ἄσβολος, ἀσβόλη
(Moer. α 17, Phryn. Ecl. 82, Phryn. PS 28.1–3)
A. Main sources
(1) Phryn. Ecl. 82: ἀσβόλη μὴ λέγε, ἀλλὰ ἄσβολος.
Do not say ἀσβόλη (‘soot’), but ἄσβολος.
(2) Phryn. PS 28.1–3: ἄσβολος· θηλυκῶς λέγουσιν. Ἱππῶναξ δ’ ἀρσενικῶς. τινὲς δὲ καὶ τὴν ἀσβόλην <οὐχ ὑγιῶς>.
ἄσβολος: [Attic authors] use [it] in the feminine. Hipponax (fr. 138 West2 = fr. 185 Degani = C.2, cf. also fr. 103.10 West2 = 106.10 Degani = C.3) [uses it] in the masculine instead. Some <incorrectly> also [use] ἀσβόλη.
(3) Moer. α 17: ἄσβολος Ἀττικοί· ἀσβόλη Ἕλληνες.
Codd. VFD1E omit Ἀττικοί | cod. E adds καὶ before ἀσβόλη | Ἕλληνες Hansen : Ἑλληνικῶς cod. C : codd. VFD1E omit it. Apparatus by J. Cavarzeran.
Users of Attic [employ] ἄσβολος. Users of Greek [employ] ἀσβόλη.
B. Other erudite sources
(1) Hsch. α 7634: *ἄσβολος· ἀσβόλη. AS2
ἄσβολος Musurus : ἀσβόλος cod.
ἄσβολος: [It means] ἀσβόλη.
(2) Σb α 2213 (= Phot. α 2946, ex Σʹʹʹ; cf. Ael.Dion. α 186): ἄσβολος· θηλυκῶς ἡ ἄσβολος, οὐχὶ ἡ ἀσβόλη οὐδὲ ἀρσενικῶς ὁ ἄσβολος. Ἀριστοφάνης Θεσμοφοριαζούσαις· ‘τὰ πλεῖστα γὰρ | ἀποπεπόνηκας. σφουΐου τῆς ἀσβόλου’.
οὐχὶ ἡ ἀσβολή (ἀσβόλη Theodoridis) οὐδὲ Phot. cod. z : οὐδὲ γὰρ cod. B | αὐ Θεσμοφοριαζούσαις cod. B : ἐν Θεσμοφοριαζούσαις Bekker (1814–1821 vol. 1, 451 and vol. 3, 1114) : Θεσμοφορία Phot. cod. z | σφουΐου τῆς Phot. cod. z : σφουϊοὐτ’ εἰς cod. B : φεῦ ἰοὺ τῆς Bekker (1814–1821 vol. 1, 451 and vol. 3, 1114) after Aristophanes’ text (C.4), followed by the translation.
ἄσβολος: [It must be used] in the feminine, ἡ ἄσβολος; neither ἀσβόλη nor ὁ ἄσβολος, in the masculine, [must be used]. Aristophanes in the Women at the Thesmophoria (244–5 = C.4) [says]: ‘You’ve suffered through the worst part. Yuk! Oh, the soot! (τῆς ἀσβόλου)’.
(3) Su. α 4132: ἀσβόλη καὶ ἄσβολος· ἡ αἰθάλη τοῦ πυρὸς, ἡ στακτή. φεῦ, ἰοὺ τῆς ἀσβόλου. καὶ ἐπὶ δοτικῆς τῇ ἀσβόλῳ.
Codd. TFV omit καὶ ἐπὶ δοτικῆς τῇ ἀσβόλῳ. Cf. schol. Ar. Th. 245.
ἀσβόλη and ἄσβολος: [It means] the soot [produced] by fire, lye. ‘Yuk! Oh, the soot! (τῆς ἀσβόλου)’ (Ar. Th. 245 = C.4). And in the dative [it is] τῇ ἀσβόλῳ.
