In
Aristophanes an adverb accompanying surprise and command. "Ah! ah! Don't get that torch near me!"[1]
'Ah! ah!' must be read separately, not elided; and they both have smooth breathing.[2]. For if they were read together as one word, there would be no need of two accent marks.[3] "Ah" marks surprise, but "ha ha" is for awe, as
Agathias says in the
Epigrams: "ha, a very daring wax it was that formed..."[4]
Aab.[5]
[1]
Aristophanes,
Plutus [
Wealth] 1052 (web address 1). The first sentence is derived from
scholia to this passage, and this may also be true of the rest of the entry.
[2] That is, it is "ah! ah!", not "ha! ha!" A difference registered in Greek by the orientation of a small breathing mark that is easily reversed in transcription, especially since by the time the Suda was compiled the initial 'h' had ceased to be pronounced.
[3] i.e.
ἂ ἄ is two words,
ἀά would be one.
[4]
Greek Anthology 1.34.2; again (with slight variations) at
mu 389 and
sigma 664.
[5] This gloss-less addendum is actually a separate entry that occurs only in ms S. (In Adler's numbering system this is designated
alpha 1b, while the main entry is
alpha 1a.) Apparently this is a reference to the Hebrew month of Av, attested with this Greek spelling only in Joannes Lydus,
De mensibus 3.22.
Ross Scaife (raised vetting status) on 26 September 2000@14:01:40.
David Whitehead (added note and keywords; cosmetics) on 9 February 2001@04:21:58.
David Whitehead (augmented notes and keywords; cosmetics) on 9 April 2007@04:35:29.
William Hutton (modified translation, rearranged layout, added note and link, set status) on 19 August 2007@10:41:27.
Jennifer Benedict (typo) on 22 March 2008@17:08:15.
Catharine Roth (coding, typo) on 22 March 2008@19:48:38.
David Whitehead (tweaks) on 16 December 2011@05:43:10.
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