ἀλεγεινός
Word
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Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
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Ed.
Quotation
ἐνταῦθα καὶ τὸ ἤλυθον ἐντελές, οἷον «οὐ γὰρ ἐγὼ Τρώων ἕνεκ’ ἤλυθον», οὗ συγκεκομμένον τὸ ἦλθον κατὰ τὸ «ὃ γὰρ ἦλθε θοὰς ἐπὶ νῆας». οὕτω καὶ ἁπλοῦν μὲν τὸ ἀλεγεινόν, συγκέκοπται δὲ τὸ ἀλγεινόν, ὡς καὶ τὸ ἄλγος.]
Translation (En)
Here the full form ēluthon, as in ‘ou gar egō Trōōn enek' ēluthon’ (‘I for one did not come because of the Trojans’, Il. 1.152), from which ēlthon is syncopated, in the ‘ho gar ēlthe those epi nēas’ (‘for he came to the swift ships’, Il. 1.12). So, too, the true form is alegeinon "painful", and algeinon "painful" is syncopated, as is algos "pain"
Bibliography
On the detail of the semantic and formal evolution of ἀλέγω, ἄλγος, -ηλεγής in Greek, see Claire Le Feuvre, Ὅμηρος δύσγνωστος. Réinterprétations de termes homériques à date archaïque et classique. Geneva, Droz, 2015. Pp. 203–254 [however, the Germanic comparanda mentioned are probably not related]. Ἀλεγεινός is derived from an old noun *ἄλεγος, preserved in compounds in -ηλεγής (Homer). This *ἄλεγος "pain" matches the verb ἀλέγω which originally means "to suffer". Later one, but in pre-Homeric times, *ἄλεγος was remodeled into ἄλγος, and consequently, its derivative ἀλεγεινός was remodeled into ἀλγεινός. The verb "to suffer" was replaced by the new verb ἀλγέω, derived from ἄλγος, and the old ἀλέγω, left alone, was specialized in the negative phrase οὐκ ἀλέγω "I don't care" (originally "I don't suffer, it does not hurt"), with a secondary evolved meaning.
Comment
Derivational etymology. The problem of the relationship between the Homeric form ἀλεγεινός and the Ionic form ἀλγεινός was solved either by assuming that the latter was syncopated from the former (Eustathius), or that the former was derived from the latter by the insertion of /e/. The problem is merely formal, since both adjectives have the same meaning. Those who derive ἀλγεινός from ἀλεγεινός, as Eustathius does, derive ἀλεγεινός from the verb ἀλέγω. Eustathius does not mention it in this passage, but this appears from other sources (see ἀλεγεινός / ἀλέγω). Historically speaking, the older for is ἀλεγεινός. However, ἀλγεινός is not syncopated but remodeled after ἄλγος.