βάλλω

Validation

Yes

Word-form

βραχύς

Transliteration (Word)

brakhus

English translation (word)

short

Transliteration (Etymon)

ballō

English translation (etymon)

to hit, to throw

Author

Heraclides Ponticus the Younger

Century

1 AD

Source

Etym. Genuinum

Ref.

Etym. Genuinum beta 243

Ed.

F. Lasserre and N. Livadaras, Etymologicum magnum genuinum. Symeonis etymologicum una cum magna grammatica. Etymologicum magnum auctum, vol. 1, Rome: Ateneo, 1976

Quotation

Βραχύς· κατὰ τροπὴν τοῦ λ εἰς ρ· παρὰ γὰρ τὸ ἀποβεβλῆσθαι μέρος καὶ ἐλάσσονα γενέσθαι εἴρηται. οὕτως Ἡρακλείδης, ὥς φησιν Ὠρίων

Translation (En)

Brakhus "short": through a change of [l] into [r]; it is so named from the fact that a part of ‹the object› is thrown away (apobeblēsthai) and it becomes smaller. This is what Heraclides says, according to Orion

Comment

From the semantic point of view, the etymology is possible because βάλλω is understood as equivalent to ἀποβάλλω "to throw away" – as a matter of fact, βάλλω can also mean "to drop" with the same meaning as ἀποβάλλω. Shortness is conceived as a loss, an alteration from a state of completion. The etymology implies a usual phonetic manipulation, the alteration of [l] into [r], which relies on the observable cases of liquid dissimilation in Greek. Nothing is said about the χ, which by any account cannot come from βάλλω

Parallels

Etym. Gudianum, beta, p. 286 (Βραχύ<ς>· κατὰ τὴν τοῦ ρ πρὸς τὸ λ κοινωνίαν παρὰ τὸ ἀποβεβλῆσθαι μέρος καὶ ἔλασσον γίνεσθαι. οὕτως Ἡρακλείδης); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 211 ( Βραχύς: Κατὰ τροπὴν τοῦ λ εἰς ρ. Παρὰ γὰρ τὸ ἀποβεβλῆσθαι μέρος καὶ ἐλάσσονα γενέσθαι εἴρηται. Οὕτως Ἡρακλείδης, ὥς φησιν Ὦρος); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, beta, p. 404 (Βραχύς. κατὰ τροπὴν τοῦ λ εἰς τὸ ρ· παρὰ γὰρ τὸ ἀποβεβλῆσθαι μέρος καὶ ἐλάσσονα γενέσθαι)

Modern etymology

Βραχύς is an old adjective inherited from PIE *mr̥ghu- "short", also found in Lat. brevis, Av. mǝrǝzu- (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

Yes

Entry By

Le Feuvre