Etymologically
Log in

φθόγγος

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 19:31. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /pʰtʰóŋ.ɡos/[1]
  • IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈɸθoŋ.ɡos/[1]
  • IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈfθoŋ.ɡos/[1]

Forms

φθόγγος (phthóngos) m (genitive φθόγγου); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is a noun from φθέγγομαι (phthéngomai, “to utter a sound, speak”).[1][2][3] The verb has no certain etymology: comparisons with Slavic and Baltic words for barking, neighing or ringing, such as Lithuanian žvéngti (“to neigh”), are not phonetically convincing.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Iliad horses would miss the voice of their driver; in the Odyssey it is the voice of the Cyclops and the song of the Sirens.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It was any sound of the voice: an utterance or cry, speech, and the language of a people in Anacreon and Aeschylus; the cries of animals and birds; and the sound of the wind, the sea and musical instruments.[5] Plato and Aristotle use it for a musical note, and for an individual sound of speech, a letter.[5] Aristotle speaks figuratively of the emotions as notes of the soul.[5]

In the New Testament Paul uses it for the tone of a flute or harp, and quotes the Psalm “their voice has gone out into all the earth”.[3][6] Modern Greek φθόγγος (fthóngos) is a learned word for a speech sound and a musical note.[7]

Timeline

  • Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it for a voice and a song.[2][5]
  • 6th century BC – Anacreon uses it for a language.[5]
  • 5th century BC – Euripides uses it for the roar of the sea.[5]
  • 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for a musical note and for a speech sound.[5]
  • 1st century AD – Paul uses it for the sound of instruments.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A voice; a cry or call, of people or animals.[5][2]
  2. An utterance; speech; a language.[5]
  3. A sound, of the wind, the sea or something moving.[5]
  4. A musical sound, a note.[5][3]
  5. An individual sound of speech, a letter.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
  3. ^ a b c d 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
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  6. ^ Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
  7. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki