τέναγος

Forms

τένᾰγος (ténagos) n (genitive τενάγους or τενάγεος); third declension^[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[2] In Beekes's view it is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *tenh₂g- (“shallow water”), although he names no cognate.^[3][1] It is formed like its opposite πέλαγος (pélagos, “open sea”), and may have been shaped by it.^[3][4][2]

Bezzenberger compared Latvian tīgas (“deep spot between two shallows”), from *tn̥h₂g-, but Beekes finds this most unlikely because of the root structure.^[3][4] Others have connected Latin stāgnum (“pond, standing water”), a link that Walde and Hofmann rejected.^[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record is in Pindar (6th–5th century BC), in the sense “shoal water, shallows”.^[5][6][7][8]

Semantic evolution

Herodotus pairs it with marshes, of the shallow waters at river mouths and coasts, and Thucydides and Xenophon use it of shallows in the sea; it is often plural.^[5][6] Aristotle notes that oysters grow in such shallows.^[5] It also appears in the papyri of Ptolemaic Egypt from the 3rd century BC.^[5]

The adjective τεναγώδης (tenagṓdēs) “marshy, shallow” is Hellenistic.^[2] Modern Greek has taken the word back as a learned word, Modern Greek τέναγος (ténagos), meaning a marsh or swamp.^[9][2]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it of shallow water.^[5][6][8]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus and Thucydides use it of shallows and lagoons.^[5][8]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle says that oysters grow in the shallows.^[5][8]
• 3rd century BC – It appears in the Petrie papyri.^[5]
• Modern Greek – It is revived as the learned word τέναγος (ténagos), a marsh.^[9][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Shoal water, shallows, lagoon, in the sea or in a river; often plural.^[5][6]

Word family

• τεναγώδης (tenagṓdēs)

Related words

• πέλαγος (pélagos)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
3. ^ a b c 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
4. ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki