ταναός

Forms

τᾰνᾰός (tanaós) m (feminine τᾰνᾰή or τᾰνᾰός, neuter τᾰνᾰόν); first/second declension^[1] Mycenaean Greek ta-na-wa, of wheels.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Indo-European: Beekes reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *tnh₂-eu-o-, Wiktionary Proto-Indo-European *ténh₂us (“thin”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *tenh₂- (“thin, outstretched”).^[2][1][3] Cognate with Sanskrit तनु (tanú), Latin tenuis and Old English þynne (English thin).^[1][2] Within Greek it goes with τανυ- (tanu-) and τάνυται (tánutai).^[2]

The laryngeal is needed for almost every branch, as Beekes argues against Christophe, who derived the stem from Proto-Indo-European *tnu- and explained ταναός with a second prop vowel.^[2] LSJ links it with τείνω (teínō, “to stretch”) and gives the older form as ταναϝός (tanawós).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Mycenaean tablets use the word of wheels.^[2] In the Iliad it describes a long, slender javelin.^[5][4]

Semantic evolution

The adjective stayed in epic and lyric poetry.^[2] The Homeric Hymn to Demeter uses it of tall ears of corn, Alcman of slim feet, and Empedocles of a fine ray of light or flame.^[5][4] Euripides has it of long locks and, perhaps through association with τανύω (tanúō), of the wide upper air.^[5][4] Later poets used it of a slender poplar and a Triton's conch.^[5]

It formed poetic compounds such as ταναήκης (tanaḗkēs, “with a long point”), of weapons in Homer, and ταναύποδα, an epithet of sheep in the Odyssey.^[2]

Timeline

• Mycenaean – ta-na-wa describes wheels on the Linear B tablets.^[2]
• Homer – The Iliad uses it of a long javelin.^[5][4][6]
• 7th century BC – Alcman uses it of slender feet.^[5][7]
• 5th century BC – Empedocles uses it of fine rays of light and fire, and Euripides of long hair and the outspread air.^[5][4][7]
• 3rd century BC – Apollonius of Rhodes uses it of a tall poplar.^[5][7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Long and slender, tall and slim: of a javelin, ears of corn, a poplar, locks of hair.^[5][4]
2. Thin, fine, of a ray of light or a flame.^[5][4]
3. Outspread, wide, of the upper air.^[5]

Related words

• τείνω (teínō)
• τανύω (tanúō)
• Latin tenuis
• English thin

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 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. ^ Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008), Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon, Heidelberg: Winter
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. ^ 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
6. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge