soul, spirit
→
butterfly
8 realizations
Related shifts
| ID | Relation type | Meaning 1 | Direction | Meaning 2 |
| ACCEPTED Realization 1 | ||
|---|---|---|
| type | Polysemy | |
| language | Ancient Greek | |
| lexeme | ψυχή | |
| meaning 1 | soul | μῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος
οὐλομένην, ἣ μυρί’ Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε’ ἔθηκε,
πολλὰς δ’ ἰφθίμους ψυχὰς Ἄϊδι προΐαψεν
ἡρώων, αὐτοὺς δὲ ἑλώρια τεῦχε κύνεσσιν
οἰωνοῖσί τε πᾶσι, Διὸς δ’ ἐτελείετο βουλή. Rage — Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus' son Achilles, […] doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses, hurling down to the House of Death so many sturdy […] great fighters’ souls, but made their bodies carrion, feasts for the dogs and birds, and the will of Zeus was moving toward its end. (Homer, Iliad 1.1–5, translation by Robert Fagles) |
| direction | → | |
| meaning 2 | (rare) butterfly | Γίνονται δ’ αἱ μὲν καλούμεναι ψυχαὶ ἐκ τῶν καμπῶν, αἳ γίνονται ἐπὶ τῶν φύλλων τῶν χλωρῶν, καὶ μάλιστα ἐπὶ τῆς ῥαφάνου, ἣν καλοῦσί τινες κράμβην. Those arise — those which one calls butterflies (psukhai) — out of those caterpillars which arise on leaves of green, especially on the [leaves] of the cabbage-plant, which some call cabbage ( Aristotle, History of Animals 5.19). |
| reference | François 2008: 195 | |
| comment | LSJ 2026-2027. 'animating principle of a human or animal body', 'spirit or soul thought of as distinct from the body and leaving it at death', 'a disembodied spirit, a shade or ghost', 'spirit (animated attitude), conscious self, personality as centre of emotions, desires and affections'. | |
| NEW Realization 2 | ||
|---|---|---|
| type | Polysemy | |
| language | Burmese | |
| lexeme | lippra (လိပ်ပြာ) | |
| meaning 1 | incorporeal or animate part of a human being; consciousness; spirit | |
| direction | ← | |
| meaning 2 | butterfly | |
| reference | SEAlang Burmrse | |
| comment | First element from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ljap 'butterfly', whence also Tibetan phye ma leb (ཕྱེ་མ་ལེབ) 'butterfly' and Chinese 蝶 (Old Chinese *l'eːb) 'butterfly'. Second element cognate with Tibetan bla (བླ) 'soul, spirit, life force' and Chinese 魄 (Old Chinese *pʰraːɡ) ' the po, the soul which does not leave the body after death, compared to 魂 (hún) which does; soul; spirit'. |
|
| NEW Realization 4 | ||
|---|---|---|
| type | Polysemy | |
| language | Malagasy | |
| lexeme | lòlo | |
| meaning 1 | ghost | |
| direction | — | |
| meaning 2 | butterfly | |
| reference | Korneev 1966 | |
| comment | ||
| NEW Realization 6 | ||
|---|---|---|
| type | Polysemy | |
| language | Thai | |
| lexeme | pǐi-sʉ̂ʉa (ผีเสื้อ) | |
| meaning 1 | tutelar spirit | |
| direction | → | |
| meaning 2 | butterfly: insect of the order Lepidoptera | |
| reference | SEAlang Thai | |
| comment | From pǐi (ผี) 'spirit' + sʉ̂ʉa (เสื้อ) 'tutelar' the insects got their name due to the old belief that they embody ancestral or tutelar spirits. |
|
| ACCEPTED Realization 7 | ||
|---|---|---|
| type | Polysemy | |
| language | Tofa | |
| lexeme | үзүдэк | |
| meaning 1 | soul of shaman | |
| direction | — | |
| meaning 2 | moth | бодуӊнуӊ ыъртчыларыӊ үзүдəə үғдэшсiн may the souls of your great shamans help |
| reference | Rassadin 2016: 449 | |
| comment | ||
It was believed that the soul of the deceased continues to live in the guise of a butterfly. moth. Also Russian бабочка 'butterfly, moth' etymologically 'soul of grandmother (бабка), female ancestor' (Фасмер 1, 100, Черных 1, 63, ЭССЯ 1, 107). Žuravlev 2005, 560