δύο

Forms

δῠ́ο (dúo) (ordinal δεύτερος, adverbial δῐ́ς)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *dúwo,^[1] inherited from Proto-Indo-European *duwó (“two”), a variant of *dwóh₁.^[1][2] Following Cowgill, Beekes explains *duu̯o as originally an indeclinable form beside the dual δύω (dúō), which has its counterparts in Sanskrit and Old Church Slavonic; the short final vowel is also seen in the Armenian word for “twelve”.^[2][3] A monosyllabic form underlies δώδεκα (dṓdeka, “twelve”).^[2][4]

Cognate with Sanskrit द्व (dvá), Latin duo, Old English twā, Old Irish da and Old Armenian երկու (erku).^[1][2][4] The adverb δίς (dís, “twice”) comes from the same root.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is already Mycenaean: Pylos tablets have dwo and the instrumental du-wo-u-pi.^[5][2][6] In Homer it is used without inflection, beside δύω.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Homer has no genitive or dative and uses δύο and δύω as indeclinable;^[7] Attic had the dual genitive and dative δυοῖν, later δυεῖν, and Aristotle and later writers have the plural dative δυσί.^[7][8] Phrases with it include “one or two”, meaning a few, in the Iliad, and “two and two” in Xenophon.^[7]

The New Testament uses it more than thirty times.^[6] It survives in Modern Greek δύο (dýo), with the Medieval monosyllabic form δυο, pronounced [ðʝo], to avoid the hiatus.^[9][10] Dialects keep it too, Cypriot with a form θκυο.^[6]

Timeline

• Mycenaean – Pylos tablets have dwo.^[5][6]
• Homer – The Iliad uses δύο and δύω without inflection.^[7]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses the dative δυσί.^[8][11]
• Medieval Greek – The monosyllabic form δυο appears.^[9]
• Modern Greek – It survives as δύο.^[9][6]

Meanings

Numeral

1. Two.^[7][8]
2. In phrases: “one or two”, a few;^[7] “two and two”, in pairs.^[7]

Related words

• δίς (dís)
• δεύτερος (deúteros)
• δώδεκα (dṓdeka)
• Latin duo

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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. ^ 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 Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
5. ^ a b Микенско-русский словарь (Mycenaean–Russian dictionary)
6. ^ a b c d e Heggarty, Paul, et al. (2023), Indo-European Cognate Relationships (IE-CoR), Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, https://iecor.clld.org
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b c Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
11. ^ Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge