κλάζω

Forms

κλᾰ́ζω (klázō) ^[1]

Etymology

It belongs with κλαγγή (klangḗ, “sharp sound, cry”).^[2][3] As a present in -ζω it may come from *κλάγγι̯ω (*klángi̯ō), built on a root noun seen in the dative κλαγγί (klangí) in Ibycus, or it may be an old nasal present with the ending of sound verbs such as ὀλολύζω (ololúzō) and οἰμώζω (oimṓzō).^[2][3] The forms κλάγξω (klánxō), ἔκλαγξα (éklanxa) and κέκλαγγα (kéklanga) are new formations, while the Homeric perfect κέκληγα (kéklēga) and the aorist κλαγεῖν (klageîn) may keep an old stem without the nasal.^[2][3]

The closest match is Latin clangō (“to clang, to scream”), and Old Norse hlakka (“to cry out”) may belong here too.^[2][3][1] These are sound words, found widely.^[2] Beekes points out that an Indo-European Proto-Indo-European *klag- is impossible, since *klh₂g- would have given *κλᾱγ- (*klāg-), and asks whether the base is Pre-Greek.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from the Iliad on, of a sharp piercing sound: the rattle of arrows in the quiver, the cry of birds, and the shouts of warriors.^[4][5][6]

Semantic evolution

Homer uses it of birds screaming, of the rattle of arrows, and of men shouting; in the Odyssey dogs bark and the wind howls.^[4][6] Later poets use it of the roar of the sea, of thunder and of the sound of instruments, and tragedy uses it for loud lament and for prophetic cries.^[6][5] Xenophon uses it of hounds giving tongue in the hunt.^[5][6]

The English word klaxon, a loud warning horn first recorded in 1908, was probably made up from it.^[7]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad uses it for the clang of arrows and the scream of birds.^[4][5][8]
• Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod uses it for the cry of the crane.^[6][8]
• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it for loud lament.^[5][6]
• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon uses it for hounds giving tongue.^[5][6]
• 1908 – The English word klaxon, probably made up from it, is first recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make a sharp, piercing sound; of birds, to scream; of dogs, to bark or howl.^[5][6][4]
2. Of the wind, to howl; of the sea, to roar; of thunder, to peal.^[6]
3. Of people, to shout or cry aloud; with an object, to utter loudly.^[6][5]

Related words

• κλαγγή (klangḗ)
• Latin clangō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque: histoire des mots, new ed. with a supplement (Chroniques d'étymologie grecque 1–10), Paris: Klincksieck
4. ^ a b c d Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux