κλάω

Word

Validation

Yes

Word-form

κλαίω

Word-lemma

LSJ

Etymon-lemma

LSJ

Transliteration (Word)

klaiō

English translation (word)

to cry, to lament

Transliteration (Etymon)

klaō

English translation (etymon)

to break

Author

Philoxenus

Century

1 BC

Reference

Fr. 114

Edition

C. Theodoridis, Die Fragmente des Grammatikers Philoxenos [Sammlung griechischer und lateinischer Grammatiker (SGLG) 2] Berlin: De Gruyter, 1976:

Source

Orion

Ref.

Etymologicum, kappa, p. 86

Ed.

F. Sturz, Orionis Thebani etymologicon, Leipzig: Weigel, 1820

Quotation

κλαίω· παρὰ τὸ κλῶ, οὗ παράγωγον κλαίω· κλᾶται γὰρ ἡ τῶν ἀνθρώπων φωνὴ ἐν τῷ τοῦτο πάσχειν. ἢ καὶ ἡ ψυχή ἐστιν ἡ τὸ κλᾶσθαι παρέχουσα.

Translation (En)

Klaiō "to cry" comes from klaō "to break", from which is derived klaiō. Because the human voice is broken when one suffers that, or it is the soul which shows breaking.

Comment

This etymology retains one of the characteristics of the process, after which the process is supposed to be named. This is made possible by the Attic pronunciation κλάω for κλαίω, as Attic has a tendency to eliminate [ai], [oi] in hiatus through loss of the [y] – fact which was well known to grammarians. Thus, κλάω could be analyzed either as the uncontracted form of "to break" or as the first person of "to cry", and no phonetic manipulation was needed. The formulation is redundant, maybe because it was taken from a different notice in which there was another word.

Parallels

Orion, Etymologicum, kappa, p. 86 (idem); Epimerismi homerici ordine alphabetico traditi, kappa 25 (κλαίω (Β 263): γίνεται διχῶς· 1) ἐκ τοῦ κλῶ, τὸ κλάνω· κλᾶται γὰρ ἡ φωνὴ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐν τῷ κλαίειν· 2) καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ κλ⸤ῶ, τοῦ⸥ σημαίνοντος τὸ καλῶ, γίνεται κλαίω· εἰώθασι γὰρ ⸤οἱ ἄνθρωποι⸥ καλεῖν τοὺς ἀποθανόντας ἐν τῷ κλα⸤ίειν καὶ θρηνεῖν⸥); ibid., kappa 45 ([κλαίω (Γ 176): γίνεται διχῶς]. ἐκ τοῦ καλῶ καθ’ ὑπερβιβασμὸν κλάω· εἰώθασι γὰρ οἱ κ[λαίοντες ἀνα]καλεῖν τοὺς τεθνεῶτας. ἢ παρὰ τὸ κλῶ, τὸ [κλάνω]· κλᾶται γὰρ ἡ φωνὴ ἐ[ν] τῷ κλαίειν); Etym. Gudianum, kappa, p. 324 (Κλαίω, κλῶ τὸ κλάνω γίνεται κατὰ παραγωγὴν κλαίω· κλᾶται γὰρ ἡ τῶν ἀνθρώπων φωνή, ἐκ τοῦ κλαίειν, καὶ ἡ ψυχὴ τοῦτο πάσχουσα· ἢ παρὰ τὸ κλῶ τὸ καλῶ γίνεται κλαίω· ἐπικαλοῦνται γὰρ τοὺς ἀποθανόντας οἱ κλαίοντες, οἷον· ὠμωξέν τ’ ἄρ’ ἔπειτα, φίλον τ’ ὀνόμῃνεν ἑταῖρον); ibid., kappa, p. 329 (τὸ κλάνω ἐξ οὗ καὶ τὸ κλαίω, παρὰ τὸ κεκλᾶσθαι τὴν φωνὴν ἐν τῷ κλαίειν); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges p. 516 (Κλῶ: Σημαίνει πέντε· τὸ καλῶ, ἐξ οὗ καὶ κλῆρος· τὸ ἐπαινῶ, ἐξ οὗ καὶ κλεῖ, τὸ ἐπαινεῖ· τὸ κλάνω, ἐξ οὗ καὶ κλαίω· κλῶ, τὸ φωνῶ, ἐξ οὗ καὶ κατὰ παραγωγὴν, κλύω· κλῶ, τὸ ἐμποδίζω, ἐξ οὗ καὶ κλᾶν, τὸ ἐμποδίζειν); ibid. p. 517; Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, kappa, p. 1221 (Κλαίω. τὸ θρηνῶ. κλῶ, τὸ κλαύω. καὶ γίνεται κατὰ παραγωγὴν κλαίω. κλᾶται γὰρ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἡ φωνὴ, καὶ ἡ ψυχὴ τοῦτο πάσχουσα. ἢ παρὰ τὸ καλῶ, κλῶ, κλαίω. ἐπικαλοῦνται γὰρ τοὺς ἀποθανόντας οἱ κλαίοντες); Geneva Schol. Il. 1.37 (τὸ κλῶ σημαίνει τὸ κλάω, ἐξ οὗ καὶ τὸ κλαίω, παρὰ τὸ κλᾶσθαι τὴν φωνὴν)

Modern etymology

Unclear. The root in Greek is *klau-, but no good cognate in IE languages is known (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

Κλαίω is still used in Modern Greek with the meanings: 1. 'to cry out of grief', 2. (esp. in the middle voice) to complain without having serious reasons, 3. 'to mourn, feel sad about something', 4. 'to shed tears in general' (e.g., when peeling onions)

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