(4) Eust. in Od. 1.19.2–7 (= 1.90.12–7 Cullhed–Olson): Αἴλιος δὲ Διονύσιος παρασημειούμενός τινα ὅπως κατὰ γένη προφέρονται, φησὶν οὕτω [...] ἔτι θηλυκῶς καὶ ἡ τύλη τὸ φύμα τὸ ἐπὶ τοῦ αὐχένος καὶ ἡ ὄμφαξ καὶ ἡ ἄσβολος […].
Aelius Dionysius, noting in passing how certain words are used with [different] grammatical genders, says the following [...]. Also feminine are ἡ τύλη, meaning the protuberance on the throat (i.e. the Adam’s apple), and ἡ ὄμφαξ (‘unripe grape’), and ἡ ἄσβολος […]. (Transl. Cullhed, Olson 2022, 91, slightly modified).
(5) Thom.Mag. 10.6–7: ἄσβολος καὶ αἴθαλος οἱ δοκιμώτατοι, οὐκ ἀσβόλη οὐδ’ αἰθάλη.
The most approved [authors say] ἄσβολος and αἴθαλος (‘thick smoke’), not ἀσβόλη nor αἰθάλη.
C. Loci classici, other relevant texts
(1) Semon. fr. 7.57–62 West2:
τὴν δ’ ἵππος ἁβρὴ χαιτέεσσ’ ἐγείνατο,
ἣ δούλι’ ἔργα καὶ δύην περιτρέπει,
κοὔτ’ ἂν μύλης ψαύσειεν, οὔτε κόσκινον
ἄρειεν, οὔτε κόπρον ἐξ οἴκου βάλοι,
οὔτε πρὸς ἰπνὸν ἀσβόλην ἀλεομένη
ἵζοιτ’. […]
Another a dainty, long-maned mare engendered. She pushes servile tasks and trouble onto others, and she wouldn’t touch a millstone, lift a sieve, throw dung out of the house, or sit by the oven since she avoids soot. (Transl. Gerber 1999, 309).
(2) Hippon. fr. 138 West2 (= fr. 185 Degani) = Phryn. PS 28.1–3 re. ἄσβολος (A.2).
(3) Hippon. fr. 103.10–1 West2 = 106.10–1 Degani:
] ἀ[σ]βόλ[ου] κασιγ[νητ
πασ⸥πα⸤λ⸥ηφάγον γ⸤ρόμφιν
… of soot … brother/sister … meal-fed old sow …
(4) Ar. Th. 244–6:
(ΕΥ.) ἀλλ’ οὐκέτ’ οὐδὲν πρᾶγμά σοι· τὰ πλεῖστα γὰρ
ἀποπεπόνηκας.
(ΚΗ.) φεῦ, ἰοὺ τῆς ἀσβόλου.
αἰθὸς γεγένημαι πάντα τὰ περὶ τὴν τράμιν.
(Euripides) You’ve got nothing more to fret about; you’ve suffered through the worst part. (Kinsman) Yuk! Oh, the soot! All around my crotch I’m blackened! (Transl. Henderson 2000, 491).
