Etymologically
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γράφω

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /ɡrá.pʰɔː/[1]
  • IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈɣra.ɸo/[1]
  • IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈɣra.fo/[1]

Forms

γρᾰ́φω (gráphō) [1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *grə́pʰō, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *gr̥bʰ-é-ti, from *gerbʰ- (“to scratch, carve”).[1][2] The LIV classes it, with Old English ċeorfan (“to cut, carve”), as a root present.[2] Greek levelled the root to its zero grade early; only the mainly Doric forms γροφά (grophá) and the Melian present γρόφω (gróphō) keep an /o/ that may be an old full grade.[3][4]

Cognate with Old Church Slavonic жрѣбии (žrěbii, “lot”), perhaps originally a notched stick.[3] The development from “scratch” to “write” is common: Latin scrībō and many other Indo-European verbs for writing began the same way.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses only the aorist, meaning to scratch or graze: a spear-point grazed a man to the bone (Iliad 17.599).[6][7] In Iliad 6.169 it is used of signs marked on a folded tablet.[6]

Semantic evolution

From the 6th century BC it means to draw or paint: Hipponax and Herodotus use it of figures, and Herodotus of maps of the world.[7][6] Writing and inscribing letters became its main sense from Herodotus on.[7] At Athens it was used for proposing a decree in writing, and the middle γράφομαι (gráphomai) meant to indict someone.[6][7][1] Mathematicians used it for drawing a figure.[6]

The New Testament uses it for writing in all its forms.[8] Medieval Greek kept the senses to write, to carve an inscription and to paint.[9] In Modern Greek γράφω also means to be a writer, to bequeath property in a will, and is said of a pen that writes well.[5][10]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad uses the aorist for grazing with a spear and for marking signs.[6]
  • 6th century BC – Hipponax uses it for painting.[7][11]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for drawing maps and for writing.[7][6][11]
  • 4th–3rd century BC – Euclid uses it for describing a figure.[6][11]
  • 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for writing.[8]
  • Modern Greek – γράφω still means to write.[10]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To scratch, graze.[6][7]
  2. To draw, paint, represent by lines.[6][7]
  3. To write, inscribe.[6][7]
  4. To propose (a law or decree) in writing.[6][7]
  5. (middle) To indict, prosecute.[7][1]
  6. (mathematics) To describe a figure.[6]

Word family

  • ἀναγράφω (anagráphō)
  • ἀντεγγράφω (antengráphō)
  • ἀντεπιγράφω (antepigráphō)
  • ἀντιγράφω (antigráphō)
  • ἀπογράφω (apográphō)
  • γράμμα (grámma)
  • γραμματεῖον (grammateîon)
  • γραμματικός (grammatikós)
  • γραμμή (grammḗ)
  • γραφεύς (grapheús)
  • γραφή (graphḗ)
  • διαγράφω (diagráphō)
  • ἐγγράφω (engráphō)
  • εἰσγράφω (eisgráphō)
  • English carve

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
  3. ^ a b Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  4. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  8. ^ a b Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
  9. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
  10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
  11. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge