φαίνω

Pronunciation

• IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /pʰǎi̯.nɔː/^[1]
• IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈɸɛ.no/^[1]
• IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈfe.no/^[1]

Forms

φαίνω (phaínō) ^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Hellenic *pʰáňňō, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *bʰh₂-n-yé-ti, a present with a nasal and the suffix ⟨*-yé-⟩ from the root Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to shine”).^[1][2] Most Greek forms are built on a stem ⟨φαν-⟩, which LIV and Beekes trace to an old nasal present ⟨*bʰ-n-(e)h₂-⟩; Old Armenian բանամ (banam, “to open, reveal”) is another such present.^[2][3]

The root without the nasal is in Sanskrit भाति (bhā́ti, “shines”), and nouns with an n-suffix are in Old Irish bán (“white”) and Tocharian words for “splendour”.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Homer uses it both transitively, “to make appear, show”, as when a god shows a portent, and in the middle and passive “to appear, come to light”.^[4][5][2]

Semantic evolution

The active means to make visible, reveal, bring to light and make known; in Attic law it was to denounce an offender or report contraband to the authorities, and φαίνειν alone could mean “to be an informer”.^[5][6] The middle and passive φαίνομαι means to appear, to come into being, and with an infinitive or participle to seem or to be clearly so; in Koine it is also used impersonally, “it seems”.^[1][5][7] The intransitive active “to shine” is used of the sun, moon and stars, as at the creation in Genesis.^[1][7]

In the New Testament the light shines in the darkness, a star appears to the Magi, and things appear or seem.^[8] It is the base of φανερός (phanerós, “visible”), φάσμα (phásma, “apparition”), φαντασία (phantasía) and many compounds, such as ἐπιφαίνω (epiphaínō).^[2][3] Modern Greek continues the middle as φαίνομαι (faínomai, “to seem”).^[1]

Timeline

• Homer – It is used for showing a sign and, in the passive, for appearing.^[4][5]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides uses it of water reflecting an image.^[5]
• 5th–4th century BC – Attic orators use it for denouncing offenders.^[5][6]
• 3rd–1st century BC – The Septuagint uses it for the lights of heaven that shine on the earth.^[7]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for light shining and a star appearing.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make visible, show, reveal.^[5][1]
2. To bring to light; to expose, or (Attic law) to denounce, inform against.^[5][6]
3. To make known; to describe in words.^[5][1]
4. To display a quality by one's actions.^[5]
5. (of gods) To send a sign or portent.^[5]
6. (intransitive) To shine, give light.^[1][8]
7. (middle and passive) To appear, come to light; to come into being.^[1][5]
8. (middle and passive) To seem, to appear to be, or (Koine, impersonal) it seems.^[1][7]

Word family

• ἀναφαίνω (anaphaínō)
• ἀποφαίνω (apophaínō)
• διαφαίνω (diaphaínō)
• ἐκφαίνω (ekphaínō)
• ἐμφαίνω (emphaínō)
• ἐπιφαίνω (epiphaínō)
• καταφαίνω (kataphaínō)
• παμφαίνω (pamphaínō)
• παραφαίνω (paraphaínō)
• περιφαίνομαι (periphaínomai)
• προφαίνω (prophaínō)
• ὑπερφαίνομαι (huperphaínomai)
• ὑποφαίνω (hupophaínō)
• ἱεροφάντης (hierophántēs)

Related words

• ἀφανής (aphanḗs)
• προφανής (prophanḗs)
• φαεινός (phaeinós)
• φαεννός (phaennós)
• φαινόλις (phainólis)
• φανάριον (phanárion)
• φανδόν (phandón)
• φανερός (phanerós)
• φανίον (phaníon)
• φανός (phānós)
• φάσμα (phásma)

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ a b Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ a b c Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
8. ^ a b c Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press