Ancient GreekEdit

Alternative formsEdit

EtymologyEdit

Possibly οὐκί (oukí, not so, never), from Proto-Hellenic *oyuki, from Proto-Indo-European *(ne) h₂óyu kʷid ((not) ever, (not) on your life).[1] Compare Sanskrit उद् (ud), Gothic 𐌿𐌳 (ud), Old Armenian ոչ (očʿ) and Albanian as.

PronunciationEdit

 

ParticleEdit

οὐ (ou) (negative particle)

  1. not (indicates negation)

Usage notesEdit

οὐ is the indicative negator (i.e. of facts, statements), where μή (mḗ) is the subjunctive negator (i.e. of will, thought). It usually immediately precedes the word (most often a verb) which it negates. Negative concord (also known as double negatives) is frequent in Ancient Greek.

DescendantsEdit

  • Byzantine Greek: ὄχι (ókhi) ὤχι (ṓkhi)

ReferencesEdit

  1. ^ Martirosyan, Hrach (2010), “očʿ”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Armenian Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 8), Leiden, Boston: Brill, page 531