ἀ- + χέω
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
ἦχος
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
ēkhos
English translation (word)
sound
Transliteration (Etymon)
a- + kheō
English translation (etymon)
very + to pour
Century
9 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Epimerismi in Psalmos p. 144
Ed.
T. Gaisford, Georgii Choerobosci epimerismi in Psalmos, vol. 3, Oxford, 1842
Quotation
Ἦχος παρὰ τὸ χέω, μετὰ τοῦ ἐπιτατικοῦ Α, ἄχος, καὶ τροπῇ τοῦ Α εἰς Η, ἦχος
Translation (En)
Ēkhos ("sound"), from kheō ("to pour"), with the intensive a-, *akhos, and through change of the [a] into [ē], ēkhos
Parallels
Choeroboscus, ibid., p. 110 (Ἦχοι παρὰ τὸ χέω καὶ τοῦ ἐπιτατικοῦ Α ἀχέω ἄχος καὶ ἦχος); Etym. Gudianum, eta, p. 252 (Ἦχος, παρὰ τὸ χέω, καὶ μετὰ τοῦ ἐπιτατικοῦ α ἀχέω ἆχος καὶ ἦχος. ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἄχος, ὃ σημαίνει τὸν θόρυβον, τροπῇ τοῦ α εἰς η ἦχος); Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 440 (Ἦχος: Παρὰ τὸ χέω, μετὰ τοῦ ἐπιτατικοῦ α, ἄχος καὶ ἦχος, ἡ εἰς ἀέρα χεομένη φωνή· ἢ παρὰ τὸ αὔω· τὰ γὰρ ξηρὰ ἠχεῖ)
Modern etymology
Within Greek, belongs with ἠχή "sound", ἠχώ "echo", ἰάχω "to shout". Cognate with OEngl. swogan "sound", Lith. svagėti "to sound" (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
Ήχος is still used in Modern Greek to designate: 1. any perceptible sound, 2. each of the eight manners in which the ecclesiastical malodies are sang in Orthodox churches. Ηχο- is a very productive stem in MG and can be traced in compounds as ηχολήπτης
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
The sound is compared to a liquid poured into the air and spreading. This implies the passive meaning of χέω, although the form is quoted in the active. The only phoneme left from χέω is in fact the χ. The etymology was probably suggested by the Doric form ἆχος, with a long ᾱ: the initial alpha, allegedly the intensive prefix (a customary explanation for words with initial ἀ-) is then transformed into a η according to a correspondance with which Greek scholars were familiar. The form ἄχος meaning θόρυβος given by the Gudianum (see Parallels) may be simply a mistake for Doric ἆχος