Lexicographic entries

ψύλλα, ψύλλος
(Phryn. Ecl. 306, Moer. ψ 2)

A. Main sources

(1) Phryn. Ecl. 306: ψύλλος βάρβαρον, ἡ δὲ ψύλλα δόκιμον ὅτι καὶ ἀρχαῖον.

ψύλλος (‘flea’) [is] barbarous, while ψύλλα [is] approved because it [is] also ancient.

(2) Moer. ψ 2: ψύλλα θηλυκῶς Ἀττικοί· ἀρσενικῶς Ἕλληνες.

Users of Attic [employ] ψύλλα in the feminine; users of Greek [employ it] in the masculine.

B. Other erudite sources

(1) Su. ψ 152 (~ Phot. 656.4–7 = Ael.Dion. ψ 5; cf. Hsch. ψ 267): ψύλλα καὶ ψύλλαι· θηλυκῶς. παρὰ δὲ Ἡροδότῳ Ψύλλοι, ἔθνος Λιβύης. καὶ τὸ ἐν τῇ Μεσσηνίᾳ Μενάνδρου κύριον ὄνομα. ὅτι δὲ τὸ ζῷον τὸ μικρὸν ἀρρενικῶς Ἐπίχαρμος εἶπε καὶ ἕτεροι. Ἀριστοφάνης· ‘ἀνήρετ’ ἄρτι Χαιρεφῶντα Σωκράτης, | ψύλλαν ὁπόσους ἅλοιτο τοὺς αὑτῆς πόδας’. ὅτι ἱστόρηται, ὡς ἡ ψύλλα ἓξ πόδας ἔχει.

Photius’ entry ends with καὶ ἕτεροι; it was identified as a fragment of Aelius Dionysius’ lexicon by Erbse, comparing Eust. in Od. 1.19.2–7 (B.3).

ψύλλα and ψύλλαι: [It is] feminine. In Herodotus (4.173.1) Ψύλλοι (‘Psylli’) [is the name of] a Libyan people, and in Menander’s Messenia (fr. 232 = C.5) [it is] a proper name. Epicharmus (fr. 197 = C.1) and other [authors] call the small animal (i.e. the flea) [using the noun] in the masculine. Aristophanes (Nu. 144–5 = C.2) [says]: ‘Just now Socrates asked Chaerephon how many of its own feet a flea (ψύλλα) can jump.’ The flea is said to have six feet.

(2) Et.Gud. 574.62: ψύλλαι, θηλυκῶς, †ἔθεισο δὲ φθεὶρ ἀρσενικῶς.

ἔθεισο δὲ φθεὶρ ἀρσενικῶς Sturz : †ἔθεισ ὁ δὲ φθεὶρ ἀρσενικῶς Gerbi (personal communication) : <Ψύλλοι> ἔθνος, ὁ δὲ φθεὶρ ἀρσενικῶς Cavarzeran (personal communication), doubtfully. Cf. Cyr. (vg) ψυλ-ψυτ 1: ψυλλα· θηλυκως· ο δε φθειρ αρσενικως; schol. rec. Ar. Pl. 537c.

ψύλλαι, in the feminine, but the louse (φθείρ) is used (?) in the masculine.

(3) 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. καὶ ἡ ψύλλα.

Cf. Ael.Dion. ψ 5 (see B.1).

Aelius Dionysius, noting in passing how certain [words] are used with [different] grammatical genders, says the following: […]. Also feminine are ἡ τύλη, meaning the bulge in the throat (i.e. the Adam’s apple), and ἡ ὄμφαξ (‘unripe grape’), and ἡ ἄσβολος (‘soot’), and ἡ ψύλλα. (Transl. Cullhed–Olson 2022, 91, slightly modified).

(4) Schol. Ar. Pl. 538b: αἳ (EΘAld) βομβοῦσαι (REΘAld)] α. ἐντεῦθεν πλανηθέντες τινὲς θηλυκῶς εἰρῆσθαι ᾠήθησαν ‘τὰς κώνωπας’· ληροῦσι δέ· ἀρσενικῶς γὰρ λέγονται· οἱ δὲ Δωριεῖς ἀρσενικῶς λέγουσι ‘τὸν ψύλλον’. (VEΘBarbRsAld) οἱ δὲ Ἀττικοὶ θηλυκῶς. (Rs) β. θηλυκῶς δέ τινες <φασι λέγειν> τοὺς Ἀττικούς· ‘ἠχοῦσαι’ φησὶν ‘αἱ κώνωπες’· καὶ γὰρ ἠχοῦσα περιίπταται. – οὐκ ἔστι δέ, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὰς ψύλλας ἀποδέδωκεν. (EΘBarbRsAld) (cf. C.4)

αἳ βομβοῦσαι (‘which [are] buzzing’)] α. Hence some, being misled, have thought that mosquitoes are used in the feminine (τὰς κώνωπας). But they are foolish, for they are used in the masculine. Doric speakers say ὁ ψύλλος in the masculine. Attic speakers [employ it] in the feminine. β. Some say that Attic speakers use [it] in the feminine. They say ‘mosquitoes (αἱ κώνωπες) are buzzing’. Mosquitoes do indeed fly around buzzing. But this is not the case, for he (i.e. Aristophanes) was referring to fleas.

