onomatopoeic

Word

Validation

Yes

Last modification

Tue, 12/28/2021 - 16:30

Word-form

ἀΐω

Word-lemma

Middle LS

Etymon-lemma

onomatopoeic

Transliteration (Word)

aïō

English translation (word)

to perceive

Transliteration (Etymon)

[a]

English translation (etymon)

[a]

Author

Plutarch

Century

1-2 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

Quaestiones convivales 738b

Ed.

G.N. Bernardakis, Plutarch. Moralia. Leipzig, Teubner, 1889 (2)

Quotation

Λαμπρίας γὰρ ὁ ἐμὸς πάππος ἔλεγεν πρώτην φύσει φωνὴν τῶν ἐνάρθρων ἐκφέρεσθαι διὰ τῆς τοῦ ἄλφα δυνάμεως· τὸ γὰρ ἐν τῷ στόματι πνεῦμα ταῖς περὶ τὰ χείλη μάλιστα πλάττεσθαι κινήσεσιν, ὧν πρώτην ἀνοιγομένων τὴν ἄνω διάστασιν οὖσαν ἐξιέναι τοῦτον τὸν ἦχον, ἁπλοῦν ὄντα κομιδῇ καὶ μηδεμιᾶς δεόμενον πραγματείας, μηδὲ τὴν γλῶτταν παρακαλοῦντα μηδ’ ὑπομένοντ’, ἀλλὰ κατὰ χώραν ἀποκειμένης [ἐσκειμένης] ἐκείνης ἐκπεμπόμενον· ᾗ καὶ τὰ νήπια ταύτην πρώτην ἀφιέναι φωνήν, ὠνομάσθαι <δὲ> καὶ τὸ ‘ἀίειν’ ἐπὶ τῷ φωνῆς αἰσθάνεσθαι καὶ πολλὰ τῶν ὁμοίων, ὥσπερ καὶ τὸ ‘ᾄδειν’ καὶ <τὸ> ‘αὐλεῖν’ καὶ τὸ ‘ἀλαλάζειν’.

Translation (En)

For Lamprias my grandfather said, that the first articulate sound that is made is Alpha; for the air in the mouth is formed and fashioned by the motion of the lips; now as soon as those are opened, that sound breaks forth, being very plain and simple, not requiring or depending upon the motion of the tongue, but gently breathed forth whilst that lies still. Therefore that is the first sound that children make. And that aïein, to hear, is named after the fat that this sound is heard, and so are ᾁδειν, to sing, aulein, to pipe, alalazein, to hollow (transl. Goodwin modified)

Comment

The word is understood as an onomatopoeia built on the primary vowel [a]. This makes sense for words meaning "to speak", "to utter", like the other ones quoted by Plutarch, much less so for a verb meaning "to hear, to perceive". Do we have to infer from there that the reason is an interference with Lat. aiō "to say"?

Parallels

There is no parallel.

Modern etymology

Old inherited verb from PIE *h2ewes- "to perceive". Within Greek, belongs with αἰσθάνομαι "to perceive" (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

No

Entry By

Le Feuvre
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