χανδάνω

Forms

χᾰνδᾰ́νω (khandánō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *gʰed- (“to seize, grasp”), a present formed with a nasal infix and a suffix.^[1][2] The verb keeps an old, regular system: a zero-grade nasal present χανδάνω, a zero-grade thematic aorist χαδεῖν (khadeîn) and a full-grade middle future χείσομαι (kheísomai).^[3][4][5] Only the perfect κέχανδα (kékhanda) does not fit: either it was remade after the present, or it replaced an older κέχονδα (kékhonda), which survives in the variant reading κεχόνδει (kekhóndei) (Iliad 24.192).^[3][4][2] Wiktionary takes the present itself to stand for an older form without the nasal in the root, the nasal being taken from other forms, and compares the formation of λαμβάνω (lambánō).^[1]

Latin has the root with a fixed prefix in Latin prehendō (“to grasp, seize”), and without the nasal in praeda (“booty”).^[3][2] Other cognates are Old Irish ro-geinn (“finds room”), Albanian gjej and, without the nasal, Old Norse geta (“to reach, get”), the source of English get.^[3][1][2] Meier-Brügger connects an adverb χονδήν (khondḗn) “in capacity”, read on an inscription.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Homer the verb is used of vessels and places that “hold” something: a cauldron holding four measures, a mixing bowl holding six, a beach that could not hold all the ships.^[6][7][8] Figuratively, Hera's breast “could not hold” her anger (Iliad 4.24).^[6][8]

Semantic evolution

χανδάνω is an epic verb.^[6][3] Apart from epic it occurs once or twice in Ionic prose, in the Hippocratic writings, and once in Aristophanes.^[6] Already in Homer it can mean “to be capable”: a man shouts as loud as his head can hold, and in the Frogs (260) the singers vow to shout as much as their throats can hold.^[6][8] In Theocritus a hand holds a club, and Nicander uses the verb in prescriptions for “to take” a remedy.^[8][6]

It never takes a prefix, but it appears as the second part of εὐχανδής (eukhandḗs) “roomy, ample”.^[3][4] It is rare: the GLAUx corpus has only 39 instances.^[9]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it of vessels, rooms and a beach, and of Hera's anger.^[6][7]
• 5th century BC – The Hippocratic writings use the aorist χαδεῖν.^[6][3][10]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it once, in a lyric passage of the Frogs.^[6][10]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theocritus uses it of a hand holding a club.^[8][10]
• 2nd century BC – Nicander uses it for taking a medicine.^[6][10]
• 3rd century AD – Quintus Smyrnaeus still has the epic imperfect χάνδανε.^[6][10]
• 5th century AD (probably) – Hesychius glosses the perfect κέχανδε as “holds, has room for”.^[3][4][10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To hold, contain, have room for (of a vessel, a room, a beach).^[6][8]
2. (figurative) To hold in, keep in (anger, in negative sentences).^[8][6]
3. To be capable of, be able: to shout as loud as one's head or throat allows.^[6][8]
4. (in prescriptions) To take (a remedy).^[6]

Word family

• εὐχανδής (eukhandḗs)

Related words

• Latin prehendō
• English get

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
9. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
10. ^ a b c d e f Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge