onomatopoeic

Word

Validation

Yes

Last modification

Tue, 06/01/2021 - 15:39

Word-form

ᾄδειν

Word-lemma

LSJ

Etymon-lemma

[a]

Transliteration (Word)

aeidō

English translation (word)

to sing

Transliteration (Etymon)

a

English translation (etymon)

a

Author

Plutarch

Century

1-2 AD

Source

Idem

Ref.

Quaestiones convivales 738b-c

Ed.

G.N. Bernardakis, Plutarch. Moralia. Leipzig, Teubner, 1889 (2)

Quotation

Λαμπρίας γὰρ ὁ ἐμὸς πάππος ἔλεγεν πρώτην φύσει φωνὴν τῶν ἐνάρθρων ἐκφέρεσθαι διὰ τῆς τοῦ ἄλφα δυνάμεως· τὸ γὰρ ἐν τῷ στόματι πνεῦμα ταῖς περὶ τὰ χείλη μάλιστα πλάττεσθαι κινήσεσιν, ὧν πρώτην ἀνοιγομένων τὴν ἄνω διάστασιν οὖσαν ἐξιέναι τοῦτον τὸν ἦχον, ἁπλοῦν ὄντα κομιδῇ καὶ μηδεμιᾶς δεόμενον πραγματείας, μηδὲ τὴν γλῶτταν παρακαλοῦντα μηδ’ ὑπομένοντ’, ἀλλὰ κατὰ χώραν ἀποκειμένης [ἐσκειμένης] ἐκείνης ἐκπεμπόμενον· ᾗ καὶ τὰ νήπια ταύτην πρώτην ἀφιέναι φωνήν, ὠνομάσθαι <δὲ> καὶ τὸ ‘ἀίειν’ ἐπὶ τῷ φωνῆς αἰσθάνεσθαι καὶ πολλὰ τῶν ὁμοίων, ὥσπερ καὶ τὸ ‘ᾄδειν’ καὶ <τὸ> ‘αὐλεῖν’ καὶ τὸ ‘ἀλαλάζειν’· οἶμαι δὲ καὶ τὸ ‘αἴρειν’ καὶ τὸ ‘ἀνοίγειν’ οὐκ ἀπὸ τρόπου τῇ τῶν χειλῶν ἀνοίξει καὶ ἄρσει, καθ’ ἣν οὗτος ἐκπίπτει τοῦ στόματος ὁ φθόγγος, ὠνομάσθαι.

Translation (En)

For Lamprias my grandfather said, that the first articulate sound that is made is Alpha; for the air in the mouth is formed and fashioned by the motion of the lips; now as soon as those are opened, that sound breaks forth, being very plain and simple, not requiring or depending upon the motion of the tongue, but gently breathed forth whilst that lies still. Therefore that is the first sound that children make. Thus ἀίειν, to hear, ᾁδειν, to sing, αὐλεῖν, to pipe, ἀλαλάζειν, to hollow, begin with the letter Alpha; and I think that αἴρειν, to lift up, and ἀνοίγειν, to open, were fitly taken from that opening and lifting up of the lips when his voice is uttered (transl. Goodwin) 

Comment

Onomatopoeic etymology: to sing is to produce [aaaa], the basic vowel. This etymology starts from the Attic contracted form ᾄδω, usual in koine Greek, not from the old uncontracted one ἀείδω, which would make it more difficult

Parallels

There is no parallel

Modern etymology

The most likely etymology, despite Beekes' skepticism, reconstructs a reduplicated present from root *h2ued- "to speak", found in αὐδή "voice" and in Ved. vádati "to speak"

Persistence in Modern Greek

MG still has ωδή "ode" (< ᾠδή < ἀοιδή) but the verb is lost

Entry By

Le Feuvre
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