ἄνωγα

Forms

ἄνωγα (ánōga), perfect with present meaning; imperative ἄνωχθι, pluperfect ἠνώγεα, ἠνώγει; secondary present ἀνώγω, future ἀνώξω, aorist ἤνωξα^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is an old perfect with present meaning, made of ἀνα- (ana-, “up, aloud”) and a perfect that is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁e-h₁oǵ-h₂e, from the root *h₁eǵ- (“to say”), so that it first meant “to proclaim aloud”.^[4][1][5] It differs in ablaut from ἦ (ê, “he said”), from *h₁e-h₁eǵ-t, and is related to ἠμί (ēmí, “I say”).^[4][5][6]

Cognate with Latin āiō (“I say”) and Old Armenian ասեմ (asem, “I say”).^[4][1][6] Hackstein, followed by the LIV, starts instead from *h₂eǵ- and connects the word with ἄζω (ázō), a link Beekes thinks improbable.^[4] After Ruijgh, Beekes and Chantraine call it an old Achaean word, and Chantraine notes that the preterite ἄνωγον (ánōgon) is also found in Cypriot.^[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses it for the orders of gods, kings and masters, and also for the advice of equals and for the spirit that prompts a man: “my heart bids me”.^[3][7][2]

Semantic evolution

The Ionic singers took the preterite ánōgon for an imperfect and built a present ἀνώγω, chiefly in the formula “urges and bids”; a pluperfect, a future and an aorist were made in the same way.^[6][2] After Homer the verb is poetic and Ionic: Herodotus and the tragedians use it, and so do the Hellenistic poets Apollonius of Rhodes, Callimachus and Herodas.^[3][2][6] Prose replaced it with other verbs of ordering.^[2] Apollonius and an inscription from Argos also have the noun ἀνωγή (anōgḗ) “command”.^[5][6]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for the commands of gods and kings and for the prompting of the heart.^[3][7][2]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it in the Theogony and the Works and Days.^[3][8][9]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus and Sophocles still use it.^[3][2][9]
• 3rd century BC – Apollonius of Rhodes and Herodas use it, and Apollonius has the noun ἀνωγή (anōgḗ) “command”.^[3][5][9]
• 5th century AD (probably) – Hesychius explains a passive form by κελεύω (keleúō) “to order”.^[3][9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To command, order, bid someone (to do something), of gods, kings and masters.^[3][2][7]
2. Of equals or inferiors: to advise, urge; of the spirit, to prompt.^[3][1]

Word family

• ἀνωγή (anōgḗ)

Related words

• ἠμί (ēmí)
• Latin āiō

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 Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
6. ^ a b c d e f 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
7. ^ a b c Autenrieth, Georg (1891), A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, tr. Robert P. Keep, New York: Harper and Brothers
8. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
9. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge