ἀρθρόω
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
Πόθεν ἄρθρον; Ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄρω, ὃ δηλοῖ τὸ ἁρμόζω, ἁρμόζεται γὰρ τοῖς πτωτικοῖς ὀνόμασι, μετοχαῖς τε καὶ ἀντωνυμίαις καὶ οὐδέποτε χωρὶς αὐτῶν εὑρίσκεται. —Ἄλλως. Πόθεν ἄρθρον; Ἀπὸ τοῦ διαρθροῦν ἀναφορικῶς τὴν προϋποκειμένην γνῶσιν, προτασσόμενον καὶ ὑποτασσόμενον· καὶ ἔστι προτακτικὸν μὲν ὁ, ὑποτακτικὸν δὲ ὅς. —Πόθεν ἐτυμολογεῖται ἄρθρον; Ἀπὸ τοῦ συναρτᾶσθαι τοῖς ὀνόμασι καὶ ταῖς πτώσεσι καὶ μηδέποτε δίχα αὐτῶν εὑρίσκεσθαι.
Translation (En)
Where does arthron "article" come from? From *arō, which means "to fit", because it fits the inflected nouns, participles and pronouns and is never found without them. – Other. Where does arthron come from? From the fact it fastens by a joint (diarthroun) by anaphora the previous knowledge, being preposed or postposed. And the prepositive article is ho, the postpositive article, hos. – Other. What is the etymology of arthron? <It comes> from the fact it is attached (sunartāsthai) to the nouns and the cases and can never be found without them
Parallels
Etym. Magnum Kallierges, p. 141 (Ἄρθρον καὶ τὸ προταττόμενον τῶν πτώσεων· ἐκ τοῦ συναρτᾶσθαι τοῖς πτωτικοῖς, καὶ μηδέποτε δίχα αὐτῶν εὑρίσκεσθαι. Ὥσπερ γὰρ τὰ ἄρθρα διορίζειν φασὶν αὐτά τε καὶ τὰ παρακείμενα αὐτοῖς, οὕτως καὶ ταῦτα χωρίζει τὰς διαφορὰς τῶν πραγμάτων διάρθρωσιν ἐμφαίνοντα); Commentaria in Dionysii Thracis Artem grammatical, Scholia Londinensia, p. 560 (Εἴρηται ἄρθρον παρὰ τὸ ἀρθροῦν)
Bibliography
For the name of the article in Greek grammarians, see J. Lallot, La grammaire de Denys le Thrace. Traduction annotée. Paris, Editions du CNRS, 1989. Pp. 189-190.
Comment
Derivational etymology, meant to explain the function of the article in syntax. This is not the etymology of ἄρθρον "joint", but of ἄρθρον "article" (gramm.). The noun is not properly speaking derived from the denominative verb (although in some cases Greek etymologists could assume such a derivation), but its technical meaning is justified by its function. The etymology by άρτάω, mentioned afterwards, is descriptive: the article is never found alone, it is always attached to a noun. This etymology by ἀρθρόω is functional