δέ

Forms

δέ (dé) (discourse particle)^[1] Elided δ’ before a vowel.^[1] In Mycenaean: da-mo-de, “but the people”.^[2]

Etymology

It is probably from Ancient Greek δή (dḗ), shortened as its meaning weakened and it was said quickly in the sentence, as Leumann proposed.^[2][3][4] Beekes and Wiktionary trace it to a deictic particle, Proto-Indo-European *de, Wiktionary through Proto-Hellenic *dḗ.^[2][1] Brugmann connected it with the ⟨-δε⟩ of ὅδε (hóde) and οἶκόνδε (oíkonde, “homewards”).^[4]

Delbrück identified it with Old Church Slavonic же (že), from *gʷe, but Beekes rules this out because Mycenaean already has it as ⟨-de⟩.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from the Mycenaean tablets on, as in Mycenaean Greek da-mo-de, “but the people”, and in Homer it already links clauses both as “and” and as “but”.^[2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

It is a postpositive particle, usually in second place in its clause, that is both connective and adversative; it answers μέν (mén) and combines with the negatives in οὐδέ (oudé) and μηδέ (mēdé).^[3][6][5] Homer also uses it to open the main clause after a conditional or temporal clause (“apodotic” δέ), a use that remains in Herodotus and Thucydides.^[5][6]

In the New Testament it is one of the commonest particles, marking contrast or plain continuation, often hardly translatable.^[7] It was borrowed into Coptic ⲇⲉ (de), and Wulfila translated it with Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐌽 (þan).^[8][9][1]

It has lasted through the whole history of Greek and survives in written Modern Greek as the learned δε (de), mostly in set pairs such as “on the one hand … on the other”.^[3][10]

Timeline

• Mycenaean period – The tablets have it as ⟨-de⟩.^[2][3]
• Homer – The Iliad uses it to connect and to contrast, and also to introduce the main clause after a condition.^[5][6]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides balances clauses with μέν … δέ.^[5]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it constantly as “but” and “and”.^[7]
• Modern Greek – The learned δε (de) is used in fixed pairs with μεν (men).^[10]

Meanings

Particle

1. (adversative) But, on the other hand, expressing opposition; often after a negative (“not this, but that”).^[5][6]
2. (answering μέν (mén)) On the other hand: “μέν … δέ”, “on the one hand … on the other”.^[5][6][3]
3. (connective) And, linking clauses, words in apposition and items in a list, and marking a transition.^[5][6][7]
4. (causal) With a looser sense of cause than γάρ (gár), “for”.^[5][6]
5. (in questions) And, but: implying a contrast with what was said; τί δέ, “what then?”.^[5][5][6]
6. (apodotic) Then: introducing the main clause after a conditional, temporal or relative clause; also resuming after a parenthesis.^[5][6]

Related words

• δή (dḗ)
• μέν (mén)
• οὐδέ (oudé)
• μηδέ (mēdé)

Usage notes

It normally stands second in its clause, so it often comes between the article and its noun or between a preposition and its case, but it can come third or later.^[5][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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
3. ^ a b c d e f Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
4. ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ a b c 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
8. ^ Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
9. ^ Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki