ἐρέω
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
Τὸ δὲ ἐρέων καὶ τὸ αὐτοῦ θέμα πρωτότυπά εἰσι τοῦ ἐρευνῶ καὶ ἐρευνῶν. Παραγωγὴ δὲ αὐτῶν κατὰ τὸ ἱκνῶ καὶ οἰχνῶ. Ὡς γὰρ ἵκω ἱκνῶ, οἴχω οἰχνῶ, οὕτω ἐρέω ἐρεύω, καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ ν Δωρικῶς ἐρευνῶ κατὰ χρῆσιν κοινήν. ἄλλως γὰρ κατὰ Ἡρακλείδην βαρύνεσθαι ὤφειλεν, οὐ μόνον διότι Αἰολικόν, φησί, τὸ ἐρεύω, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅτι πάντα τὰ πλεονάσαντα τῷ νυ ὁμοτονεῖ τοῖς πρωτοτύποις, οἷον ἐλάω ἐλαύω Αἰολικῶς, καὶ ἐλαύνω κατὰ Δωριεῖς, θύω θύνω, δύω δύνω.
Translation (En)
The word ereōn "to ask" and its theme are the prototypes of ereunaō "to seek" and ereunôn. It is a derivative like hiknô and oikhnô: as hikō hiknô "to arrive", oikhō oikhnô "to leave", so ereō ereuô, and by addition of /n/ in Doric, ereunô in the common use. Besides, according to Heraclides, it should be barytone, not only because, he says, *ereuō is Aeolic, but also because all the words adding an /n/ have the same accent as their prototype, as in elaō, Aeolic *elauō and Doric elaunō "to pull", thuō, thunō "to rush", duō, dunō "to dive"
Parallels
Choeroboscus, Epimerismi in Psalmos, p. 175 (ἐξερευνήσατο, ἐξερευνῶ γίνεται παρὰ τὴν ἐρεύναν, τοῦτο παρὰ τὸ ἐρῶ, τὸ ἐρεύνω. Καὶ Ὅμηρος, ‘τὰς ἐρέων Ὀδυσσῆϊ συνήντετο’, ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἐρῶ τὸ ἐρωτῶ, καὶ τὸ εὐνὴ, ὃ σημαίνει τὴν διατριβὴν, ὁ γὰρ ἐρευνῶν ἐπὶ πολὺ ἐρωτῶν ἐνδιατρίβει); Etym. Parvum, epsilon 16 (Epim. Ἔρευνα· παρὰ τὸ ἐρῶ ἐρέσω, καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἐρε<ύ>ω, καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ Ν ἐρευνῶ, καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἔρευνα); Etym. Gudianum, epsilon, p. 520 (Ἔρευνα· ... ἐρεύω, καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἐρευῶ, καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ ν ἐρευνῶ, καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἔρευνα); ibid., p. 520 (Ἐρευνῶ· ἐκ τοῦ ἐρέω, τὸ ζητῶ, ἐρευνῶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ υ καὶ ν· πέφυκε δὲ τὸ ν πλεονάζειν ἐν τοῖς ῥήμασιν· ἐξ οὗ καὶ ἔρευνα, ἡ ζήτησις); Etym. Gudianum Additamenta, epsilon, p. 486 (Ἐξερευνησάτω <Ps. 108, 11>· τὸ θέμα ἐξερευνῶ· <γίνεται παρὰ τὴν ἔρευναν· τοῦτο παρὰ τὸ ἐρῶ, τὸ ἐρευνῶ>, ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἐρῶ, τὸ ἐρωτῶ, καὶ τὸ εὐνή, ὃ σημαίνει τὴν διατριβήν· καὶ γὰρ ὁ ἐρευνῶν ἐπὶ πολὺ ἐρωτῶν ἐνδιατρίβει); Eustathius, Comm. Od., vol. 1, p. 168 (ἢ μᾶλλον ἀντὶ τοῦ, ἐξερευνᾷ. πρωτότυπον γὰρ τὸ ἐρέειν, τοῦ ἐρευνᾶν. ἔστι γὰρ ἐρέω, ἐξ οὗ κατ’ ἐπένθεσιν, ἐρεύω ὡς χέω χεύω. ἀφ’ οὗ τὸ ἐρευνῶ. ὡς οἴχω οἰχνῶ ἵκω ἱκνῶ); ibid., vol. 2, p. 248 (Τὸ δὲ ἐρέων ἔστι μὲν ποιητικὴ λέξις. ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ δὲ γίνεται τὸ ἐρευνᾶν ἐπενθέσει τοῦ υ καὶ τοῦ ν, ὁποίῳ τρόπῳ καὶ τὸ ἐλαύνειν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐλάειν γίνεται. ); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 371 (Ἐρευνῶ: Ἐκ τοῦ ἐρέω, τὸ ζητῶ, πλεονασμῷ τοῦ υ καὶ ν· ἐξ οὗ καὶ ἔρευνα ἡ ζήτησις); ibid., p. 372 (Ἐρέω: Σημαίνει δύο· βαρυτόνως μὲν, τὸ ἀπαγγέλλω· ‘Ἀλλ’ ἔκ τοι ἐρέω’. Περισπωμένως δὲ, ἐρεῶ τὸ ἐρευνῶ καὶ ἀναζητῶ) [not explicit; I assume that the compiler assumes a derivational relationship between ἐρευνῶ and ἐρεῶ, mentioned elsewhere]
Comment
Derivational etymology involving two modifications, attributed to different dialects. The original form is assumed to be the Homeric form ἐρέω, from which an Aeolic form *ἐρεύω is derived, which then becomes ἐρευνῶ in Doric. The addition of /u/ in Aeolic relies on well known cases like ναυός "temple" (Att. νεώς, Dor. ναός), αὔως "dawn" (Att. ἑώς, Dor. ἁώς). The "Aeolic" form thus obtained is a ghost-form that only serves as an intermediate step in the derivation of the real form, ἐρευνῶ. Heraclides believed that the verb should be a regular -o- verb like λέγω and no a vocalic verb like τιμάω, because of this derivation. From the semantic point of view, lemma and etymon are synonymous and the derivation is straightforward. The relationship between ἐρευνάω and the noun ἔρευνα varies: in the Gudianum, the noun is clearly derived from the verb. In Choeroboscus' formulation, it seems that the noun comes first.