Greek interjectional ἆ = “Stop doing that!” in Euripides

Abstract

Abstract In the Athenian dramatic literature of the late fifth and early fourth centuries BC, the interjection ἆ appears to undergo a process of semantic reduction and specialization, which mainly results in a prohibitive meaning. The subsequent identification of prohibitive ἆ with Euripidean diction forms the basis for Aristophanic parody. Diachronic considerations suggest that, once the specialization has put the focus on the prohibitive sense, so that ἆ comes to express something like “stop doing that!”, the interjection may finally convey this prohibitive meaning autonomously, without the cooperation of any other directive utterance. E. HF 629, E. HF 1052 and E. Ba. 810 are cited as instances where ἆ thus means “stop doing that!”, thereby constituting a specifically Euripidean idiom.