Privative a
In Ancient Greek grammar, privative a (also known as privative alpha; in Latin, α prīvātīvum) is the prefix a- that expresses negation or absence (e.g., a-theos, a-typical). It is derived from a Proto-Indo-European syllabic nasal *n̥-, the zero ablaut grade of the negation *ne, i.e. /n/ used as a vowel. For this reason, it appears as an- before vowel (e.g. an-alphabetism, an-esthesia, an-archy).[1]
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[edit] Cognates
[edit] Sanskrit
The same prefix appears in Sanskrit, also as a-, an-
[edit] Latin
In Latin, the cognate prefix is in-. The prepositional prefix in- is different.
[edit] Germanic languages
In English and other West Germanic languages, the cognate is un-, except in Dutch, where it is on-.
In North Germanic languages, the -n- has disappeared and Old Norse has ú- (e.g., ú-dáins-akr), Danish and Norwegian have u-, whereas Swedish uses o- (pronounced [u]), and Icelandic and Faroese use the related ó-.
[edit] Homonym
The prefix ἁ- ha- (also ἀ- a- from psilosis), copulative a, is nearly homonymous with privative a, but originates from Proto-Indo-European *sm̥.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ a b ἀ1. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at Perseus Project
[edit] See also
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Look up alpha privative in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
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