ἀνάσσω
Word
Validation
Word-form
Word-lemma
Etymon-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
Source
Ref.
Ed.
Quotation
τὸ δὲ ἀνάγκη εἰ ἦν ἀπὸ ῥήματος τοῦ ἀνάσσω, ὀξύνοιτο ἂν ὡς στενάχω στεναχή
Translation (En)
If anankē "necessity" were derived from the verb anassō "to be lord of", it would have an oxytone stress as stenakhē "moaning"
Parallels
Orion, Etymologicum, alpha, p. 14 (Ἀνάγκη· ἀνάσσω, ἀνάξω· ἀνάγκη πλεονασμῷ τοῦ γ); Etym. Gudianum, alpha, p. 129 (Ἀνάγκη· ἡ θεός. παρὰ τὸ ἀνάσσω, [καὶ] τὸ κρατῶ, ἀνάγκη· πάντων γὰρ ἐπικρατεῖ. ‖ εἰ δὲ ἦν ἀπὸ ῥήματος, ὠξύνετο ἄν, ὡς στενάχω στεναχή. ‖ ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἀνάσσω ἀνάγκη, ἡ πάντων κρατοῦσα); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 95 (Ἀνάγκη: Ἡ θεὸς, παρὰ τὸ ἀνάσσω. Καὶ τὸ πρᾶγμα ἀνάγκη· πάντων γὰρ ἐπικρατεῖ. Εἰ δὲ ἦν ἐπίρρημα, ὀξύνετο ἂν, ὡς στενάχω, στεναχή. Παρὰ τὸ ἄγω οὖν, ἄγη· καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ κ ἀνάγκη, ἡ πάντα κρατοῦσα. Ἢ ἀγκὰς, ἀγκὴ καὶ ἀνάγκη· ἐπειδὴ τὸ ταῖς ἀγκάλαις κρατούμενον κατὰ δύναμιν ἀφυκτότερον κρατεῖται. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἄκος, πρὸς ἣν ἄκος οὐκ ἔστιν εὑρεῖν); Etym. Gudianum Additamenta, alpha, p. 129 (Ἀνάγκη· πλε⟦ονασμὸς τοῦ γ· [ἀγνάσσω] ἀνάσσω ἀνάξω ἀνάκη καὶ⟧ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ γ ἀνάγκη, ἡ πάντων ἀνάσσουσα ⟦καὶ κρατοῦσα⟧); Etym. Symeonis, vol. 1, p. 22 (ἀνάγκη· παρὰ τὸ ἄγω ἄγη, καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ κ <ἄγκη καὶ μετὰ τῆς ἀνά> ἀνάγκη. ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἀνάσσω, ἡ πάντων ἀνάσσουσα); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, alpha, p. 178 (ἀνάγκη· παρὰ τὸ ἄγω ἄγη, καὶ πλεονασμῷ τοῦ κ ἀνάγκη. ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἀνάσσω, ἡ πάντων ἀνάσσουσα)
Comment
The most detailed version of the etymology is found in Orion. Ἀνάγκη is derived from the verb ἀνάσσω, via the future ἀνάξω which provides the [k], not seen in the present stem ἀνάσσω (Orion, see Parallels). Herodian's objection to this derivation, based on the position of stress, is repeated in the Gudianum, out of place since the Gudianum gives ἀνάσσω as the etymon. The etymology implies a formal manipulation, the insertion of a letter: the formulation of Orion shows how Greek etymologists worked, reasoning on letters and not on sounds, since the letter γ in that case is only a graphic device for the notation of the velar nasal [ŋ], and was never pronounced [g]. The phonological level and the graphic one were not distinguished, and Greek scholars started from the written form of the words. From the semantic point of view, relating the name of constraint to the verb meaning "to rule" or to the noun "lord, master" amounts to the same thing: this is a matter of derivational morphology, not of etymology. Necessity is understood as the constraint exerted by a master.