κλάω

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No

Last modification

Thu, 03/30/2023 - 10:42

Word-form

κύκλα, κύκλος

Transliteration (Word)

kuklos

English translation (word)

circle

Transliteration (Etymon)

klaō

English translation (etymon)

to break, to inflect

Author

Philoxenus

Century

1 BC

Reference

fr. *128

Edition

C. Theodoridis, Die Fragmente des Grammatikers Philoxenos [Sammlung griechischer und lateinischer Grammatiker (SGLG) 2. Berlin: De Gruyter, 1976

Source

[Etymologicum Genuinum AB]

Ref.

fr. *128

Ed.

C. Theodoridis, Die Fragmente des Grammatikers Philoxenos [Sammlung griechischer und lateinischer Grammatiker (SGLG) 2. Berlin: De Gruyter, 1976

Quotation

Kύκλα· ... ἔστι ῥῆμα κλῶ, ἐξ οὗ μονοσύλλαβον ὄνομα κλός· καὶ ἐπειδὴ οὐδὲν εἰς ος ὄνομα λήγει μονοσύλλαβον, διπλασιασμὸν ἀναδεξάμενον ἐγένετο κύκλος, ὡς παρὰ τὸ θῶ, τὸ θηλάζω, ἐγένετο θός, καὶ ἐπειδὴ οὐκ ἠδύνατο διπλασιασθῆναι ἐγένετο τιτθός.

Translation (En)

Kukla "wheels": ...there is a verb *klō "to break", from which comes a monosyllabic noun *klos; and since no monosyllabic noun ends in -os, it became kuklos after going through reduplication, in the same way as from thō, "to suckle", was made *thos, and it became titthos "breast" since it wasn’t impossible to reduplicate it.

Other translation(s)

Kukla « roues » : ...il existe un verbe *klō « briser » d’où vient le nom monosyllabique *klos; et parce qu’aucun nom monosyllabique ne se termine en -os, cela est devenu kuklos après avoir subi un redoublement, comme *thos vient de thō « allaiter », et est devenu titthos « sein » parce qu'il n'était pas impossible de le redoubler.

Comment

Derivational etymology correctly identifying the word as a reduplicated form. However, the semantic connection between the etymon "to break" and the lemma "wheels", lit. "circles" remains difficult to understand. It may be relevant that κλίνω "to lean, to bend" is also etymologized by κλάω "to break" (see κλίνω / κλάω), and that the circular shape of the wheel can be assumed as resulting from a bending process (?). The formal aspect clearly prevailed over the semantic one.

Parallels

Comm. in Dionysii Thracis Artem grammaticam, Scholia Vaticana, Gr. Gr. 1.3, p. 246 (Εἰς τὸ αὐτὸ καὶ ἄλλως. —Στεφάνου. —Θεῖναί ἐστι τὸ ποιῆσαι, ὡς τὸ <α 2> ἄλγε’ ἔθηκεν· ὅ ἐστι παρὰ τὸ θῶ, ἀφ’ οὗ θός καὶ θεός ὁ πάντων ποιητής· ὁ δὲ πλεονασμός, ἵνα μὴ μονοσύλλαβον ὄνομα βραχὺ ᾖ, οὐδὲ γὰρ ἔστιν ἕτερον ἢ τὸ τίς καὶ ἕν, δι’ ἀνάγκην, ὡς καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ κλῶ κλός καὶ κύκλος διπλασιασμῷ· γίνεται δὲ θεός καὶ παρὰ τὸ ἑός, ὃ σημαίνει τὸν ἀγαθόν, ἑός καὶ θεός); Etym. Gudianum, kappa, p. 352 (Κύκλα, σημαίνει τοὺς τρόχους· ἔστι ῥῆμα κλῶ, ἐξ οὗ καὶ μονοσύλλαβον ὄνομα κλός· καὶ ἐπειδὴ οὐδὲν εἰς ος ὄνομα λήγει μονοσύλλαβον διπλασιασμὸν ἀναδεξάμενον ἐγένετο κύκλος. ὡς παρὰ τὸ θῶ τὸ θηλάζω θὸς, καὶ ἐπειδὴ οὐκ ἠδύνατο διπλασιασθῆναι ἐγένετο τηθός)

Modern etymology

Old reduplicated derivative of PIE *kwelh1- "to turn", found in most IE languages (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

Yes

Entry By

Eva Ferrer