Etymology Blog

DOLPHIN WOMBS

8/20/2020

When the word dolphin was first used in English in a fourteenth century romantic epic about Alexander the Great, it was spelled delfyn, and other spellings around that time included delphin, dalphyn, daulphin, dolphyn, dolfyn, dolphyne, and doulphyn; the modern form didn't really become widely used until the 1600s. Delfyn came from the Old French word daufin, which, through Medieval Latin dolfinus and Latin dolphinus (both with the same definition), traces to the Ancient Greek noun delphys, meaning "womb". Etymologists aren't really sure why that's the case, but theories include a perceived resemblance in shape or something to do with them giving birth. Delphys, which also evolved into the -delphia part of Philadelphia, eventually derives from the Proto-Indo-European reconstruction gwelb, also meaning "womb"

1 Comment

Γεώργιος Κ.

9/15/2022 06:27:53 am

the word is pre-greek and not IE. It is older than the times before Κέκρωψ applies patriarchy on Athens (probably had an older name then). The word does not exist in other IE languages. It has been tried to be connected to Sanskritic but even if the connection is true, that proves a common pre-IE substratum not that it is an IE word.

So we have the fortune to use a word that it is older more than 4000 B.C. The word αδελφός meaning from the same womb is different than the IE word brother (Greek φρατήρ). Φρατήρ is from the same father. It is obvious that this word adelphos accounted for the matriarchy's "brothers". Times of matriarchy are attested in pre-Greek or proto-Greek Athens were women and men could vote and children were keeping the name of their mother and their father was unknown. This "barbaric" and "uncivilized" way of society was corrected by διφυης Κεκρωψ (two-natured Kekrops). His name seems to be IE and interpreted by greek but only hardly, so I suppose that the two-natured (διφυης) Kekrops is coming from the unification of early IE with non-IE autochthonous women at an early IE invasion in Greece before the linguistically IE Greeks arrive. The myth is very close to the Gibuta theory and seems to describe the domination of IE patriarchy over the older matriarchy.

It seems that Greece was already IEfied by a degree before Achaeans which present very clear greek etymologies to their names like Agamemnon, Menelaus, Diomedes, Clytemnestra. On the contrary, first IE waves present names that hardly can explained by greek but some seem or may have IE etymologies like Eason (eaino=heal), Achilles (from aqua), Ulysses (non IE) or Odysseus (which may give IE etymology dys-, odyssomai ), Herqules, Kekrops (and not only that but Homer seem to present a kind of hostility among them eg Achilleus vs Agamemnon). Iliad of Homer might as well be a unification story of greek and non-greek tribes under the same nation, still Hellas in Homer is the Achilles' country (Φθία - Ελλας Hellas) so this nation takes any name of the head tribes (Αχαιοί, Δαναοί, Αργείοι) in Homer. Out of worship and admire for Achilles probably gradually the new nation was named from his country Hellas.

Dolphin (Δελφίς) is considered sacred in pre-greek and greek tradition. Myths and legends tell of their friendship with men and gods alike. Dolphins were admired in antiquity for their sociable and compassionate nature. One Greek myth attributed dolphins ‘human’ qualities to the fact that they were once humans themselves. Δελφις is something with womb, thus close to human. Also δελφαξ is the little pig, another animal that while not positively attested was considered close to human. (Circe made Ulysses' crew pigs). It seems that greeks or even pre-greeks had given a binary character to humen also associated with two very distant animals, the dolphins (sea and free) and the pigs(earth, and domesticated). The traits of those two animals were assigned to humen.

DOLPHIN WOMBS

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