αὔω

Validation

Yes

Word-form

αὐλή

Transliteration (Word)

aulē

English translation (word)

courtyard

Transliteration (Etymon)

auō

English translation (etymon)

to light a fire

Author

Choeroboscus

Century

9 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

Epimerismi in Psalmos, p. 135

Ed.

T. Gaisford, Georgii Choerobosci epimerismi in Psalmos, vol. 3, Oxford, 1842:

Quotation

αὐλίζω, ἐκ τοῦ αὐλή· τοῦτο παρὰ τὸ αὔω, τὸ λάμπω, αὐὴ καὶ αὐλή

Translation (En)

 Aulizō "to live in the open" comes from aulē "courtyard"; the latter comes from auō "to light a fire", hence *auē and aulē

Comment

The courtyard, which has no roof, is defined as the place where the sunlight shines, as opposed to the interior of the house. Choeroboscus takes αὔω not in the older meaning "to light a fire" (which was possible in the courtyard) but in a more general meaning "to shine". This derivational etymology relies on a basic formal manipulation, the addition of a consonant.

Parallels

Choeroboscus, ibid. p. 150 (Ηὐλίσθην, ἐκ τοῦ αὐλίζω, τοῦτο ἐκ τοῦ αὐλὴ, τοῦτο ἐκ τοῦ αὔω τὸ λάμπω); Etym. Gudianum, eta, p. 251 (idem); Etym. Gudianum, alpha, p. 233 (Αὐλή· παρὰ τὸ αὔω, τὸ λάμπω, αὐή καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ λ αὐλή. ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἄω, τὸ πνέω).

 

Modern etymology

Αὐλή is an old derivative of the PIE root *h2wes- "to spend the night", found in Vedic vásati "he dwells" and in Engl. was. Within Greek, it is connected with the aorist ἄεσα < ἄϝεσα "I spent the night" (Beekes, EDG)

Persistence in Modern Greek

The word is still used in Modern Greek to designate 1. the yard, 2. the court of a king, or the closest persons of an important powerful individual, sometimes meaning 'flatterers'.

Entry By

Le Feuvre