φρύγω

Forms

φρῡ́γω (phrū́gō) ^[1]

Etymology

The verb has close parallels in two other branches, Latin frīgō (“to roast, fry”) and Sanskrit भृज्जति (bhṛjjáti, “roasts”), but no form that matches it exactly.^[2][3][1] Chantraine traces all three to the root Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- in its zero grade *bʰr-, with a vowel that differs from one language to the next and a suffix -g- common to the three.^[3][4] Frisk doubts this: it would be a wonder, he says, if different vowels had been added to the same root and then the same consonant; he prefers to see one expressive word reshaped differently in each language over the centuries.^[2] Wiktionary gives the root as Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵ- (“to roast, fry”) and notes that the irregular sounds point to a loan from an unknown third language.^[1]

Chantraine explains the alternation of long and short /u/ in the Greek forms (present φρῡ́γω (phrū́gō), aorist passive ἐφρῠ́γην (ephrúgēn)) with Ruijgh as a pattern spread among expressive verbs.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record is the aorist passive in the hexameter poem called The Kiln, a pseudo-Homeric epigram also counted among the fragments of Hesiod.^[5][6] The verb meant to roast or parch food over a dry fire.^[5][7]

Semantic evolution

In Classical prose and comedy it was the ordinary word for roasting dry foods: the Egyptians roast seeds before boiling them in Herodotus, the Athenians took roasted barley on the Sicilian expedition in Thucydides, and Aristophanes' women roast sweetmeats.^[5][7] Theocritus says it of the sun that scorches the earth, and an epigram of someone parched with thirst.^[5][7][8]

Late writers also have φρύττω.^[5][3] The family includes φρύγανον (phrúganon), “dry sticks, brushwood”, and φρυκτός (phruktós), “roasted”, which as a noun meant a firebrand or fire-signal, whence φρυκτωρός (phruktōrós), the watcher of fire-signals.^[3][2] Modern Greek φρύγω (frýgo) still means to toast or parch.^[8][4]

Timeline

• Archaic period – The pseudo-Homeric epigram The Kiln, also ascribed to Hesiod, has the aorist passive.^[5][6]
• 5th century BC – Cratinus and Herodotus use it of roasting food.^[5][9]
• 5th century BC – Thucydides mentions roasted barley taken on the Sicilian expedition.^[5][7]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses it of women roasting sweetmeats.^[7][5]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theocritus uses it of the sun scorching the land.^[7][5]
• 1st century AD – Dioscorides has the later present φρύττω (phrúttō).^[5][9]
• Modern Greek – φρύγω (frýgo) means to toast or parch.^[8][4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To roast or parch dry foods such as barley, beans or nuts; to cook.^[5][7]
2. (of the sun or summer heat) To scorch, to beat down on the land.^[5][7]
3. (passive) To be roasted; to be parched with thirst.^[5][7]

Word family

• φρύγανον (phrúganon)
• φρυκτός (phruktós)
• φρυκτωρός (phruktōrós)

Related words

• Latin frigo

References

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