[Rather than piggy-back onto the discussion of διδάσκειν -- which probably belongs in this sub-forum rather than in "Other" --, I'll start a new one.]cwconrad wrote:What's odd here is the persistence of boththe δι- reduplication throughout the entire conjugation of the verb and the guttural -κ/γ/χ- with the δα- root. Chantraine's older etymological dictionary (1970) is in agreement with Beekes' account and points to an article by Debrunner on the matter that might be interesting to look at: it's in a volume entitled Mélanges Boisac 1, 251-256. Suggestions of linkage with Latin docere and discere (di-dc-sc-) don't seem to be convincing.Stephen Hughes wrote:Within that analysis διδαχή seems different. How is the chi a formative unit in διδαχή in Breekes's analysis?
I sometimes wonder whether there are any Greek verbs that are not idiomatic. I love what Lewis Carroll’s Humpty Dumpty says about verbs: “ 'They've a temper, some of them — particularly verbs: they're the proudest — adjectives you can do anything with, but not verbs …”
We’ve been talking about the verb διδάσκειν, in particular about the fact that, although it appears to form a present stem (from an old and rare root (δα) according to standard patterns (iota reduplication and the -σκ- iterative/inchoative formative element), it extends that present stem as a root that appears throughout the verb’s entire paradigm: διδάσκειν, διδάξειν, διδάξαι, δεδίδαχα, δεδιδάχθαι, διδαχθῆναι — and there’s a whole range of middle-passive forms as well, not to mention derivative adjectives and nouns such as διδαχή, διδάσκαλος, κλτ.
ἐπίστασθαι is another verb that would seem to be originally compounded; it came into use very early as a fixed compound that never formed a reduplicated present stem (it’s ἐπι-στα, not ἐφιστα < ἐπ(ι) ἵστασθαι < ἐπι + σίστασθαι); rather it’s compounded of the adverbial prefix ἐπῖ and the root στη/α directly with a meaning, evidently, something like “hold a solidly-grounded assurance of truth”. It takes the temporal augment (ἐπιστα- > ἠπιστα-) rather than a temporal augment on the root (*εφ-ε-στη/α-). I don’t have access to Beekes, but Chantraine (1970) notes that there is already in Homer a distinction between ἐπίστασθαι and ἐφιστάναι, and he notes the suggestion that the unaspirated π might indicate Ionic origin of the compound from the reduplicated root as ἐπ-ίστασθαι; even so, however, the combination ἐπιστα- functions as a root form for the entire conjugation of this verb.