πάλαι

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Traditionally derived from Proto-Indo-European *kʷel- (“far (in time or space)”). However, it has been argued (e.g. by Chadwick) that Mycenaean Greek 𐀞𐀨𐀍 (pa-ra-jo), 𐀞𐀨𐀊 (pa-ra-ja, “old”) are related, therefore precluding the popularly held etymology with an initial labiovelar.[1][2] Beekes instead compares the Mycenaean to *pelh₂-.

A frozen case-form (perhaps an old dative or fossilized PIE allative), as indicated by the ending -αι (-ai); compare χαμαί (khamaí). See also Sanskrit पलित (palita, “old, hairy, grey”).

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /pá.lai̯/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈpa.lɛ/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈpa.lɛ/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈpa.le/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈpa.le/

Adverb

πάλαι • (pálai)

(of a point in the past)
1. long ago, in days past
- 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 1.2.1:
  φαίνεται γὰρ ἡ νῦν Ἑλλὰς καλουμένη οὐ πάλαι βεβαίως οἰκουμένη
  phaínetai gàr hē nûn Hellàs kalouménē ou pálai bebaíōs oikouménē
  For apparently what is now called Hellas was not constantly inhabited in times past
1. Of past time closer to the present: before, earlier, a while ago
  - 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Cr. 43b:
    Σωκράτης: ἄρτι δὲ ἥκεις ἢ πάλαι;
    Κρίτων: ἐπιεικῶς πάλαι.
    Sōkrátēs: árti dè hḗkeis ḕ pálai;
    Krítōn: epieikôs pálai.
    Socrates: Did you arrive just now or a while ago?
    Crito: Quite a while ago.
2. with a present-tense verb since a point in the past, for a long time
  - 386 BCE – 367 BCE, Plato, Meno 93b:
    τοῦτ’ ἔστιν ὃ πάλαι ζητοῦμεν ἐγώ τε καὶ Μένων.
    toût’ éstin hò pálai zētoûmen egṓ te kaì Ménōn.
    This is what Meno and I have been trying to figure out for a while.

Derived terms

παλαιγενής (palaigenḗs)
παλαιός (palaiós, “old”)

References

John Chadwick, Lydia Baumbach (1963) “The Mycenaean Greek Vocabulary”, in Glotta : Zeitschrift für griechische und lateinische Sprache, volume 41, number 3/4, Göttingen, Germany: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht (GmbH & Co. KG), →JSTOR, →OCLC, page 232 of 157–271: “πάλαι”
Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “πάλαι”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 1144–1145

“πάλαι”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“πάλαι”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
“πάλαι”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
πάλαι in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
Bauer, Walter et al. (2001) A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
πάλαι in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
“πάλαι”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
G3819 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- ago idem, page 19.
- anciently idem, page 29.
- before idem, page 69.
- formerly idem, page 339.
- long idem, page 498.
- one idem, page 573.
- past idem, page 597.
- purify idem, page 658.
- yore idem, page 997.

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] John Chadwick, Lydia Baumbach (1963) “The Mycenaean Greek Vocabulary”, in Glotta : Zeitschrift für griechische und lateinische Sprache, volume 41, number 3/4, Göttingen, Germany: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht (GmbH & Co. KG), →JSTOR, →OCLC, page 232 of 157–271: “πάλαι”

[2] Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “πάλαι”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 1144–1145