τε

Forms

τε (te) (discourse particle)^[1] Before a vowel it is elided to τ’ (t’), and before a rough breathing to θ’ (th’).^[1] Mycenaean qe.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *kʷe,^[1] inherited from Proto-Indo-European *-kʷe (“and”), an enclitic conjunction.^[2][4][1] The Mycenaean tablets still write it Mycenaean Greek qe.^[2][3]

Cognate with Latin -que, Sanskrit च (ca) and Phrygian κε (ke), and Gothic has it in 𐌽𐌹𐌷 (nih, “nor”).^[2][4][1]

Beekes and Frisk also see it in the ending of adverbs such as τότε (tóte), πότε (póte) and ὅτε (hóte), with Doric τόκα (tóka).^[2][4] Chantraine and Babiniotis reject this, because the dental of those adverbs does not come from a labiovelar.^[3][5] For the “generalising” epic τε, A. Bloch proposed a separate particle meaning “as is well known”, a view Chantraine dismisses; he finds more defensible the theory that links it with the indefinite pronoun, as in Latin quisque (“each, whoever”).^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

On the Mycenaean tablets Mycenaean Greek qe is the ordinary word for joining names and objects, in place of καί (kaí), which the tablets do not have.^[3] Homer uses it from the first lines of the Iliad, as in “for dogs and all the birds”.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

In Homer it joins words and clauses, alone or repeated as τε … τε “both … and”, and it is often paired with καί.^[6][8][9] Epic poetry also attaches it to relative pronouns and particles (ὅς τε, γάρ τε, δέ τε) without changing their sense, especially in general statements and similes.^[9][10]

In Attic prose a single τε joins words and, more often later, whole sentences, as in Thucydides.^[6] The epic use survived in Attic only in a few fixed words: ἅτε (háte, “inasmuch as”), ὥστε (hṓste, “so that”), οἷός τε (hoîós te, “able to”) and ἔστε (éste, “until”).^[9][10] Herodotus uses τε … καί to show that two things happen at the same time.^[9] In later Greek it rarely joins anything on its own and lives on mostly in pairs such as οὔτε (oúte) … οὔτε.^[3]

Modern Greek uses it only in fixed phrases taken from Ancient Greek, such as ψυχή τε και σώματι “body and soul”.^[11]

Timeline

• Mycenaean period – The Linear B tablets use Mycenaean Greek qe as the ordinary word for “and”.^[3][2]
• Homer – The Iliad uses it for “and”, as τε … τε “both … and”, and attached to relatives in general statements.^[6][8]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses τε … καί for two events at the same moment.^[9][12]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides joins whole sentences with a single τε.^[6][12]
• Modern Greek – It survives only in learned set phrases.^[11]

Meanings

Conjunction

1. and; placed after the word it joins to what precedes.^[6][1]
2. Repeated, τε … τε, or with καί, τε … καί: both … and.^[6][10]
3. Answering a following δέ, or following μέν: and.^[6]

Particle

1. (epic) In general statements and similes, marking what is habitual or well known; often left untranslated.^[10][1][8]
2. Attached to relatives and conjunctions in fixed combinations: ἅτε, ὥστε, ἐφ’ ᾧ τε “on condition that”, οἷός τε “able”.^[9][10]

Word family

• εἴτε (eíte)
• οὔτε (oúte)
• μήτε (mḗte)
• ὥστε (hṓste)
• ἅτε (háte)
• ἔστε (éste)

Related words

• Latin -que

Usage notes

The combination καί τε “and also” is peculiar to epic.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 g 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 Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
6. ^ 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
7. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
9. ^ a b c d e f g Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1889), An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c d e Woordenboek Grieks/Nederlands (2012–), Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, https://woordenboekgrieks.nl
11. ^ a b Ακαδημία Αθηνών (2014), Χρηστικό Λεξικό της Νεοελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Academy of Athens
12. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge