ἀλέγω

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No

Last modification

Sun, 07/23/2023 - 13:35

Word-form

ὦλκα, ἄλοκα, ἄλοξ, ὦλξ

Transliteration (Word)

alox

English translation (word)

furrow

Transliteration (Etymon)

alegō

English translation (etymon)

to care for

Author

Eustathius of Thessalonica

Century

12 AD

Source

idem

Ref.

Comm. Il., vol. 3, p. 542

Ed.

M. van der Valk, Eustathii archiepiscopi Thessalonicensis commentarii ad Homeri Iliadem pertinentes, vol. 3, Leiden: Brill, 3:1979

Quotation

Τὸ δὲ «ὦλκα» ἐκ τοῦ ἄλοκα γίνεται κατὰ μετάθεσιν, εἶτα καὶ κρᾶσιν τοῦ α καὶ ο εἰς ω μέγα. εὐθεῖα δὲ αὐτοῦ ἀπαθὴς ἡ ἄλοξ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀλέγειν, ὅ ἐστι φροντίζειν, γινομένη. φροντὶς γὰρ γῆς καὶ μάλιστα τοῖς γεωπείναις. Δῆλον δ’ ὡς ἡ ἄλοξ μεταθετικῶς κραθεῖσα εἰς τὸ ὦλξ περισπᾶται ἀναγκαίως διὰ τὴν τῆς ὀξείας καὶ βαρείας εἰς περίκλασμα σύνοδον. χρῆσις δὲ αὐτῆς καὶ ἐν Ὀδυσσείᾳ.

Translation (En)

Ōlkafurrow” comes from aloka by transposing the letters, then combining the /a/ and /o/ into an omega. Its nominative form alox  comes without any change (pathos) from alegein which means to care for. Because those who are poor in land worry the most about land. It is clear that alox becoming ōlx by transposition and combination is necessarily written with a circumflex accent because the contraction of the acute and grave accents makes a circumflex accent. This word is also used in the Odyssey.

Other translation(s)

Ōlka « sillon » vient de aloka en transposant les lettres puis en combinant le /a/ et le /o/ en un omega. Sa forme de nominatif alox vient sans changement (pathos) de alegein qui signifie « se soucier de ». Parce que ceux qui sont pauvres en terres se soucient le plus de la terre. Il est clair que alox, en devenant ōlx par transposition et combinaison, a forcément un accent circomflexe puisque la contraction des accents aigu et grave donne un accent circomflexe. Le terme est aussi employé dans l’Odyssée

Comment

Eustathius, Comm. Od., vol. 2, p. 186 (Ὦλξ δὲ ἡ αὖλαξ, ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀλέγω, τὸ λόγον ποιοῦμαι καὶ φροντίζω, ἀλέξω, ἄλοξ, καὶ μεταθέσει ἄολξ, καὶ ἐν συναιρέσει ὦλξ, ἡ ἐν λόγῳ δηλαδὴ οὖσα. Διηνεκὴς δὲ ὦλξ ἡ διόλου ἐνηνεγμένη μία καὶ κοιλανθεῖσα μιᾷ μακρᾷ τομῇ)

Parallels

There is no parallel

Modern etymology

Probably a variant of αὖλαξ < *ἀϝλ(α)κ-, cf. the o grade in Hom ὦλκα (Acc.) < ἀϝολκ- but the detail remains unclear (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

MG still has αυλάκι but no longer ἄλοξ

Entry By

Eva Ferrer