Aristophanes Acharnians 786

Acharnians. Aristophanes. . 2026-09-08.

Current edition Experimental

Commentary (Sanjaya, generated; selected passages) (OCR draft) (English) (Source: pnadelofficial/aristophanes-sanjaya, commit c319590c139e5603e71f0699caa0663d823af8ad. Machine-generated source annotations retained; see Sanjaya import audit for coverage and limitations.)

Provisional text from uncorrected OCR; expect errors.

Editions (1)
Ἀχαρνῆς Perseus (Aristophanes. Aristophanis Comoediae, Vol. 1. Hall, F. W. and Geldart, William M., editors. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906.) — 836-859 focus
Translations (2)
Acharnians (OCR draft) Experimental (English (Anonymous; Liveright, 192?). Migrated from Perseus legacy XML; source wording and notes retained. See TEI header and migration inventory.) — 799 focus
English (Sanjaya, generated; selected passages) (OCR draft) Experimental (Source: pnadelofficial/aristophanes-sanjaya, commit c319590c139e5603e71f0699caa0663d823af8ad. Machine-generated source annotations retained; see Sanjaya import audit for coverage and limitations.) — 799 focus

Commentary

Commentary (Sanjaya, generated; selected passages) (OCR draft) (Source: pnadelofficial/aristophanes-sanjaya, commit c319590c139e5603e71f0699caa0663d823af8ad. Machine-generated source annotations retained; see Sanjaya import audit for coverage and limitations.) focus

786. mvp-tlg0019-tlg001-sanjaya-com-eng1-32

Line 786

νεαρὰ γάρ ἐστιν· ἀλλὰ δελφακουμένα
The verb δελφακουμένα (delphakoumena) is a hapax legomenon in the extant corpus of Aristophanes and a rare example of a compound verb in the middle/passive voice with a reduplicated stem. While the root φαίνω (to show) is common, the prefix δελφ- is dialectal and likely derives from the Boeotian or Arcadian form of δελφίς (a type of bird, possibly the dove or turtledove), suggesting a meaning of 'cooing' or 'making the sound of a dove.' The reduplication (del-phakoumena) mimics the repetitive nature of the bird's call, creating an onomatopoeic effect that characterizes the young woman's nervous chatter or the fawning behavior of the suitors. This construction is a deliberate piece of comic wordplay, typical of Aristophanes' linguistic inventiveness, where the form itself enacts the semantic content of the passage.