ἄνευ

Forms

ᾰ̓́νευ (áneu) (governs the genitive)^[1] Epidaurian ἄνευν, Olympian ἄνευς (with the accusative), Megarian and Hellenistic ἄνις.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

The origin is disputed.^[2][4][5] Its shape recalls the old locative of a u-stem, but no exact match exists.^[2][5] One explanation compares Germanic words for “without”, such as Old High German ānu, but Beekes rejects it, because these cannot account for the Greek initial ἀ- (a-).^[4][5][2] In Beekes's view it is more probably inherited from Proto-Indo-European *sn̥h₁-eu, with loss of the initial aspiration, and cognate with Sanskrit सनुतर् (sanutár, “away, aside”), Latin sine (“without”) and Tocharian B snai (“without”).^[2][1] Frisk found both views unlikely, and the DGE prefers the Germanic comparison.^[5][6]

ἄτερ (áter) may be related, but that would exclude a laryngeal in the root.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad it means “far from” and “without”; the Odyssey has it of what happens “not without a god”.^[3][7]

Semantic evolution

It is used only as a preposition with the genitive and never as a prefix in compounds.^[3][4][8] From “without” it came to mean “without the consent or knowledge of” (Aeschylus, Sophocles) and, in prose, “apart from, except” (Herodotus, Plato).^[3][7] Megarian ἄνις, quoted by Aristophanes, was taken up by the Alexandrian poets.^[4][3] In the New Testament no sparrow falls “without your Father”.^[8]

Medieval vernacular Greek kept it, and the form άνευα survives in Pontic.^[9] Modern άνευ (ánef) is a learned word.^[10][11]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it of being far from enemies and of doing without a goad.^[3][7]
• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it of acting without the citizens' consent.^[3]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it in the sense “except”.^[3]
• 1st century AD – The Gospel of Matthew uses it of the will of God.^[8]
• Modern Greek – άνευ (ánef) survives as a learned preposition.^[10]

Meanings

Preposition

1. With the genitive: far from, apart from.^[3][7]
2. With the genitive: without.^[3][7]
3. With the genitive of a god or person: without the consent, knowledge or help of.^[3][7][8]
4. With the genitive: except, besides, not counting.^[3][7]

Word family

• ἄνευθε (áneuthe)
• ἀπάνευθε (apáneuthe)

Related words

• ἄτερ (áter)
• Latin sine

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 h i j k l Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e 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
5. ^ a b c d Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
6. ^ Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
7. ^ a b c d e f g Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b c d 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. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
11. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας