Ancient Greek

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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According to Beekes, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew (again, away from) + *to- (that); compare Proto-Germanic *auþijaz (barren, empty). Risch derives it from the Ancient Greek reflexes of those words, αὖ (, back, again, other) +‎ τόν (tón, the).[1] Related to Phrygian αυτος (autos), thus probably representing a common innovation.

Pronunciation

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Pronoun

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αὐτός (autós) (feminine αὐτή, neuter αὐτό); first/second declension

  1. (without article) self
    1. (in nominative, emphasizing the subject)
    2. (reflexive pronoun, in oblique cases) himself, herself, itself, themselves
    3. (in philosophy, of an abstract idea) by or in itself
  2. (without article, in oblique cases, 3rd person personal pronoun) he, she, it, they
    • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Odyssey 5.260–261, (wherein αὐτῇ refers to σχεδίην in line 251):[1]
      ἐν δ’ ὑπέρας τε κάλους τε πόδας τ’ ἐνέδησεν ἐν αὐτῇ,
      μοχλοῖσιν δ’ ἄρα τήν γε κατείρυσεν εἰς ἅλα δῖαν.
      en d’ hupéras te kálous te pódas t’ enédēsen en autêi,
      mokhloîsin d’ ára tḗn ge kateírusen eis hála dîan.
      • 1919 translation by Augustus Taber Murray[2]
        And he made fast in the raft braces and halyards and sheets,
        and then with levers forced it down into the bright sea.
  3. (with definite article) same

Usage notes

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The intended sense of αὐτός is generally defined by its grammatical context. When used as a lone nominal without an article, it is generally the third person personal pronoun. When appended to a nominal and not possessing the definite article it is "self". When combined with the definite article, either appended to a nominal or on its own, it is "same".

The neuter plural ταὐτά (tautá, the same things) (derived from τὰ αὐτά by crasis) is distinguished from ταῦτα (taûta) "these things" by the accent placement. The two sometimes occur together:

386 BCE – 367 BCE, Plato, Meno 85e:
οὗτος γὰρ ποιήσει περὶ πάσης γεωμετρίας ταὐτὰ ταῦτα, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων μαθημάτων ἁπάντων
hoûtos gàr poiḗsei perì pásēs geōmetrías tautà taûta, kaì tôn állōn mathēmátōn hapántōn
For he will do the same as this with all geometry and every other branch of knowledge.

Inflection

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Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • Greek: αυτός (aftós)
  • Mariupol Greek: тос (tos), ато́с (atós)

References

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  1. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “αὐτός”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), volume I, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 173

Further reading

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