the "compositional base"; see:
http://www.carolandray.plus.com/TAKE/Nouns.html   :)

> and the full form of gyne:. Like geographia... this -o- is gratuitous
> (why is ge- with short e? hm...).
In Ionic the word began /ge:o/. This is the normal Attic change of /e:o/
--> /eo:/.

But the compound of andro- with gyne: is ancient; we find:
(a) the noun _androgynos_ (2nd declension, masc.) = hermaphrodite (i.e.
having both male & female sex organs); an effeminate male; a homosexual
male.
(b) the adjective _androgyne:s_ = common to both men & woman, i.e.
'unisex', such as, e.g. a bath-house.
(c) the noun _androgynia_ (1st decl. fem.) which is what the
Pythagoreans called the number 5, since it is composed of both the
masculine 3 & the feminine 2!
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Ina van der Vegt wrote:
[snip]

 > Intersex refers to in between (Inter) the sexes. Just like Interstate
 > is in between states. Intersex is used for all cases in which sex is
 > difficult to determine, and all specific disorders are named by their
 > actual name.

Like a case featured on TV here some while back of a person who was born
apparently as a female, but whose 'ovaries' were, in fact, testes. Yes,
such people fall _between_ the two sexes: not fully female nor fully
male but, as Ina says, "indeterminate."

 > Androgyne most likely comes from Androgynous (reminiscent of both
 > sexes, usually difficult to determine the actual sex), which is how
 > Androgynes feel themselves, and often attempt to look like.

The etymology of 'androgyne' is given above.

_hermaphrodite_ (from the names of the god Hermes & the goddess
Aphrodite) means having the fully formed sex organs of both males and
females as, e.g. in earth worms.

In ancient mythology, Hermaphroditos, the offspring Hermes & Aphrodite,
had the fully working equipment of both sexes. Is this condition found
among higher orders of animals? Is hermaphoditism (as opposed to
intersexualism) attested among humans, or are such people the stuff of
legend & myth?

Gosh - we've come a long way since the original remark about Middlesex
which, of course, has nothing to do with sex at all. It was merely the
_Saxon_ kingdom in the middle, as opposed to Essex (kingdom of the east
Saxons), Wessex (kingdom of the west Saxons) and, where I hail from,
Sussex (kingdom of the south Saxons) - there was no north Saxon kingdom.

--
Ray
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Frustra fit per plura quod potest
fieri per pauciora.
[William of Ockham]

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