ὀφθ-αλ-μός

Grammatical information: m.

Meaning: `eye' (Il.).

Other forms: Boeot. ὄκταλλος, Epid. Lac. ὀπτίλ(λ)ος.

Compounds: Often as 2. member, e.g. μον-όφθαλμος ( μουν-) `with a single eye, one-eyed' (Hdt., Plb., Str.), ἑτερ-όφθαλμος `bereft of one eye' (D., Arist.); also as 1. member, e.g. ὀφθαλμ-ωρύχος `digging out the eyes' (A.).

Derivatives: 1. ὀφθαλμ-ίδιον n. dimin. (Ar.); 2. - ία, Ion. - ίη f. `eye-disease' (s. Scheller Oxytonierung 42f.) with - ιάω `suffering from an eye-disease' (IA.), with - ίασις f. (Plu., H.); 3. - ίας m. name of a kind of eagle (Lyc.), also of a fish (Plaut.; because of the fixed glance, Strömberg Fischnamen 42); 4. - ικός `belonging to the eyes', m. `eye-doctor' (Gal., Dsc.); 5. - ηδόν `like eyes' (gloss.). -- 6. Verbs ὀφθαλμίζομαι `to be inoculated' (Thphr.), `to suffer from ὀ-ία' (Plu.); with prep. ἐν-ὀφθαλμ-ίζω `to inoculate' (Thphr.), - ίζομαι pass. (Delos) with - ισμός (Thphr.); also - ιάζομαι (Plu.); ἐξ-οφθαλμ-ιάζω `to disregard, to disparage' (pap. IV<sup>p</sup>); ἐπ-οφθαλμ-ίζω (Pherecyd., Plu.), - ιάω (Plu., pap. III<sup>p</sup>), - έω (pap. IV<sup>p</sup>) `to ogle, to peep at'.

Origin: PG [a word of Pre-Greek origin]

Etymology: Understandably the word has been derived from the root ὀπ- `see'. Variants are Boeot. ὄκταλλος, Epid. Lac. ὀπτίλ(λ)ος. The group κτ: πτ: φθ ("mit altem κτ [but see below], analogischem πτ und expressivem φθ" (Frisk) [Schwyzer 299 bzw. Benveniste Origines 48]?) has been connected with the group kṣ in Skt. ákṣi `eye' Schwyzer 317 w. lit.). With the suppletive n-stem e.g. in gen. akṣ-ṇ-ás the l-stem in ὀφθ-αλ-μός would correspond (Specht 351n.1). "Die lautlichen Einzelheiten sind indessen nicht endgültig und eindeutig aufgeklärt" (Frisk). An IE laibo-velar before consonat became a labial, Lejeune Phonét. $ 42, so Frisks "mit altem κτ" is wrong. The rise of - αλ(λ)- cannot be explained from IE. The repeated attempts, to explain ὀφθαλμός as a compound, are all wrong (to θάλαμος Brugmann, s. Bq and WP. 1, 864). The variation cannot well be explained as IE, nor can the formation of ὀφθαλμός. ὄκταλλος has a Pre-Greek suffix, Beekes FS Kortlandt.; already Devel. 193); it continues a palatalized l (i.e. *l^y, which was represented as a geminate). This leads to a PGr. reconstruction *akʷt-al^y-(m)- (with *a- = [ο] before the labiovelar). Here the labiovelar could become a labial, but the labial element could also be ignored, which gave ὀκτ-. Aspiration was not phonemic in Pre-Greek, hence the variant ὀφθ- is unproblematic. In ὀπτίλ(λ)ος apparently the (second) *a became i through the following labialized consonant. The fact that PGr. * akʷ- strongly resembles IE * h₃ekʷ- is a mere coincidence, an accident that may be expected to occur here and there. -- Note the expressive geminate in ὄκκον ὀφθαλμόν H. (to Arm. akn? Meillet BSL 26, 15f.; s. also Lejeune Traité de phon. 72 n. 1); this word may well be of IE origin. -- For words derived from the IE root ὀπ- `see', s. ὄμμα, ὄσσε, ὄπωπα; cf. WP. 1, 169ff., Pok. 775ff., W.-Hofmann s. oculus etc.

Page in Frisk: 2,452-453