ἀλαλή
Word
Validation
No
Word-form
ἀλαλάζω
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
alalazō
English translation (word)
to cry, to shout aloud
Transliteration (Etymon)
alalē
English translation (etymon)
cry
Century
9 AD
Source
Etym. Genuinum
Ref.
Etym. Genuinum, alpha 393
Ed.
F. Lasserre and N. Livadaras, Etymologicum magnum genuinum. Symeonis etymologicum una cum magna grammatica. Etymologicum magnum auctum, vol. 1, Rome: Ateneo, 1976
Quotation
Ἀλαλή· ὁ θόρυβος· καὶ ῥῆμα παρ’ αὐτὴν <ἀ>λαλάζω
Translation (En)
Alalē "cry": noise, from it the verb alalazō, "to cry".
Parallels
Etym. Symeonis, vol. 1, p. 250 (ἀλαλή· ὁ θόρυβος· παρὰ τὴν ἅλα, τὴν ἀεὶ ἠχοῦσαν, ἀλή καὶ ἐν διπλασιασμῷ ἀλαλή, ἐξ οὗ ἀλαλάζω καὶ ἀλάλαγμα καὶ ἀλαλητός); ibid., p. 260 (ἀλαλάζειν· τὸ ἐν μάχαις λέγειν· παρὰ τὴν ἀλαλήν, ὃ σημαίνει τὸν θόρυβον, γίνεται ἀλαλάζω καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἀλάλαγμα)
Modern etymology
Denominative verb from ἀλαλά, military interjection
Persistence in Modern Greek
Αλαλάζω is still used in Modern Greek to designate 'to let out a scream', mostly of joy or excitment. Words "αλαλαγμός" and "αλαλητό" are also used today in the sense of 'non comprehensible cries of joy/excitement'.
Entry By
Margelidon
Comment
This is the most obvious, and obviously the correct, etymology of the verb ἀλαλάζω: it is a denominative verb of the substantive ἀλαλή, which designs a war cry, an exultation.