Copulative a

{{short description|Ancient Greek prefix}} {{refimprove|date=September 2024}} {{DISPLAYTITLE:Copulative ''a''}} The '''copulative ''a''''' (also '''''a'' copulativum''', '''''a'' athroistikon''') is the prefix {{lang|grc|ἁ-}} ({{translit|grc|ha-}}) or {{lang|grc|α-}} ({{translit|grc|a-}}) used to express unity in Ancient Greek, derived from Proto-Indo-European {{lang|ine-x-proto|*sm̥-}}, cognate to English ''same'' (see also symbel).<ref name="a">{{LSJ|a)1|ἀ-|ref}}.</ref>

An example is {{lang|grc|ἀδελφός}} ({{translit|grc|adelphós}} 'brother'), from {{lang|ine-x-proto|*sm̥-gʷelbhos}}, literally meaning 'from the same womb' (compare Delphi).

In Proto-Greek, the Proto-Indo-European phoneme {{lang|ine-x-proto|*s}} at the beginning of a word became {{lang|grk-x-proto|*h}} by debuccalization and syllabic {{lang|ine-x-proto|*m̥}} became {{lang|grk-x-proto|*a}}, giving the combined form {{lang|grk-x-proto|ha-}}. The initial {{lang|grk-x-proto|h}} was sometimes lost by psilosis or Grassmann's law.

Cognate forms in other languages preserve the original Proto-Indo-European {{lang|ine-x-proto|*s}}. For example, the Sanskrit prefix {{translit|sa|saṃ-}} occurs in the name of the language, {{lang|sa|सं॒स्कृ॒त}} {{translit|sa|saṃ-s-kṛtá}}, literally 'put together'. Less exact cognates include English ''same'' and ''some'', and Latin {{lang|la|simul}} 'at the same time' and {{lang|la|similis}} 'similar'.<ref>{{OEtymD|same}}</ref><ref>{{OED|same}}</ref>

Other words in Greek are related, including {{lang|grc|ᾰ̔́μᾰ}} ({{translit|grc|háma}} 'at the same time'), {{lang|grc|ὁμός}} ({{translit|grc|homós}} 'same'), and {{lang|grc|εἷς}} ({{translit|grc|heís}} 'one'; from Proto-Indo-European {{lang|ine-x-proto|*sem-s}}).<ref name="a" /><ref>{{LSJ|a(/ma1|ἅμα}}, {{LSJ|o(mo/s|ὁμός}}, {{LSJ|ei({{=}}s|εἷς|shortref}}.</ref>

==See also== * Privative a

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Copulative A}} Category:Indo-European linguistics Category:Greek language