Etymologically
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δείκνυμι

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Pronunciation

  • 5th-century BC Attic: /děː.knyː.mi/[1]
  • 4th-century AD Koine: /ˈði.kny.mi/[1]
  • 10th-century Byzantine: /ˈði.kny.mi/[1]

Forms

δείκνῡμῐ (deíknūmi) [1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *deiknéumi, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- (“to show, point out”), with the present suffix -νυμι (-numi).[1][2] Apart from the Cretan present δίκνυμι (díknumi) and the noun δίκη (díkē), this nasal present with a secondary full grade ousted all the other ablaut forms of the root in Greek.[2] Chantraine considers the sigmatic aorist ἔδειξα (édeixa) old, matching the perfect Latin dīxī, while the nasal present belongs to a productive type and must be an innovation.[3] Ionic had δέκνυμι (déknumi), whose vowel Chantraine and the sources he cites leave unexplained.[3][4]

Outside Greek the root makes thematic presents: the Latin verb, which means “to say”, Sanskrit दिशति (diśáti, “to show, point out”) and Old High German zīhan (“to accuse”).[2][3] Wiktionary adds Old English tǣċan (“to show, teach”), the ancestor of English teach.[1] Beekes, following Kloekhorst, rejects a link with the Hittite verb for “to show”.[2] A Mycenaean participle Mycenaean Greek de-di-ku-ja on a Knossos tablet may belong here, but it can also be read as a form of διδάσκω (didáskō).[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer it means to show or display something to others: the Iliad speaks of a sign shown to mortals (13.244), and the word is also used for pointing out a person or a place.[7][8] The middle, in the perfect and pluperfect, means to greet or welcome someone (Iliad 4.4, 9.224).[7][8]

Semantic evolution

From showing something to the eyes, classical Greek extended the verb to displaying a quality such as good faith or courage, and then to showing something to the mind: to make clear, explain and prove that something is the case.[8][4] Pindar and Euripides use it for teaching someone to do something, and in Sophocles, Thucydides and Aristophanes the future can mean “it will become clear”.[8]

Many of its derivatives became technical words: δεῖγμα (deîgma, “sample”), παράδειγμα (parádeigma, “pattern, example”) and the compound ἀποδείκνυμι (apodeíknumi, “to point out, prove”).[9][2] Already in Hesiod, Herodotus and the orators the thematic present δεικνύω (deiknúō) appears beside δείκνυμι, as often with verbs in -νυμι.[3][4] In the Septuagint and the New Testament it is used of showing things to the senses and of explaining or proving.[10][11]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for showing and pointing out, and the middle for greeting.[7][4]
  • Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod has the thematic present δεικνύω.[4][3][6]
  • 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it for teaching someone to do something.[8][6]
  • 5th century BC – Thucydides and Antiphon use it of showing goodwill and zeal.[8][9]
  • 5th century BC – Herodotus uses the Ionic form δέκνυμι.[4][3][6]
  • 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for making something known by showing it.[10]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To show, make visible, display something to someone.[8][4]
  2. To point out, indicate a person or a place.[8][7]
  3. To show a quality or behaviour; to manifest.[8]
  4. To make clear, explain, prove that something is so.[8][4]
  5. To teach, instruct someone to do something.[8]
  6. In the future, intransitive: to make the point clear; impersonal, “it will be evident”.[8]
  7. (middle, epic) To greet, welcome someone; to drink to someone.[8][7]

Word family

  • ἀναπόδεικτος (anapódeiktos)
  • ἀριδείκετος (arideíketos)
  • δακτυλοδεικτέω (daktulodeiktéō)
  • δεῖγμα (deîgma)
  • δειγματίζω (deigmatízō)
  • δείκηλον (deíkēlon)
  • δεικτικός (deiktikós)
  • ἐπίδειγμα (epídeigma)
  • παράδειγμα (parádeigma)
  • παραδειγματίζω (paradeigmatízō)
  • ὑπόδειγμα (hupódeigma)
  • ἀποδείκνυμι (apodeíknūmi)
  • ἐπιδείκνυμι (epideíknumi)
  • δεῖξις (deîxis)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e 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 d e f g h Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Микенско-русский словарь (Mycenaean–Russian dictionary)
  6. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
  7. ^ a b c d e Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  9. ^ a b Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Βασικό Λεξικό της Αρχαίας Ελληνικής, Portal for the Greek Language, https://www.greek-language.gr
  10. ^ 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
  11. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft