ἄημι + εἰλέω
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
ἀέλλης
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
aella
English translation (word)
whirlwind
Transliteration (Etymon)
aēmi + eileō
English translation (etymon)
to blow + to turn round
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
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
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