A. wrote:
>>Well beyond the fact that 'arete' is based on the same
>>_root_ as 'rta-', I don't know its exact etymology, and
>>so whether it involves the same suffix as 'rta-' or not.
>>It does seem to me that it might, but hopefully somebody
>>on the list better informed about Greek can tell us for
>>sure.
>
>
> Anyone?
> Bueller??
> Bueller??
> Anyone?
Yoo-hoo, the cavalry are coming! I hope it isn't too late.
I'm not absolutely sure how to analyse <areté:> 'goodness, excellence',
but it can't be separated from <aresko:> 'satisfy, please', so I assume
that they both derive from the stative stem *h2(a)r-(e)h1- 'be all
right', corresponding to the hypothetical *es-stem noun *h2ar-os/-es-
'(state of) order'. The expected adjectival derivative would be
*h2ar-eto-, hence <arete:> as a feminine substantivisation. Cf. Gk.
genete: '(the time of) birth' (vs. <genos>), Lat. Genita Ma:na (the name
of a goddess) < *g^enh1-etah2.
Piotr