LINGUIST List 6.201

Mon 13 Feb 1995

Disc: Origin of sycophant

Editor for this issue: <>

Directory

, Re: 6.146 Sum: Sycophant and Sign of the fig

Message 1: Sycophants: fig "show-ers"?

Date: Fri, 03 Feb 1995 09:02:19 Sycophants: fig "show-ers"?
From: <CONNOLLYMSUVX1.MEMPHIS.EDU>
Subject: Sycophants: fig "show-ers"?

I don't do much etymology, but:

Several readers have claimed that _sicophant_ is derived from the Greek words for 'fig' (sikos) and 'show' (phaino:). The first part is surely correct, but the second seems problematic, since the relevant participle forms of _phaino:_ would be present _phainont-_ and aorist _phanont-_. Without a Greek grammar or dictionary at hand, I would suggest rather that we look at the athematic Greek verb _phe:mi_ (Doric _pha:mi) 'speak', which does have a participle _phant-_. So maybe the sicophant is the 'fig-talker' rather than the 'fig-shower'. The semantic connection, of course, would be that his words were sweet to the ear; and certainly sicophants do more sweet-talking than fig-showing.

What do you think? Has this etymology been proposed? And if it has been proposed and rejected, why?

Leo A. Connolly Foreign Languages & Literatures University of Memphis connollymsuvax.memphis.edu Formerly "Memphis State University"

Message 2: Re: 6.146 Sum: Sycophant and Sign of the fig

Date: Sun, 05 Feb 1995 10:02:24 Re: 6.146 Sum: Sycophant and Sign of the fig
From: <WDEREUSECCIT.ARIZONA.EDU>
Subject: Re: 6.146 Sum: Sycophant and Sign of the fig

A footnote to the fascinating sycophant summary: When I was a kid in high school in the Paris area our French lit. teacher told us that in Rabelais' works (either Gargantua or pantagruel), Rabelais called the Catholics "papistes", and the Protestants "ceux qui font la figue au pape". She said this was "un geste tres malhonnete", but of course did not demonstrate it, and neither did any of the kids around me. Thank you for finally enlightening me. Willem J. de Reuse Department of Anthropology University of Arizona

Message 3: "Sycophant", more.

Date: Wed, 08 Feb 1995 10:54:09 "Sycophant", more.
From: <BLUCHERUMBC2.UMBC.EDU>
Subject: "Sycophant", more.

Subsequent to my recent posting about the origin of the word "sycophant" I received two comments which add interesting insights. I am forwarding them for your information. Richard Blucher

>From Dave Wharton (WHARTONDiris.uncg.edu)

Liddel & Scott's _Greek-English Lexicon_ shows the word SYKOPHANTHS in common usage not before the middle of the 5th century B.C. No ancient uses show any relation of the word to the "sign of the fig."

Here's the political context of its use in the 5th century and later, from the Oxford Classical Dictionary:

"Athens had no public prosecutors in the modern sense. Solon permitted citizens to prosecute any wrongdoers. Inducements were offered to volunteers in certain cases by granting them a liberal share of fines and moneys recovered from the treasury. the system worked: there was no lack of prosecutors. But c. 450 B.C. abuses appeared. Men began to make a profession of prosecutions for personal, political, and financial reasons. These were called sycophants. In spite of constant references by Aristophanes and the orators, there survives no legal definition of a sycophant....The most dangerous type of sycophant was the blackmailer who extorted money so that the guilty escaped punishment and the innocent paid blackmail..."

*****

>From ZQV6656ACFcluster.NYU.EDU

A belated comment on your query on "the sign of the fig". In my homeland, i.e. Istria which an Adriatic peninsula in the northwestern part of Croatia (former Yugoslavia) we use this sign in two (related?) meanings. The first one is the one mentioned by many other people who responded to you, i.e. the sign of defiance and strong rejection. It does not have any sexual or indecent connotation. Its second use is as a good luck sing (much as crossed fingers in America), but then it is done on both hands for either yourself or somebody else (maybe in defiance to "bad luck", "devil", etc.) Zvjezdana Vrzic

*****