"donald j haarmann" wrote in message ...
"o8TY"

Could someone please post the ancient Greek word for the silver birch, or
provide a suitable reference.

I have checked Theophrastos but there is no listing for the tree. This is
most odd because he grew up in the region where the silver birch grew.

And Pliny only provides the Latin name Betula.

Thanks in advance.




------------
Have we tried the obvious!? A English - Greek Dictionary?

This (Web) dictionary one has an entry for "birch". No doubt there are other
dictionaries out there!!

http://www.kypros.org/cgi-bin/lexicon/

If only life were so simple! The Cyprus dictionary doesn't claim to
know a classical word for the tree; though *semyda* looks probable,
Liddell and Scott say the meaning is speculative (they say it is in
Theophrastus, by the way). I don't know why this should be, unless
it's one of those words which was revived for Modern Greek after a
period of oblivion.

Mike.