--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Aigius" <segijus@...> wrote:
> What is etymology of Hypanis? Can Hypanis be misspeling of Kypanis
> or Kyponis? Theh: Lithuanian word IKYPAS (letter I here can be
> prefix), meaning BEVEL, SIDELONG, > KYPAS > Kyponis or Kypanis?
A miss-spelling is not probable. The word is transmitted in several
Greek source from Herodotus onwards, and the form is unanimously
rendered as Hypanis.
When looking for an etymology, one has to take into consideration that
the initial h- did not necessarily belong to the original form, given
that an initial ypsilon is automatically written with spiritus asper
and pronounced with an h. Furthermore, in the Ionic dialect, which both
Herodotus and most of the Greek colonist of the northen Black Sea coast
spoke, there was no h (psilosis).
I do not have an etymology at hand, but it could very well be Iranian,
since upa- was a common preposition in Indo-Iranian.