χαράσσω

Validation

No

Last modification

Sat, 02/24/2024 - 12:30

Word-form

χάρμῃ

Transliteration (Word)

kharmē

English translation (word)

battle

Transliteration (Etymon)

kharassō

English translation (etymon)

to sharpen

Author

Scholia in Homerum

Source

idem

Ref.

T Schol. Il. 7.218

Ed.

H. Erbse, Scholia Graeca in Homeri Iliadem (scholia vetera), vols. 1-5, 7, Berlin: De Gruyter, 1:1969; 2:1971; 3:1974; 4:1975; 5:1977; 7:1988

Quotation

χάρμῃ: κατ’ εὐφημισμόν, ἢ παρὰ τὸ κείρω κάρμη, ἢ παρὰ τὸ χαράσσεσθαι τὰ δόρατα.

Translation (En)

Kharmēi "in the battle": by euphemism, or from keirō "to cut", *karmē, or from the fact that the spears are sharpened (kharassesthai)

Comment

Derivational etymology, relying as usual on the fact that the lemma and the etymon have the same initial sequence χαρ-. The battle is etymologized after a characteristic of the weapons used in it

Parallels

Etym. Gudianum, chi, p. 562 (Χάρμη, ἡ μάχη· ἔστι δὲ ὅτε δηλοῖ ἡ λέξις, καὶ τὸ χαίρειν τῇ μάχῃ, παρὰ τὸ χαράσσω· τὴν γὰρ χαρὰν, ὡς φησὶ καὶ Ἀριστίδης· χάρμα λέγεται οὐδετέρως)

Bibliography

The correct etymology has been published by M. Janda, Purpurnes Meer. Sprache und Kultur der homerischen Welt. Innsbruck 2014, p. 131-143. Χάρμη "battle" is the zero grade of the root found in χρεμετίζω "to whinny". Within Greek, other derivatives are χρόμος· ψόφος ποιός. Οἱ δὲ χρεμετισμός “kind of noise; but for others, whinnying” (Hsch., χ 757), χρόμη· φρυαγμός, ὁρμή, θράσος “neighing, impulse, boldness” (Hsch., χ 753), χρόμις, name of a fish, χρόμαδος (γενύων) (Il. 23.688) ‘gnashing’, as well as words meaning ‘to cough’ in the medical vocabulary. The PIE root is *ghrem- ‘to thunder, to rumble’, with cognates in Baltic and Slavic: Lith. grumė́ti ‘to thunder’, OCS grъměti ‘to thunder’, both from *ghr̥m-eh1-, OCS gromъ ‘thunder’, “which formally matches χρόμος” (Beekes, EDG). Other cognates are found in Germanic, Goth. gramjan ‘to get angry’, OHG grim ‘cruel’, gram ‘wrathful’. To quote Beekes, “Germanic has several expressions for anger and grumbling, which must originally have referred to sounds like droning, gnashing the teeth, etc.” and “The same meaning is encountered in Av. graməṇtąm ‘of those who are wrathful to us’.” The original meaning of χάρμη is therefore "battle din" or "war cry, war clamor".

Modern etymology

In spite of all modern dictionaries that repeat this Greek etymology, χάρμη has nothing to to with χαίρω. See the detail in Bibliography (above)

Persistence in Modern Greek

No

Entry By

Le Feuvre