ἀλαλάζω

From the study of 1 Corinthians 13:1

Range of meaning

To raise the battle-cry 'alala!'; to shout loudly (in triumph or worship); to wail loudly in mourning; of instruments, to clash or crash. A word that imitates the sound it names.

Against the English

KJV 'tinkling' (from the Vulgate's tinniens) today suggests a delicate, pretty sound, the opposite of the Greek. Modern 'clanging' (BSB, WEB, NIV, ESV, NASB) is much closer, though it loses the 'shrieking, wailing' human echo of the verb.

How it drifted

Latin tinnire means to ring or clink, and 'tinkle' in 1611 could mean to ring out. Since then English 'tinkle' has become small and light, so the KJV now sounds far softer than Paul's word.

Used elsewhere in the period

Mark 5:38: mourners 'wailing loudly' (alalazontas) at Jairus's house. LXX Ps 46(47):2 and 65(66):1: 'shout (alalaxate) to God'. LXX Ps 150:5: 'praise him with cymbals of loud crashing' (kymbalois alalagmou), using the related noun.

From the study of Mark 5:38

Range of meaning

To give a loud, ringing cry. The word comes from the Greek cry alalai. It was used for a battle shout, for shouts of joy, and for the shrill wail of grief. Any piercing, repeated cry can be described this way.

Against the English

"Wailing" catches the grief well. What English loses is that this was a recognised, patterned cry, the trilling ululation still heard at Middle Eastern funerals, not just the sound of sobbing.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the LXX it is used for lament in Jer 4:8 ("put on sackcloth, beat your breasts and wail") and in the oracles against the nations. It is used for joyful shouting to God in Ps 46:2 and Ps 65:1 (LXX numbering). In 1 Cor 13:1 Paul uses it for a "clanging" cymbal, which shows how strongly it suggests piercing noise. BDAG: "wail loudly" in Mark 5:38.