The Greek Diminutive Suffix -loxo- -lOxt]-. 157 



itive may itself be used in a metaphorical or extended sense 

 diminutives are altogether indistinguishable from these words. Thus 

 is a'lovioTtoc, 'an axle' of certain machines, merely a 'little axle,' 

 or ' that which is like an axle,' with the primitive conceived as 

 designating only the axle of a wagon ? Is pioxY) formed from 

 [vjc, ' sea-muscle ' as a diminutive, or was the original meaning 

 'mouse' in mind, so that it was ' like a mouse? ' Or is aG-m^ioyvY], 

 ' a little image of a shield ' of gold or onyx, ' that which is hke 

 a shield ' or ' a little shield,' the latter being possible because such 

 an image might by an extension of the primitive itself be called 

 ugkIc, ? In this way these words shade imperceptibly into the 

 diminutives, though they scarcely are the ones that gave rise to 

 the latter use.^ 



33. In a few words -ktxo- seems to shade into a possessive mean- 

 ing, only apparently so, however, since there are no clear cases. 

 ao-Tspioxo? : acTTY^p, 'an aster,' is that which is ' Uke a star,' not 

 that which ' has a star,' and xsvTpicrKoc : xsvTpov, a certain fish, is 

 that which is ' hke a prick,' not that which ' has a prick.' They 

 are simply cases of naming complex phenomena by a striking 

 feature, without necessarily selecting one which apphes to the 

 phenomenon as a whole. 



34. Sometimes an extension of the use of the primitive without 

 formal characterization causes it to become partially equivalent 

 to a derivative in -igtio- meaning ' hke ' the primitive. From this 

 partial identity can come complete identity of meaning by semantic 

 syncretism : xaBicrxoc ' voting-urn ' became ' wine-jar ' = xaBo?, 

 because the latter may itself be used of voting-urns just like the 

 derivative, which was originally ' that which is like a wine-jar.' 

 Such cases of equivalence easily cause other derivatives in -loxo- 

 to be made by analogy, without their ever having been different 

 from their primitives. 



The collection of examples will be subdivided according to con- 

 generic groups. 



I. Names of Persons, 



35. ^aaikiaxoq : [BaadstJi;, one who is ' like a king, but not a real 

 one,' a king of a small country, therefore on border line of de- 

 teriorative use. Polyb. 3. 44. 5 d<Tf\-^cr{z xobc, ^v-aCkiayiouc, tou? xspl 

 MaytT^ov. Certainly without contempt when used of the first person 



1 Cf. Gr. Dims. 10 ff. 



