Satisfying. I give pleasure [ἥδω ], I shall give pleasure [ἥσω ], I gave pleasure [ἧδα ];[1] with resolution [of the long eta into ea-], I have pleased [ἔαδα ], having pleased [ἐαδώς , genitive ἐαδότος , accusative ἐαδότα ].[2]
For the entry cf. the
scholia to
Homer,
Iliad 9.173 and
Odyssey 18.422, where the headword occurs; Eustath. Comm. ad loc.; Herodian,
Schem. Hom. 108. Again at
epsiloniota 7. The form is an Aeolic dialect form of the perfect participle active of
ἁνδάνω 'please, give pleasure to', used in the accusative as an adjective to
μύθον in the Homeric phrase "he had told them a tale that had pleased them." The entry is in error, for the form does not contain a resolution but reflects the loss in Greek of the initial cluster
sw-, present in this root's derivatives in English (
sweet) and Latin (
suavis). This initial is reduplicated in the perfect, and then lost. See
Lexikon des frühgriechischen Epos 2.799.26-31 for the phonological history of the word and 2.892.7-9, 51-54 for cognates. The long alpha and loss of the rough breathing in
Homer is to be explained as an Aeolic dialect form (Chantraine,
Gram. hom. 20).
[1]This paradigm is of the present stem of an active verb 'give pleasure', a secondary formation from the familiar verb
ἥδομαι 'take pleasure', a verb with a different history but from the same root as the previous, cf. Chantraine,
Dictionnaire étymologique 406.
[2] The perfect participle active of
ἁνδάνω is here given in three singular cases, nominative, genitive and the accusative of the headword.
David Whitehead (modified notes; added keyword; cosmetics) on 26 June 2001@05:53:21.
Robert Dyer (Modified translation and notes to represent etymological history, cosmetics, raised status) on 4 January 2003@16:15:23.
Robert Dyer (Brief addition) on 4 January 2003@16:17:55.
Catharine Roth (cosmetics) on 7 July 2007@15:46:02.
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