ἀλέγω
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
Ἔπαλξις: […] ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀλεξῶ ῥήματος περισπωμένου· τοῦτο παρὰ τὸ ἀλέγω ἀλέξω, καὶ μετάγεται ὁ μέλλων εἰς ἐνεστῶτα μετὰ περισπωμένου τόνου καὶ γίνεται ἀλεξῶ
Translation (En)
Epalxis "defense": […] from alexô "I ward off", which is a verb with circumflex tone. The latter is from alegō "I care for", hence alexō, and the future tense is transposed into a present tense with a circumflex tone and becomes alexô
Parallels
Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 59 (Μεθόδιος. Παρὰ τὸ ἀλέγω ἀλέξω· καὶ μετάγεται ὁ μέλλων εἰς ἐνεστῶτα); Etym. Gudianum Additamenta, alpha, p. 84 (ἐκ τοῦ ἀλέγω, τὸ βοηθῶ· ἀλεξήσω ὁ μέλλων); Eustathius, Comm. Od. 2, 186 (ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀλεξῶ ῥήματος περισπωμένου· τοῦτο παρὰ τὸ ἀλέγω, ἀλέξω, καὶ μετάγεται ὁ μέλλων εἰς ἐνεστῶτα μετὰ περισπωμένου τόνου καὶ γίνεται ἀλεξῶ); Lexicon αἱμωδεῖν, epsilon 27 (idem).
Comment
This etymology relies on the phonetic similarity between two verbs, and understands implicitly the derived form (ἀλέξω) as the consequence of the base form (ἀλέγω): one defends those for whom one cares. There is an interesting point here in grammatical theory, with the indication that the word is morphologically a future, and that this future came to be used as a present: the case of εἶμι, present used as a future in Attic, may have provided a model for this tense switch. This goes supposedly with a change of accent: a contract ἀλεξῶ would be of the Doric type (the form is not contract in Attic).