D. General commentary
In their lexica, Phrynichus (A.1, A.2) and Moeris (A.3) deal with two different forms of the noun meaning ‘soot’, i.e. ἄσβολος and ἀσβόλη, which may derive from the same root as σποδός (‘soot’), with the addition of a pre-Greek prosthetic vowel; see Furnée (1972, 154), EDG s.v. ἄσβολος (for a different reconstruction, see DELG s.v.). The two lexicographers agree in prescribing ἄσβολος as the approved form, while proscribing ἀσβόλη; they are followed by Thomas Magister (B.5). Furthermore, in the Praeparatio sophistica, Phrynichus (A.2) also discusses the gender of ἄσβολος, favouring the feminine form attested in Aristophanes (C.4) over the masculine used by Hipponax (C.2, C.3). The same prescription appears in the Synagoge and in Photius’ lexicon (B.2), both of which, according to Erbse, follow Aelius Dionysius (α 186; cf. also B.4). This is one of several instances in which Atticist lexicographers (as well as other erudite sources) discuss examples of gender change, often associated with instances of declension metaplasm; see AGP vol. 2, Nominal morphology, forthcoming, and entries αἴθαλος, αἰθάλη, κακκάβη, κάκκαβος, ψύλλα, ψύλλος. Aristophanes’ use of ἄσβολος as a feminine noun explains Phrynichus’ and Moeris’ preference for this form over the masculine attestation in Hipponax, a non-Attic author. On the other hand, the 1st-declension form ἀσβόλη is first attested in Semonides (C.1), and is not used by Attic authors. In general, feminine forms in -η are usually attributed to the Ionian dialect by ancient scholarship, in contrast to the ‘Attic’ forms of the -ο- declension (masculine, but also feminine and neuter): cf. schol. (ex.) Hom. Il. 18.551 [b(BCE3)T]: δρεπάνας· Ἰωνικῶς· οὗτοι γὰρ τρέπουσι πάντα εἰς θηλυκά, τάφρη, κύρτη, ἀστραγάλη, ‘δρεπάνας (‘sickles’, acc. pl.): [It is used] in the Ionic manner; indeed, they (i.e. Ionic speakers) turn everything into the feminine form, [such as] τάφρη (‘ditch’), κύρτη (‘wheel’), ἀστραγάλη (‘knucklebone’, ‘dice’)’, and Σb α 2269 (= Phryn. PS fr. † *269Phryn. PS fr. † *269 [the fragment is doubtfully attributed to Phrynichus’ Praeparatio sophistica by de Borries], Ael.Dion. α 190Ael.Dion. α 190), which deal with the forms ἀστράγαλοςἀστράγαλος and ἀστραγάλη. From a morphological point of view, in the development of Post-classical Greek there is a tendency to reshape the nominal system towards a one-to-one reciprocity between gender and declension. In the case of feminine 2nd-declension nouns, this analogicalAnalogy process is more frequently pursued through gender change; see Papanastassiou (2007, 612). In the case of ἄσβολος, the noun instead underwent a declension change, from ἡ ἄσβολος to ἡ ἀσβόλη; see Hatzidakis (1885, 83); Gignac (1981, 40–1). The semantic similarity with αἴθαλος may also have influenced the declension change of this noun (see entry αἴθαλος, αἰθάλη).
E. Byzantine and Modern Greek commentary
N/A
F. Commentary on individual texts and occurrences
N/A
Bibliography
Bekker, I. (1814–1821). Anecdota Graeca. 3 vols. Berlin.
Furnée, E. J. (1972). Die wichtigsten konsonantischen Erscheinungen des Vorgriechischen. Mit einem Appendix über den Vokalismus. The Hague, Paris.
Gerber, D. E. (1999). Greek Iambic Poetry. Edited and translated by Douglas E. Gerber. Cambridge, MA.
Gignac, F. T. (1981). A Grammar of the Greek Papyri of the Roman and Byzantine Times. Vol. 2: Morphology. Milan.
Hatzidakis, G. N. (1885). ‘Die altgriechischen Feminina auf -ος im Neugriechischen’. ZVS 27, 82–4.
Henderson, J. (2000). Aristophanes. Vol. 3: Birds. Lysistrata. Women at the Thesmophoria. Edited and translated by Jeffrey Henderson. Cambridge, MA.
Papanastassiou, G. C. (2007). ‘Morphology. From Classical Greek to the Koine’. Christidis, A. F. (ed.), A History of Ancient Greek. From the Beginnings to Late Antiquity. Cambridge, 610–7.
CITE THIS
Elisa Nuria Merisio, 'ἄσβολος, ἀσβόλη (Moer. α 17, Phryn. Ecl. 82, Phryn. PS 28.1–3)', in Olga Tribulato (ed.), Digital Encyclopedia of Atticism. With the assistance of E. N. Merisio.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.30687/DEA/2974-8240/2025/01/007
ABSTRACT
KEYWORDS
Declension metaplasmGender, grammaticalIonic
FIRST PUBLISHED ON
20/06/2025
LAST UPDATE
20/06/2025
