To own up & concession

[ThomasK]

I think these two show some link between admission, acknowledgment/... (concession?) and property, which seems peculiar to me, but interesting. I think I can understand: whoever owns up, claims responsability/.... for - and thus some"possession" of - a deed or something the like. [Please formulate in a better way if you can...]

But do you have a reminder or a trace of a similar relation in your language? Acceptance might be some kind of link: you take it (in possession?).

I am wondering...

 

[Welsh_Sion]

As we don't have a verb/verbal noun 'to have' in the Celtic languages, the idea of 'possession' appears an alien concept to us.

Let's look at this another way:

Welsh has addef and cyfaddef (the latter derived from the former), with two separate meanings:

1 to admit, confess, acknowledge, avow, assert and affirm
2 to acknowledge (a person), to confess (God, Jesus etc), to profess (in a religious context)

Now, I admit (!) that the ideas of 'admitting' and 'acknowledging' are those of 'letting someone/something in' ... and then 'taking on the responsibility for something' (i.e. 'owning it', I suppose you could say in an older/more formal form of English). I'm struggling to say that you 'have' it or you 'possess' this responsibility.

In more Modern English, you may now also speak of 'fessing up to something' (in a slangy sort of way) - you are confessing/admitting to some wrongful act or some such, and you are the one who will bear the blame for it.

I don't know how far this extends your knowledge of the little I know.

 

[apmoy70]

Greek:

Admission: «Παραδοχή» [pa.ɾa.ðɔˈçi] (fem.) < Classical deverbative fem noun. «παραδοχή» părădŏkʰḗ --> initially that which has been received, hereditary custom, later, admission, acceptance, approval < Classical deponent v. «παραδέχομαι» părădékʰŏmai̯ --> init. to receive by inheritance, receive by tradition, later, admit, allow, recoɡnise and accept as correct < Classical prefix and preposition «παρά» părắ + Classical deponent v. «δέχομαι» dékʰŏmai̯.

Acknowledgment: «Αποδοχή» [a.pɔ.ðɔˈçi] (fem.) < Classical fem. deverbative noun «ἀποδοχή» ăpŏdŏkʰḗ --> reception, approbation, acceptance, acknowledɡment < Classical deponent v. «ἀποδέχομαι» ăpŏdékʰŏmai̯ --> to accept, receive favourably, approve, acknowledɡe, recover, sustain < Classical prefix & preposition «ἀπό» ăpó + «δέχομαι» (see above).

Concession: «Παραχώρηση» [pa.ɾaˈxɔ.ɾi.si] (fem.) < Classical fem. deverbative 3rd declension noun «παραχώρησις» părăkʰṓrēsis (nom. sinɡ.), «παραχωρήσεως» părăkʰōrḗsĕōs (ɡen. sinɡ.) --> retirinɡ, recession, concession, cession, withdrawal from, surrender < Classical v. «παραχωρέω/παραχωρῶ» părăkʰōréō (uncontracted)/părăkʰōrô (contracted) --> to give way, yield, submit, concede, allow, permit, ɡive up, surrender < Classical prefix & preposition «παρά» (see earlier) + Classical fem. noun «χώρᾱ» kʰṓrā.

Property:
(A) «Ιδιοκτησία» [i.ði.ɔ.ktiˈsi.a] (fem.), a modern construction (1872) calqued for the Ger. Eiɡenbesitz. Compound: Classical adj. «ἴδιος» ídiŏs + Classical deverbative 3rd declension fem. noun «κτῆσις» ktêsis (nom. sinɡ.)/«κτήσεως» ktḗsĕōs (ɡen. sinɡ.) < Classical deponent v. «κτάομαι/κτῶμαι» ktắŏmai̯ (uncontracted)/ktômai̯ (contracted).

(B) «Περιουσία» [pe.ɾi.uˈsi.a] (fem.) < Classical fem. noun «περιουσίᾱ» pĕrĭousíā --> wealth, propery, abundance < Classical prefix & preposition «περί» pĕrí + Classical fem. noun «οὐσίᾱ» ousíā.
Although (B) is much older than (A), it's the preferred word in everyday speech to describe one's propery. (A) is legal glossary.

So, I can't find any link between concession/acknowledgment/admission, and property, in Greek.

 

[Welsh_Sion]

I missed out cyffesu (verbal noun) for 'to confess'. (A learned borrowing from Late Latin. Not limited to religious contexts.)

 

[ThomasK]

@Welsh Sion: is there any way of giving some kind of "basic" meaning of addef (and of cyff)?

@apmoy70 : quite surprised to find paradoxes can be linked with concessions... Etymonline.com explains it as " a statement contrary to common belief or expectation", which would make it even harder to make the link. Could you paraphrase the Greek paradox thereby explaining the link with concessions?

I suppose it has to do with thinking, not indeed with having, owning...

Dutch:
- erkennen, bekennen refer to kennen, to know (er/her = re- , be- maybe something like ac-/ad- as in acknowledge??) // reconnaître in French.
- toegeven = to give in, to ad (toe)-mit (give but strictly speaking more like send, I suppose)
But of course the idea of owning up is in accepting guilt or complicity (accept = ad-take, take in?)

 

[apmoy70]

...
@apmoy70 : quite surprised to find paradoxes can be linked with concessions... Etymonline.com explains it as " a statement contrary to common belief or expectation", which would make it even harder to make the link. Could you paraphrase the Greek paradox thereby explaining the link with concessions?

I suppose it has to do with thinking, not indeed with having, owning...
...

You're right. The two are cognates, with different roots though. Δέχομαι has the root δεχ- (dekʰ-) < PIE *deḱ- to accept, receive cf. Lat. decēre.
Δόξα in paradox has the root δοκ- (dok-), o-grade of PIE *deḱ- cf. Lat. docēre.
In Greek, δέχομαι has the meaning of acceptance, receiving, while δοκέω has the meaning of thinking, supposing, imagining.

 

[ThomasK]

@apmoy70 Thanks a lot, very enlightening... I have been trying to find how those two roots turn up in Greek words we have in our European languages. I suppose δοκ turns up in docile, but any others? But δεχ ? No real idea...

 

[Chrzaszcz Saproksyliczny]

Polish:
Przyznać się vs. Przyznać (komuś coś):

Oskarżony przyznał się do winy - The defendant confessed/plead guilty.
Przyznaj, że mam rację! - Admit it, I'm right!

Przeprowadzili się, gdy ojcu przyznano mieszkanie. - The moved when father was assigned/given an appartment.
Przyznali mi zasiłek dla bezrobotnych. - I have been granted an unemployment benefit.

 

[ThomasK]

May I ask about the roots of the words? Like ad-mit: it could be analysed as "to-giving (sending)", which makes it a perfect equivalent of the Dutch toe-geven. Içis there any reference to something like property, possession?

The concession referring to money is not the concession I had thought of, and I am not sure the translation into English is perfect, but it is true: similar verbs are used. Funny: owning is like the opposite of giving and yet...