ἄημι + εἰλέω

Validation

Yes

Word-form

ἀέλλης

Transliteration (Word)

aella

English translation (word)

whirlwind

Transliteration (Etymon)

aēmi + eileō

English translation (etymon)

to blow + to turn round

Author

Porphyrius

Century

3 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

Quaestionum Homericarum liber I, section 12

Ed.

A.R. Sodano, Porphyrii quaestionum Homericarum liber I, Naples: Giannini, 1970

Quotation

αἰόλον […] γενόμενον ἀπὸ τῆς ἀέλλης, ἥτις ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄειν καὶ εἱλεῖν πεποίηται, ὡς αὐτὸ⸢ς⸣ ἐξηγήσατο εἰπών· «ὅν περ ἄελλαι / χειμέριαι εἰλέωσιν» (Il. 2.293-294), ἤτοι εἱλῶσιν

Translation (En)

aiolos […] being derived from aella ("whirlwind"), which is composed of aein ("to blow") and eilein ("to turn round"), as Homer himself explained when he said "hon per aellai | kheimeriai eileōsin" (Il. 2.293-294) "which the winter whirlwinds turn round", that is, turn round

Comment

This is a contextual etymology, deduced from the collocation of ἄελλα and εἰλέω in the same sentence,  the noun being the subject of the verb in Il. 2.293-294. As it was customary for Greek scholars to assume that a syntagmatic relationship is the sign of an etymological relationship, εἰλέω was assumed as the etymon of ἄελλα. The first element of the compound is assumed to be the verb ἄημι "to blow", which is also assumed as the etymon in the derivational etymology see ἄελλα / ἄημι. The end of the word, left unexplained in the derivational etymology, receives here a motivation. It is not surprising that Porphyry, a Neo-platonist philosopher, invokes a compositional etymology in the Cratylean fashion

Parallels

Suda, iota 253 (Αἰόλος: εὐκίνητος, ποικίλος. ἢ ταχύς· παρὰ τὴν ἄελλαν, ἥτις ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄειν καὶ εἱλεῖν)

Modern etymology

Cognate with Welsh awel "wind", which implies a reconstruction *h2ew-(e)l- (Beekes, EDG). Probably ultimately from root *h2weh1- "to blow" found in ἄϝημι

Persistence in Modern Greek

No

Entry By

Le Feuvre