διαλέγομαι

Forms

δῐᾰλέγομαι (dialégomai) ^[1] Future διαλέξομαι, also διαλεχθήσομαι; aorist διελεξάμην (Homer), usually the passive form διελέχθην (Herodotus, Attic inscriptions), less often διελέγην; perfect διείλεγμαι.^[2][3] Aeolic imperative ζάλεξαι (zálexai) in Sappho.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek δια- (dia-) + λέγω (légō).^[1][4] Wiktionary and Cunliffe take the second part in the sense “to say”,^[1][4] while Babiniotis starts from its older sense “to gather”, which the active διαλέγω (dialégō, “to pick out, select”) keeps, the middle “to converse” being already ancient.^[5] Beekes notes that the simple verb meant “to collect, gather” and “to count, recount” in Homer and “to say” only later, and that Attic prose uses it in the old sense only with prefixes.^[6]

λέγω (légō) continues Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- (“to collect”), and its present is identical with Latin legō (“to gather; to read”); Albanian mb-ledh (“to collect”) shows that the root ended in a palatal.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer has only the aorist, in a recurring line of the Iliad in which a warrior asks why his own heart has been debating these things with him: “ἀλλὰ τίη μοι ταῦτα φίλος διελέξατο θυμός;” (“but why has my heart gone over these things with me?”).^[4][7][3]

Semantic evolution

In the archaic poets the word moves from inner debate to talk between people: Alcaeus uses it of taking counsel with one's heart, Archilochus and Sappho of speaking with someone.^[3][2][7] Classical prose made it the usual word for conversing and discussing, with the dative or πρός and the accusative (Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon), and for discoursing on a subject (Isocrates, Plato, Demosthenes).^[3][2] Thucydides uses it of arguing with someone against a course of action.^[2][3]

In Plato the verb took a philosophical sense, to practise dialectic, reaching conclusions by question and answer, as opposed to wrangling for victory; from this use come διαλεκτικός (dialektikós) and the art of dialectic.^[2][3] Herodotus and Polybius use it of speaking a particular dialect or language, the sense behind διάλεκτος (diálektos).^[3][2] Attic comedy and Plutarch also use it as a euphemism for sexual relations.^[3]

In the Koine the word is found in papyri of the 3rd century BC, and in the New Testament it describes Paul reasoning with his hearers, often teaching by discussion, and in Mark it is used of the disciples arguing with one another.^[8][9] Later writers such as Philostratus use it of giving a lecture.^[2] In Modern Greek διαλέγομαι (dialégome) is a learned word for holding a dialogue and exchanging views.^[10]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses the aorist of the heart debating with itself.^[4][3]
• 7th century BC – Archilochus uses it of talking with someone.^[2][3]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus and Thucydides use it of conversing and discussing, and Herodotus also of speaking a language.^[3][2]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it of practising dialectic, and Aristophanes as a euphemism for sexual relations.^[2][3]
• 3rd century BC – Papyri from Egypt use it of conversing.^[8]
• 2nd–3rd century AD – Philostratus uses it of lecturing.^[2]
• Modern Greek – The verb lives on as a learned word, διαλέγομαι (dialégome), for holding a dialogue.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. (Homeric, of the heart) To go over, debate things within oneself.^[4][3]
2. To converse, hold a conversation, with the dative or πρός and the accusative.^[3][2]
3. To discuss or argue a question with someone; with μή and the infinitive, to argue against doing something.^[2][3]
4. To discourse, hold forth on a subject; later, to give a lecture.^[3][2]
5. To speak, address; to utter a particular word.^[3][2]
6. (philosophy) To practise dialectic, reaching conclusions by question and answer.^[2][3]
7. To use a dialect or language.^[3][2]
8. (euphemistic) To have sexual relations with someone.^[3]
9. (New Testament) To reason with, instruct; of scripture, to address the reader.^[8]

Word family

• διάλεκτος (diálektos)
• διαλεκτικός (dialektikós)
• διάλεξις (diálexis)

Related words

• διάλογος (diálogos)
• διαλέγω (dialégō)
• λέγω (légō)
• Latin legō

Usage notes

The active διαλέγω (dialégō) is used in the old sense of λέγω “gather”: to pick out or select (Herodotus, Xenophon), to sort things apart (Plato), and in Aristophanes' Lysistrata to pick open a hole in order to escape.^[2][3] Demosthenes says that the laws “say nothing” to a man, meaning that they do not concern him.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
5. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
6. ^ a b 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
7. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
8. ^ 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
9. ^ United Bible Societies (2023), UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (revised Louw–Nida semantic domains), open-licence ed.
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki