# prefix for repetition



## ThomasK

Do you have a prefix referring to repetition?

Like the Latin _*re*_-, as in r_eflection_: against and back. Same prefix in French, I think.

Dutch *her*- (_herinneren_, remind), *weer*- (again [_weerzien_ (see again)]or back (_weerstand_, resistence)…


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## anahiseri

In German there is a distinction between the prefix *wieder* (again), as in *wiederholen, wiedersehen, *and the prefix *wider* (resistance)as in *Widerstand, widerstreben.
*
Are you sure it's not the same in Dutch?

In Spanish there is *re,* like in Latin: 
reflejar, reconstruir, retomar, repasar . . .


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## Sardokan1.0

Sardinian language is particular as always if compared to the rest of the Romance family. In some verbs there is the prefix RE, but usually referring to repetition we use a construction based upon the verb Torrare (to return).

_to retire -> retirare
to repeat -> repitere, ripitere
to remedy -> remediare
to rebel -> rebellare, rebelliare (derived from Latin RE + BELLUM = to make war again)

to do again -> torrare a faghere
to say again -> torrare a narrare / nàrrere
to repeat again -> torrare a repitere
to go again -> torrare ad andare
to exit again -> torrare a essire_


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## ThomasK

I wonder what Slavic languages will offer. Pleased to hear about the Sardinian _torrare_. Is that some form of _tornare_ in Italian?

@anahiseri: you're quite right, it is the same word, but there are no differences as for spelling...


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## Sardokan1.0

ThomasK said:


> Pleased to hear about the Sardinian _torrare_. Is that some form of _tornare_ in Italian?



Yes, it's the same of Tornare, Also in Corsican language and I think also in Catalan it's used in the same way of Sardinian. For some reason the RN of Latin in Sardinian has merged in RR.

Tornare -> Torrare
Cornus -> Corru
Furnus -> Furru
Carnem -> Carre


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## Stoggler

Welsh uses the prefix ail- (or the variant eil-), which comes from the word for ‘second’.  The prefix causes soft mutation of any following consonant that’s susceptible (e.g. darllen ‘to read’ - ailddarllen ‘to re-read’).


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## Awwal12

ThomasK said:


> Do you have a prefix referring to repetition?


Of course.  In Russian it's pere- (пере-, from P.-Sl. *per-).
Переделать (peredélat') - to remake, to do anew, to recast etc.
Пересказать (pereskazát') - to retell
Переместить (peremestít') - to remove (from one place to another)
Of course, a lot of words corresponding to those Romance or Germanic ones which contain the respective prefixes don't contain it themselves (cf. repeat/wiederholen vs. повторить - lit. ~"to ensecond"; reflect vs. отразить - lit. ~"to offstrike").
And the secondary (if not the primary) meaning of the same prefix relates to crossing/passing above.


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## Perseas

Awwal12 said:


> Of course.  In Russian it's pere- (пере-, from P.-Sl. *per-).
> Переделать (peredélat') - to remake, to do anew, to recast etc.
> [...]


Oh, yes. Like the famous_ Перестройка, _which in Greek translates "*ανα*δόμηση" or "*ανα*συγκρότηση" or untranslated "περεστρόικα"!!

In Greek this prefix is *ανα-*.
Αναγέννηση=Renaissance
αναπαράγω=reproduce

We also have the vernacular *ξανα- *(ξαναλέω=retell).


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## swindaff

In Italian we have *ri- *as a prefix (*ri*fare (to do again),* ri*tornare (to come back again)...), although I think you cannot use it with every verb (ribere (to drink again), riridere (to laugh again...) sound a bit strange to me).

In Neapolitan I've never heard of such a prefix, we would rather say: "verb + _n'ata vota_" (again; literally "another time").


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## Rallino

Perseas said:


> Oh, yes. Like the famous_ Перестройка, _which in Greek translates "*ανα*δόμηση" or "*ανα*συγκρότηση" or untranslated "περεστρόικα"!!
> 
> In Greek this prefix is *ανα-*.
> Αναγέννηση=Renaissance
> αναπαράγω=reproduce
> 
> We also have the vernacular *ξανα- *(ξαναλέω=retell).


Can you say αναλέω?


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## Perseas

Rallino said:


> Can you say αναλέω?


No, that’ s not possible. 
A synonym is αναδιηγούμαι (in many cases though not interchangeable).


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## TitTornade

French has :
- *re-* : dire / redire (_say / say  again_), voir / revoir (_see / see again_)...
- *ré- *: émettre / réémettre (_emit_), écrire / réécrire (_write / rewrite - write again - write back_), évaluer / réévaluer (assess _/ reassess - assess again_)...
- *r-* : avoir / ravoir (_have / have again - get back_), apporter / rapporter (_bring / bring again - bring back - report_), appeler / rappeler (_call / recall - call back - call again_)...


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## ThomasK

Perseas said:


> Oh, yes. Like the famous_ Перестройка, _which in Greek translates "*ανα*δόμηση" or "*ανα*συγκρότηση" or untranslated "περεστρόικα"!!
> 
> In Greek this prefix is *ανα-*.
> Αναγέννηση=Renaissance
> αναπαράγω=reproduce
> 
> We also have the vernacular *ξανα- *(ξαναλέω=retell).


Does 'ana' not have a pejorative ring as in 'anagram' (which I have also considered a mix-up, an entanglement…)?


Awwal12 said:


> Of course.  In Russian it's pere- (пере-, from P.-Sl. *per-).
> Переделать (peredélat') - to remake, to do anew, to recast etc.
> Пересказать (pereskazát') - to retell
> Переместить (peremestít') - to remove (from one place to another)
> Of course, a lot of words corresponding to those Romance or Germanic ones which contain the respective prefixes don't contain it themselves (cf. repeat/wiederholen vs. повторить - lit. ~"to ensecond"; reflect vs. отразить - lit. ~"to offstrike").
> And the secondary (if not the primary) meaning of the same prefix relates to crossing/passing above.


"The same prefix": do you mean _*pere*_- or _*post*_- [I think that is the transcription of the second one)? I suppose per- because that is the main meaning in Latin, I think… I suppose _post_- mainly means after- or indeed second therefore...


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## Awwal12

ThomasK said:


> "The same prefix": do you mean _*pere*_- or _*post*_- [I think that is the transcription of the second one)? I suppose per- because that is the main meaning in Latin, I think… I suppose _post_- mainly means after- or indeed second therefore...


Pere-, of course. Post- exist in Russian only as a recent borrowing from Latin, with the same meaning as in English, albeit a bit less productive.

As for pere-, cf.:
- перейти реку (pereytí réku): to cross a river (chiefly by foot, lit. overwalk)
- переплыть реку (pereplýt' réku): to cross a river (by swimming, lit. overswim)
- перечеркнуть надпись (perecherknút' nádpis'): to cross (out) an inscription (lit. ~overscribble)
- перелёт (perelyót): flight (from one place to another, lit. overflight)
...and so on.

Additional possible meanings include breaking or other destructive separating in halves by a directed action (перебить что-л., переломить, перерезать, перепилить), which are close to idea of crossing, and all-encompassing serial perfective actions:
- перебить (perebít') кого-л.: to kill/have killed smb./sth. all one by one;
- перессориться (peressorit'sya): "to have quarreled with all members of the specified group, one by one"; without an indirect object the meaning becomes "absolutely reciprocal": все они перессорились - "all they have quarreled with each other".


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## ThomasK

That is interesting... I'd never think of a link between crossing and repetition, but...


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## Perseas

ThomasK said:


> Does 'ana' not have a pejorative ring as in 'anagram' (which I have also considered a mix-up, an entanglement…)?


No.  "ανα" denotes mainly that something is repeated or takes place again. It denotes also a movement upwards (eg. ανασηκώνω=raise) or backwards.
ανα- - Wiktionary
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott,  A Greek-English Lexicon, Α α, , ἄμωμος , ἀνά

There is also another "ανα" with privative function (as _alpha privative_), eg. αναβροχιά = (no rain) drought, but this is different.


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## ThomasK

How would you explain "anagram" from your point of view?


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## Perseas

ThomasK said:


> How would you explain "anagram" from your point of view?


The verb _αναγραμματίζω_ means _transpose the letters of one word so as to form a new word_. Therefore, to* re*write a word using a different order of letters.

According to Liddell-Scott dictionary": _*4.* the notion of back, backwards [...]i.e. against the stream._ So, I am thinking that _ανάγραμμα_ may be "having written the letters of a word in reverse order".


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## Dymn

Sardokan1.0 said:


> Yes, it's the same of Tornare, Also in Corsican language and I think also in Catalan it's used in the same way of Sardinian.


Yes, _tornar a_ in Catalan, _volver a_ in Spanish, _voltar a _in Portuguese, it's the usual way to express repetition. The prefix _re- _exists but unlike French it's not very productive.


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## igusarov

ThomasK said:


> I wonder what Slavic languages will offer.


Another option in Russian is "*воз-*" (before voiced consonant) and "*вос-*" (before voicless consonant):

"*вос*становить" = "*re*store"
"*вос*произвести" = "*re*produce"
"*воз*родить" = "*re*vitalize"
"*Воз*рождение" = "*Re*naissance"
"*вос*креснуть" = "*re*surrect"
"*вос*соединить" = "*re*unite", "*re*connect"

Though, "пере-" mentioned by Awwal12 is by far more productive.

And, of course, we use borrowed prefix "*ре-*" (a direct transliteration of "re-") in borrowed words like "*ре*финансировать" = "*re*finance".


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## AndrasBP

Hungarian uses "*újra*", which means "again", and it is also used on its own. 
It comes from the word "új" (= new), so it's something like "de nouveau" in French.

*újra*fest = repaint
*újra*ír = rewrite
*újra*indít = restart
*újra*nyit = reopen,
etc.


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## Scholiast

Perseas said:


> We also have the vernacular *ξανα- *


Presumably contracted from classical Greek ἐξανα- ?
Σ


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## Perseas

Scholiast said:


> Presumably contracted from classical Greek ἐξανα- ?
> Σ


Yes. (ε)ξανα- < anc. prep. εξ- & ανα-.


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## Red Arrow

Swedish *åter-*. According to Wiktionary, it has got the same etymology as English "after".


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## Circunflejo

Sardokan1.0 said:


> Also in Corsican language and I think also in Catalan it's used in the same way of Sardinian.



Tornar is used in Aragonese too.


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## eno2

Perseas said:


> Oh, yes. Like the famous_ Перестройка, _which in Greek translates "*ανα*δόμηση" or "*ανα*συγκρότηση" or untranslated "περεστρόικα"!!
> 
> In Greek this prefix is *ανα-*.
> Αναγέννηση=Renaissance
> αναπαράγω=reproduce
> 
> We also have the vernacular*- *(ξαναλέω=retell).




ανακαλύπτω' is discover, though. I think 'ξανα' is always 'repeat'.


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## Perseas

eno2 said:


> I think 'ξανα' is always 'repeat'.


Yes, I think so.


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## ThomasK

eno2 said:


> ανακαλύπτω' is discover, though. I think 'ξανα' is always 'repeat'.


Yes, or un-cover. But in this connection a repetition does not seem implied, or does it?

It reminds me of the French 'reprendre', which means 'take over' or something, and I would not consider that a form of repetition.


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## Perseas

ThomasK said:


> Yes, or un-cover.


Μaybe yes, but  I usually associate "uncover" with "αποκαλύπτω" or "ξεσκεπάζω".

"ανα-" doesn't only mean repetiton, it has other meanings too. Under the link of post #18 (*F.* IN COMPO_S._) you can see them.

In the case of "ανακαλύπτω", Ι think "ανα" has the 1st meaning, ie. _motion upwards. _I have the impression that its initial meaning was_ I bring to light something that was hidden before _or_ I remove the cover of something._


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## eno2

I'll check #18. In English ana has much more meanings than 'again' too.



> *ana*- before verbs an-, prefix *meaning* 1. "upward," 2. "back, backward, against," 3. "again, anew," from Greek *ana*- "up to, toward, exceedingly, back, against," from *ana*"up, on, upon, throughout, again," cognate with Old English on, from PIE root **ano*- "on, upon, above" (see on).
> Ana | Define Ana at Dictionary.com


meaning of ana - Google Search

Same in Dutch: 



> voorvoegsel in uitheemse zelfstandige naamwoorden met de betekenis: *opwaarts: *anabool, anaglief2 voorvoegsel in uitheemse zelfstandige naamwoorden met de betekenis: *weer, terug*: anachronisme, anagram3 voorvoegsel in uitheemse zelfstandige naamwoorden met de betekenis: *opnieuw*: anabaptist, anabiose, anafoor


 DVD online

De Anabasis (Oudgrieks: *Ἀνάβασις*) is het verslag, bestaande uit zeven boeken, dat Xenophonschreef rond 370 v.Chr. over zijn tocht door Perzië in 401-399 v.

That's not *re*petition, that's *re*turn....


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## berndf

anahiseri said:


> In German there is a distinction between the prefix *wieder* (again), as in *wiederholen, wiedersehen, *and the prefix *wider* (resistance)as in *Widerstand, widerstreben.*


_Wieder_ and _wider_ are essentially the same word. The difference in spelling is a modern convention the distinguish the two meanings. Same with English _again_ and _against_. In both languages, _against_ is the original meaning.


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## merquiades

@berndf  Is there a pronunciation difference between these two prefixes: wieder- and wider-?


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## Perseas

eno2 said:


> De Anabasis (Oudgrieks: *Ἀνάβασις*) is het verslag, bestaande uit zeven boeken, dat Xenophonschreef rond 370 v.Chr. over zijn tocht door Perzië in 401-399 v.
> 
> That's not *re*petition, that's *re*turn....


Are you referring to "Anabasis"? 

The work "Anabasis" may to a large extent deal with the return march of Xenophon and the Ten Thousand from the interior of Babylon to the coast of the Black Sea (that march we call *Κάθοδος *των Μυρίων), but *Anabasis* refers to Cyrus' march from Ionia, on the eastern coast of the Aegean Sea, to the interior of Asia Minor and Mesopotamia.

*Ανάβασις*:
*2.* *expedition up from the coast*, esp. into Central Asia, as that of the younger Cyrus related by _X.
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott,  A Greek-English Lexicon, Α α, , ἄμωμος , ἀνάβα^σις_


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## berndf

merquiades said:


> @berndf  Is there a pronunciation difference between these two prefixes: wieder- and wider-?


No. In English there is a pronunciation difference (_against_ is etymologically an emphatic form of _again_) but in German there isn't.


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## eno2

Perseas said:


> Are you referring to "Anabasis"?
> 
> The work "Anabasis" may to a large extent deal with the return march of Xenophon and the Ten Thousand from the interior of Babylon to the coast of the Black Sea (that march we call *Κάθοδος *των Μυρίων), but *Anabasis* refers to Cyrus' march from Ionia, on the eastern coast of the Aegean Sea, to the interior of Asia Minor and Mesopotamia.
> 
> *Ανάβασις*:
> *2.* *expedition up from the coast*, esp. into Central Asia, as that of the younger Cyrus related by _X.
> Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott,  A Greek-English Lexicon, Α α, , ἄμωμος , ἀνάβα^σις_



If I say Anabasis of course I'm referring to Anabasis. I dindn't quote  the link,  so I give it here, but it was Wikipedia Dutch. 



> De *Anabasis* (Oudgrieks: Ἀνάβασις) is het verslag, bestaande uit zeven boeken, dat Xenophon schreef rond 370 v.Chr. over zijn tocht door Perzië in 401-399 v.Chr


Anabasis (Xenophon) - Wikipedia

I possesed and read the Anabasis in Dutch and English, nowadays I have it in my Kindle.
The titles in English may vary, but most  have 'Anabasis'. For instance (from Amazon): 

Anabasis: the Persian expedition/ or simply  The Persian Expedition/  or  The Anabasis of Cyrus / or Anabasis, the expedition of Cyrus /and other variants  

The Dutch title is: Anabasis  de tocht van de tienduizend  (=the expedition of the ten thousand). bol.com | xenophon anabasis Boeken kopen? Kijk snel!

I've always regarded the Anabasis as meaning the expedition of the ten thousand, which you would call *Κάθοδος *των Μυρίων then.


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## Perseas

eno2 said:


> If I say Anabasis of course I'm referring to Anabasis.


"Anabasis" the book or "Anabasis" the compound word?


eno2 said:


> I've always regarded the Anabasis as meaning the expedition of the ten thousand, which you would call *Κάθοδος *των Μυρίων then.


Ah OK. So you are referring to the content of the book "Anabasis" ("Κύρου Ανάβασις") or of a part of it.
I thought we discussed the meaning of the compound word "ανά-βασις" in the context of the book.
In that case, the second part of this statement is not true:



eno2 said:


> That's not *re*petition, that's *re*turn....


The correct answer is in post #33.


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## eno2

About ana: I just said that anabasis cannot be repetition, citing the title of the book by Xenophon. OK the Greek title is "Κύρου Ανάβασις". That's the expedition of Cyrus (which was in fact a return of Cyrus).



> WR/Collins
> *anabasis* /əˈnæbəsɪs/n ( pl -ses / -ˌsiːz/)
> 
> the march of Cyrus the Younger and his Greek mercenaries from Sardis to Cunaxa in Babylonia in 401 bc, described by Xenophon in his _Anabasis_
> any military expedition, esp one from the coast to the interior





> WR
> *Ανάβασις*
> No English translation found for 'Ανάβασις'.
> Συζητήσεις του φόρουμ με τη λέξη/φράση Ανάβασις στον τίτλο:
> Δεν υπάρχουν τίτλοι με τη λέξη/φράση "Ανάβασις


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## Perseas

eno2 said:


> About ana: I just said that anabasis cannot be repetition, citing the title of the book by Xenophon.






eno2 said:


> OK the Greek title is "Κύρου Ανάβασις". That's the expedition of Cyrus (which was in fact a return of Cyrus).


"Anabasis" was the march of Cyrus from the coast of the Aegean Sea to the interior of Asia Minor and Mesopotamia.
For him it was a return, but for the Greeks it was not.


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## eno2

Yes. I was still editing. See #37

As there's no WR definition, yours is useful:



> *Ανάβασις*:
> *2.* *expedition up from the coast*, esp. into Central Asia, as that of the younger Cyrus related by _X.
> Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, Α α, , ἄμωμος , ἀνάβα^σις_



The fact that the Greek original title is lacking and/or mistranslated in many editions is heartily confusing to the general public without classic education.


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## Perseas

eno2 said:


> As there's no WR definition ...


OK, no reference to Xenophon's "Anabasis" but in Modern Greek:
*Ανάβαση: *
ανάβαση - Ελληνοαγγλικό Λεξικό WordReference.com


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## eno2

Yes, thanks.
It's a noun: ascent, riding.

ανέβασμα

ανέ-  compares to Ανά-


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## Red Arrow

anahiseri said:


> In German there is a distinction between the prefix *wieder* (again), as in *wiederholen, wiedersehen, *and the prefix *wider* (resistance)as in *Widerstand, widerstreben.
> *
> Are you sure it's not the same in Dutch?


Unlike German, Dutch spelling has got proper rules for how to spell "long" vowels. If the Dutch word had been _wieder_ rather than _weder/weer_, then it would have been spelled _wieder_ all the time. Stressed /i/ is always spelled "ie" in Dutch. The spelling "i" is only used for unstressed /i/ in open syllables or the vowel /ɪ/.

wider would be pronounced [ʋid'ɛr] if it were a Dutch word.
wieder would be pronounced ['ʋidər].
widder would be pronounced ['ʋɪdər].

(This rule might not always apply to loanwords)

(How do you write [ i ] on this forum without spaces?  )


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## Perseas

eno2 said:


> Yes, thanks.
> It's a noun: ascent, riding.
> 
> ανέβασμα
> 
> ανέ-  compares to Ανά-


Yes, you're right, "ανάβαση" is a noun.
Ανάβαση/ις comes from the verb ανα-βαίνω. Cf. Latin venire or Anc. German *kwem-a- > Ger. kommen, Eng. come.

Ανέβασμα is more colloquial than ανάβαση. It derives from the verb ανεβάζω, which was formed from the past forms αν-*έ*-βαζα or αν-*έ*-βασα. Τhis *ε* is called  _augment._
ανα - βιβάζω > ανα - βάζω > ανα - ε - βαζα (ε is _augment) > _αν-ε-βάζω > ανεβάζω > ανέβασμα


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## eno2

Of course with my minimal Greek,  I thought that Ανάβασις  was related to βάζω , but then from the point of view of the meaning, ανεβαίνω and Ανάβασις are much closer.


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## Dymn

Red Arrow :D said:


> (How do you write [ i ] on this forum without spaces?  )


[i]

[CODE][PLAIN] [i] [/PLAIN][/CODE]​


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## Red Arrow

Thanks!


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## ThomasK

eno2 said:


> I'll check #18. In English ana has much more meanings than 'again' too.
> 
> meaning of ana - Google Search
> 
> Same in Dutch:
> 
> DVD online
> 
> De Anabasis (Oudgrieks: *Ἀνάβασις*) is het verslag, bestaande uit zeven boeken, dat Xenophonschreef rond 370 v.Chr. over zijn tocht door Perzië in 401-399 v.
> 
> That's not *re*petition, that's *re*turn....


Quite interesting, I had not realized that. But returning to re-: both again and return, that is something extra. (Of course I think the meanings come close: our Dutch "terug" (back, almost the same as "rug", back) is very often mixed up with "again"... Not a coincidence…


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