C. Loci classici, other relevant texts

(1) Epich. fr. 197 = Hsch. ψ 267, Su. ψ 152 re. ψύλλος (B.1).

(2) Ar. Nu. 144–5:
ἀνήρετ’ ἄρτι Χαιρεφῶντα Σωκράτης
ψύλλαν ὁπόσους ἅλλοιτο τοὺς αὑτῆς πόδας.

Just now Socrates asked Chaerephon how many of its own feet a flea can jump. (Transl. Henderson 1998, 27).

(3) Ar. Th. 1179–80:
ὀρκῆσι καὶ μελετῆσι, οὐ κωλῦσ’ ἐγώ.
ὠς ἐλαπρός, ὤσπερ ψύλλο κατὰ τὸ κῴδιο.

Let her dance and rehearse; I won’t stop her. She’s pretty nimble, like a bug on a rug. (Transl. Henderson 2000, 607).

(4) Ar. Pl. 537–9:
φθειρῶν τ’ ἀριθμὸν καὶ κωνώπων καὶ ψυλλῶν οὐδὲ λέγω σοι
ὑπὸ τοῦ πλήθους, αἳ βομβοῦσαι περὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀνιῶσιν,
ἐπεγείρουσαι καὶ φράζουσαι ‘πεινήσεις· ἀλλ’ ἐπανίστω’.

Not to mention the lice, gnats, and fleas, too numerous to enumerate, that annoy us by buzzing around our heads and waking us up with the warning, ‘get up or you’ll go hungry!’. (Transl. Henderson 2002, 505).

(5) Men. fr. 232 = Su. ψ 152 re. Ψύλλος (B.1).

D. General commentary

Two entries in Atticist lexicography (Phryn. Ecl. 306, A.1, Moer. ψ 2, A.2) deal with the noun ψύλλα/ψύλλος (‘flea’; perhaps Aelius Dionysius also discussed the same form, cf. B.1 and B.3). Both Phrynichus and Moeris approve the 1st-declension feminine form (ψύλλα), which they contrast with the 2nd-declension masculine form (ψύλλος).

The noun ψύλλα is formed from the root ψυλ- (originally *plusi-, affected by metathesis) with the feminine suffix *-i̯a; see DELG, EDG s.v. The masculine form is a secondary formation and is attested as an ethnonym (Ψύλλοι, cf. B.1) and also as a personal name: cf. B.1, which attests to the latter use in Menander (C.5). The word is used as a nickname in epigraphic and numismatic documents; see Robert (1960, 517 n. 4).

The masculine form denoting the flea is attested as early as Epicharmus (C.1, cf. B.1) and is consequently identified as a Doric form (B.4). It then spread during the Hellenistic period (cf. e.g. Arist. HA 537a.6, Thphr. HP 8.10.1, LXX 1Re. 24.15, Dsc. 3.121.2), provoking the Atticists’ proscription: Phrynichus invokes the greater antiquity of ψύλλα, which he finds attested several times in Aristophanes (C.2, Nu. 149, Nu. 831, C.4). Another passage of Aristophanes may have played a role in the rejection of the masculine form by Atticist lexicographers, especially in relation to the definition of ψύλλος as ‘barbarous’ by Phrynichus (A.1): in Ar. Th. 1180 (C.3), the non-existent form ψύλλο is deliberately put by the comic poet into the mouth of the Scythian archer, who speaks a ‘garbled pidgin-Greek’ (see Austin, Olson 2004, 308), whose features include the neglect of final -ν and -ς and the carelessness about grammatical gender (in fact, the inflectional endings are often replaced by an all-purpose -ο).

The discussion of the two forms of the term for ‘flea’ is one of several examples where Atticist lexicographers (as well as other erudite sources) discuss cases of gender change, often related to cases of declension metaplasm; see AGP vol. 2, Morphology, forthcoming, and entries ἄσβολος, ἀσβόλη and αἴθαλος, αἰθάλη.

E. Byzantine and Modern Greek commentary

N/A

F. Commentary on individual texts and occurrences

N/A

Bibliography

Austin, C.; Olson, S. D. (2004). Aristophanes. Thesmophoriazusae. Edited with introduction and commentary. Oxford.

Henderson, J. (1998). Aristophanes. Vol. 2: Clouds. Wasps. Peace. Edited and translated by Jeffrey Henderson. Cambridge, MA.

Henderson, J. (2000). Aristophanes. Vol. 3: Birds. Lysistrata. Women at the Thesmophoria. Edited and translated by Jeffrey Henderson. Cambridge, MA.

Henderson, J. (2002). Aristophanes. Vol. 4: Frogs. Assemblywomen. Wealth. Edited and translated by Jeffrey Henderson. Cambridge, MA.

Robert, L. (1960). Hellenica. Vols. 11–12. Paris.

CITE THIS

Elisa Nuria Merisio, 'ψύλλα, ψύλλος (Phryn. Ecl. 306, Moer. ψ 2)', in Olga Tribulato (ed.), Digital Encyclopedia of Atticism. With the assistance of E. N. Merisio.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.30687/DEA/2974-8240/2024/03/011

ABSTRACT

This article provides a philological and linguistic commentary on the nouns ψύλλα and ψύλλος, discussed in the Atticist lexica Phryn. Ecl. 306, Moer. ψ 2.