The Greek Diminutive Suffix -taxo- toy.ij-. 153 



tion would, however, not be limited to such cases, but even where, 

 as in ' diminutives,' primitive and derivative are in closer connec- 

 tion it might take place, so e. g. acrxspirrxov diminutive of aoxspa 

 a kind of shoe, neuter instead of feminine because of to o-a[j.(3a>>t- 

 oxov. Moreover, this shift of gender must not necessarily be caused 

 by another word in -ictko-, though such words would be most 

 closely associated, but any other word could do the same. Par- 

 ticularly often the genus influenced the species. ^ So ptcTCY) ' a small 

 sea-muscle ' : 6 [xu? after xoy/v) or 'zzXkwr^, pot(7Y.rjQ ' a tassel or knob 

 shaped like a pomegranate ' : ri pocc after buauvoi; ' tassel.' Also 

 the proper names ^opitTKOc, : to Bopu after 6 odyiocXo^ ' beach,' 'Ep- 

 yioxY] : TO Ipyov after r^ %6\ic, or iq izoliyyri ' city,' and perhaps Za- 

 "kicmoc, : ri Z^txlf] after 6 7COTa[j.6? ' river.' Below I group all cases of 

 attraction of gender to-gether, classifying according to the direction 

 in which the gender was influenced. 



22. A. Masculines from feminine primitives. ao-mBioxo? ' a boss ' : 

 1^ acTTui?, after ao-TpayaXicrxo? (cf. Hes. sub (pa>^apa), Bspptcrxo? ' a 

 (small?) leather covering or coat ' : r] Bsppti; after ^(iTwvtcntOi; or 

 TpipOTio?, Z(x\i(jY.oq (name of a river) if : -^ ^aXv] (cf. § 95 n.) after 

 6 TTOTap-o^ ' river,' yioTzicn^ot; ' a pastille ' : •/] xomi; after Tpo/icrxo? and 

 xux7.taxo?, }^07caBi(7xo? 'a flat dish or plate ' : tq Xozd.^ after xivaxi- 

 (7X0?, [JiY]vt(7xo? ' crescent ' : ri [j:i]vf] and ctsT^iqvictxo? ' crescent ' : ri 

 azlrivfi after 6 xuxXo? or xuxTstcrxo?, poiaxo? : r] poa (§ 21), prob- 

 ably also xapaycoviiTxoi; ' a carpenter's square ' : ri ytovta after names 

 of tools hke [xo/^}>(crxoc, (yzuXicn^oi;, and Topvtcrxo?. Perhaps originally 

 also 6 c-ivB(ovicxO(; ' a garment made of fine cloth ' : ri (TivBcov after 

 /iTcovicrxo?. In its only occurrence, however, (jiy^omaxoq is used 

 with a feminine adjective (§ 69), probably a secondary develop- 

 ment due to the reverse influence of r\ aivBtov. 



23. B. Feminines from masculine primitives. [j.tji(7XYi : 6 ^Zc, (§ 21), 

 TptTioBicrx-r] (name of a village) : 6 Tpixou? after 7^ xo)[xy]. 



24. C. Masculines from neuter primitives. ypacpiOTio? (a surgical 

 instrument) : to ypacpsTov after the same group as Tuapaywvtcrxo? 

 (§ 22), Aopiicrxo? (name of a beach) : to Bopu after 6 aiyiaXo?, 

 0>tJi(7xo? ' a censer ' : to 0-(Jo$ after many names of vessels, e. g. 

 xaBi(7xo? and xotu>>C<7xo?, xaptjio-xO(; ' a nut-like vessel ' : to xapuov, 

 Uke O-utoxoi;, xsvTptaxoi; ' a kind of fish ' : to xsvTpov after names 

 of fish like yXauxicrxo?, BsT^cpivicrxoi;, and x£(7Tpivicrxoi;, >.Y][jLviffxo? ^ 



^ Cf. Brugmann, Gr. 2.2^.92. 



^ The ace. sing. Xriiivi(s\xov\ in the Attic inscription of Ditt.^ 633. 25 is prob- 

 ably mascuUne because the word is otherwise certainly masculine, e. g. 

 the ace. pi. XrifXpLaxovi in Hesyehius. 



