bishop

[Leo A. Connolly]

> Leo Connoly wrote:

>> To which I say: The vowels are still all wrong, which renders the rest
>> of it moot.

Renato Piva wrote:

> 1. Not exactly true: the I- of Istambul corresponds perfectly to the i- in
> 'is tin poli'.

True -- but this is the leasdt significant of the Greek syllables.

> 2. Cf. anc.-gr. propolis 'bee-glue' > mid-gr. ke'ropoli > turk. dial.
> girebullu:  The vowels are all wrong, but the word is Greek, believe it or
> not.

Isn't the Middle Greek word is itself somewhat problematic?  Some of its
vowels and consonants are wrong.  But never mind that.  If we must
choose between two etymologies for istanbul, we should choose the one
with the better phonetic fit, barring some sort of other evidence
favoring the poorer fit.  And the better fit is, I think, to derive it
from Konstantinopolis.  Since this is also preferable semantgically,
involving the actual name rather than a debatable circumlocution, it
seems the obvious choice.  Or am I missing some actual *evidence*
pointing to eis te:n polin?

Leo Connolly