Discussion of tonos (accent) for Greek nouns in -ος, focusing on disyllabic forms with long alpha, examples (παός, πηός, ναός, λαός), phonetic changes (vowel loss, loss of alpha, l deletion), etymology of λαός, and mythic/lexical citations (Deucalion, Hesiod, Homer, Aristophanes).
{1ΠΕΡΙ ΤΟΝΟΥ ΤΩΝ ΕΙΣ 'ος' ΟΝΟΜΑΤΩΝ. ΒΙΒΛΙΟΝ εʹ.}1 Τὰ εἰς 'ος' καθαρὰ δισύλλαβα τῷ 'α' μακρῷ παραληγόμενα ὀλίγα εἰσίν, καὶ ὀξύνεται μέν, ὅσα οὐ κύρια, μὴ δὲ ἐπιθετικά, παός καὶ πηός «καὶ πηῷ περ ἐόντι» (Od. κ 441), ναός νηός «ἐν πίονι νηῷ» (Β 549), λαός ληός τῇ μεταγενεστέρᾳ Ἰάδι τραπέν «ληὸν ἀθρήσας» Ἱππῶναξ, παρ´ Ὁμήρῳ δὲ τὸ λαός ἄτρεπτον ἔμεινεν. σημειωτέον δὲ ὅτι οὐχ ἁπλῶς τὸν ὄχλον σημαίνει, ἀλλὰ τὸν ὑποτεταγμένον. Ἑκαταῖος γὰρ «τὸν Ἡρακλέα τοῦ Εὐρυσθέως λαόν» λέγει καίτοι ἕνα ὄντα. γίνεται δὲ λαός, ὡς Χρύσιππος ὁ Στωϊκὸς ἐτυμολογεῖ, παρὰ τὸ λαλῶ λαλός καὶ λαός. παρὰ γὰρ τὴν φωνήν φησι ὡς καὶ μέροψ παρὰ τὴν ὄπα. καὶ ἄνθρωπος ὁ διωρθωμένην ἔχων τὴν ὄπα, διὸ καὶ αὐδήεντες «ἦ νύ που ἀνθρώπων εἰμὶ σχεδὸν αὐδηέντων» (Od. ζ 125). ἐγένετο δὲ ἔλλειψις, ὡς παρὰ τοῖς Ἀττικοῖς ἡ σίφη ἐκ τοῦ σίλφη παρ´ ἡμῖν λεγομένη ὡς καὶ ὁ τάπης παρὰ τὸ θάλπη, εἴ γε παρὰ τὸ χλιαίνειν ἡ χλαίνη. καὶ ἔκτασις δὲ γίνεται ἀποβολῇ τοῦ 'λ'· ἄλλοι δὲ παρὰ τοὺς λᾶας ὠνομάσθαι «λαοὶ Δευκαλίωνος ὅσοι γενόμεθα». Καλλίμαχος. φέρεται δὲ ἱστορία, ὅτι ἡ Μῆτις δυστοκούσης τῆς Ῥέας αὐτὴ καὶ ἔτεκε τέκνον ὃ ἐκάλεσε Λάαν· τῇ δὲ Ῥέᾳ τεκούσῃ τὸν Δία ἀντικατήλλαξεν τὸν Λάαν αὐτῆς τὸν παῖδα, ἵνα ὁ Κρόνος ἀντὶ Διὸς τὸν Λάαν καταπίῃ. Ζεὺς οὖν ἡβήσας εἰς τιμὴν τοῦ ἀνθ´ αὑτοῦ καταποθέντος λαοὺς ὠνόμασε τοὺς ἀνθρώπους. οἱ δὲ ὅτι Δευκαλίων λίθους ῥίπτων ἀνθρώπους ἐποίει. τινὲς δὲ ὅτι κατακλυσμοῦ ὄντος ἔφυγον οἱ ἄνθρωποι εἰς τὰ ὄρη. καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐπέστησαν τῇ γῇ εὐδίας γινομένης, ὡς ἐκπλαγῆναι καὶ ἀπὸ λίθων νομισθῆναι εἶναι. Ἡσίοδος δὲ παρὰ τὸ ἁλές τὸ σημαῖνον τὸ ἁθρόον. τούς ῥά ποτε Κρονίδης Ζεὺς ἄφθιτα μήδεα εἰδὼς λεκτοὺς ἐκ γαίης ἁλεῖς πόρε Δευκαλίωνι. (fr. 11 Dindorf.) ἁλαός λαός ἀφαιρέσει τοῦ 'α', ὡς καὶ παρὰ Ἀριστοφάνει σφόδελον ἐν χύτραισι μεγάλαις ἑψόμενον τινὲς δὲ καὶ Παφίην τὴν Ἀφροδίτην οὐ παρὰ τὴν Πάφον τὴν ἐν Κύπρῳ πόλιν, ἀλλὰ παρὰ τὸ ἀπαφίσκειν· καὶ παρ´ Ἡσιόδῳ «ῥεῖά τέ μιν μαυροῦσι θεοί». ἡ τοῦ μακροῦ 'α' ἀφαίρεσις σπάνιος· καὶ ἴσως ἐν τῷ «βάλε δὴ βάλε κηρύλος εἴην» (Alcm. fr. 21). τὸ Δᾶος ὡς κύριον βαρύνεται. «Γέτας γὰρ τοὺς πρὸς τὸν Πόντον κεκλιμένους καὶ τὴν ἕω, Δάους δὲ τοὺς πρὸς τἀναντία πρὸς Γερμανίαν καὶ τὰς τοῦ
Concerning the Accent of Nouns in -ος. Book 5.
The pure disyllables in -ος that have a long α in the penult are few; and they are accented with an acute, namely those that are not proper names and not adjectival: παός and πηός, “and though he was at πηῷ” (Od. κ 441); ναός, νηός, “in a rich νηῷ” (Β 549); λαός, ληός, changed in the later Ionic into ληός—Hipponax, “having observed the ληόν”; but in Homer λαός remained unchanged. It should be noted that it does not signify simply a crowd, but one that is subordinate. For Hecataeus says “Heracles, the λαός of Eurystheus,” although he is one person. And λαός is formed, as Chrysippus the Stoic etymologizes, from λαλῶ: λαλός and λαός. For, he says, it is from the voice, just as μέροψ is from ὄπα. And ἄνθρωπος is one who has a corrected voice; hence also αὐδήεντες: “surely I am near men who are αὐδηέντων” (Od. ζ 125). And there came to be an elision, as among the Attics σίφη from σίλφη, which is said among us, just as τάπης from θάλπη, if indeed χλαίνη is from ‘to warm.’ And there is also lengthening by loss of λ; but others say it was named from the stones (λᾶας): “the λαοί of Deucalion, as many as we have become.” Callimachus. A story is also related, that Metis, when Rhea was having difficulty in childbirth, herself bore a child whom she called Λάας; and when Rhea bore Zeus, she substituted her own child Λάας, so that Cronus might swallow Λάας instead of Zeus. Zeus then, when he came of age, in honor of the one swallowed in his place, called men λαοί. Others say it is because Deucalion, by throwing stones, made men. Others, that when there was a flood men fled to the mountains, and after this, when fair weather came, they came down upon the earth, so as to be struck with amazement and to be thought to be from stones. Hesiod, however, derives it from ἁλές, meaning ‘in a mass’: “to these once did Zeus son of Cronus, knowing imperishable counsels, grant chosen ἁλεῖς from the earth to Deucalion.” (fr. 11 Dindorf.) ἁλαός, λαός by removal of α, as also in Aristophanes σφόδελον boiled in large pots. Some also derive Παφίην, Aphrodite, not from Paphos, the city in Cyprus, but from ἀπαφίσκειν; and in Hesiod, “and easily the gods make him μαυροῦσι.” The removal of long α is rare; and perhaps in “strike then, strike—may I be a κηρύλος” (Alcm. fr. 21). Δᾶος, as a proper name, is accented with a grave: “For they call Getae those who incline toward the Pontus and the east, and Δάοι those who are toward the opposite, toward Germany and the …”