On the Etymology of ΕΛΕΓΧΩ
On the Etymology of ΕΛΕΓΧΩ

Summary/Abstract: The paper revises the different hypotheses about the origin of Gk. ἐλέγχω ‘to disgrace, put to shame (Hom.); cross-examine, question, accuse one of doing, bring to proof, accuse’ and ἔλεγχος, εος, τό ‘reproach, disgrace, dishonour; (Hom., Hes.), ἔλεγχος, ου, ὁ ‘argument of disproof or refutation’. An alternative explanation has been proposed: to analyse ἐλέγχω as a nasal infix present *elenkh- – a Pre-Greek borrowing, derived from the IE root *h1lek- (attested in Olr. locht ‘fault, shortcoming, vice; offence; (physical) blemish’, Icel. lá ‘to blame, reproach’, OE lēan ‘to blame’, OS lahan ‘to blame, prohibit’).

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